HTPC spec

marcus2704 · 15 Sep 2008 at 16:30

I want to build a HTPC which is capable of holding upwards of 5 x Sata drives, be able to cope with 1080P, ideally with onboard graphics and sound. As it will be in my cinema room it would be nice if the unit was quiet also.

Ive checked other threads and am looking at these options -

Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H AMD 780G Micro-ATX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £61.09

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 6000+ 3.00GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail £64,50

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC) £27.01

Silverstone Grandia GD01B-MXR HTPC Case - Black £139.81

Ill need a recommendation on the PSU also and I may buy a HDD for the system OS (only) too.

Any thoughts on this, or should I be looking at other components?

fobose · 15 Sep 2008 at 19:09

OCUK dont stock them, but I would buy a AMD Athlon 64 X2 4*50e CPU as they are only 45w and you dont need a high performance CPU for 1080p with that motherboard. How about this PSU Enermax Pro 82+ 385W EPR385AWT ATXv2.3 Silent PSU

marcus2704 · 16 Sep 2008 at 12:10

Thanks for that recommendation

My list is now

Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H AMD 780G Micro-ATX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £61.09

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 6000+ 3.00GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail £64,50

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Black Dragon DDR2 Dual Channel Kit £34.06

Silverstone Grandia GD01B-MXR HTPC Case - Black £139.81

Enermax Pro 82+ 385W EPR385AWT ATXv2.3 Silent PSU £41.11

Any final comments on this before I take the plunge? Main worry is that the CPU is good enough for 1080P, although Id surely think it would be up to it.

Is that RAM choice ok?

danswan · 16 Sep 2008 at 12:49

The CPU is fine, as fobose says the main work of decoding the 1080p will be done elsewhere.

marcus2704 · 16 Sep 2008 at 14:10

Im outputting to a decent Denon 3808 Amp and B&W speakers, should I be looking at getting a 5.1 soundcard or would onboard be sufficient?

marcus2704 · 17 Sep 2008 at 10:56

Is a 385W Enemax PSU sufficient for a system with up to 6 HDDs?

For £20 or so more I could get Enermax Technology 425w ATX Modular 82+ 84-88% Energy Efficent PSU - it being Modular could also make this worthwhile do you think (LC17 Case)?

fobose · 17 Sep 2008 at 16:45

Yup, the enermax will be more than happy to handle all that with 6 hard drives (they dont use much power). My old overclocked P4 system with power hungry graphics card and 5 hard drives was perfectly fine on a 400w PSU. I still recommend you get one of the 4*50e CPU's because they are a lot cheaper than the one you have spec'd and reduce the amount of heat meaning you could probably run the CPU passive depending on what cooler you had on it.

mdjmcnally · 17 Sep 2008 at 16:56

If you are going to go above the onboard sound from the motherboard for a dedicated HTPC then seriously consider the Asus Xonar HDAV 1.3. Expensive but the only card to do it at the moment.

The onboad will already do 5.1 over the HDMI out of the motherboard.