HTPC specification - coments welcome

Borris · 1 May 2006 at 21:32

The spec:

Samsung SpinPoint 250GB SATA
AMD 64 3200+
MSI K8N PCI-Express
GeIL 2 x 1GB PC3200
Hauppauge WinTV PVR-500
Leadtek GeForce 6200 Turbo Cache
Terratec Aureon 7.1 PCI Sound
Netgear WG311 54Mbps Wireless PCI
2 x AcoustiFan DustProof Quiet 80mm Fans
MS MCE 2005

I've gone big and fast, as I don't want to be limited in what I can use the machine for - and it allows me more scope in undervolting and underclocking.

I'll be using stock cooling, as nothing else will fit in the case (a-tech 3000), and I already have a psu and 2 x speed read-only dvd, but the main goal is quietness.

Have I missed out any must-haves, or is there anything that might be too much overkill?

semi-pro waster · 1 May 2006 at 21:46

I'm assuming that you aren't much of a gamer here? The 6200 Turbocache isn't all that great a graphics card using as it does some system Ram, you could get an X700pro from the Clearance section for only slightly more but it would be a much better card albeit with less warranty.

The rest looks fine, I don't know anything about the case but I take it that it supports ordinary ATX motherboards and you have a suitable PSU? If you need a mATX motherboard then Asus does a couple of decent models as do Gigabyte.

Borris · 1 May 2006 at 22:40

One of the attractive aspects of the 6200 card is the passive cooling - the case has an inflow mod to pull air over the gfx card (relying on negative internal pressure), and silence is a big feature of the machine.

I'm not planning on any gaming on the machine, as I have a gaming rig already (and an xbox 360), but I'll probably end up replacing the gfx card with a 7800GTX (or quieter equivalent) once I also find an ATI HDTV wonder and HD becomes widespread broadcast standard.

The PSU came with the case (2nd hand), although I may have to replace it should it not have 230V transformer - It's from the US, so may only be usable at 110V.

semi-pro waster · 1 May 2006 at 22:47

Ok then, no problems with compatibility and the graphics card shouldn't be a problem since you know its limitations. Given the price premium to get the next decent card with passive cooling but without Turbocache (or Hyper Memory) you are probably as well sticking with it.

squiffy · 2 May 2006 at 00:12

Don't need 2GB for a HTPC, 1GB is fine. Also isn't one of the Asus CSM boards have integrated Nvidia similar to that seperate GFX? And what about MS remote control?

Logan09 · 2 May 2006 at 01:18

The Asus A8N-VM CSM Micro ATX mobo has onboard graphics (geforce 6150) that has HD hardware decoding and would perform just as well as the 6200.

If you're planning on outputting your sound to an amp via s/pdif then there's no need for the soundcard as your amp will do the decoding. Also 1GB of RAM is more than enough for a HTPC (512MB would manage fine).

Isn't the Hauppauge PVR-500 analogue? Might be an idea to consider a DVB-t (freeview) card instead, or if you're looking to connect a cable/satellite box to your HTPC then take a look at the sweetspot TV card which allows capture from component & RGB Scart (better quality than the s-video on the PVR-500).

You'll be wanting a MCE remote as well I'd have thought.