HTPC Upgrade

megakid

megakid

megakid

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Joined
6 Jun 2004
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2,389
Location
London
Hi all,

Just got my "prototype" HTPC up and running with a dual tuner card (Hauppauge Nova T-500D) placed inside my old desktop shuttle system which is as follows:

Athlon 64 3400+ Clawhammer,
1Gb Ram,
6800GT (with the all important TV out),
basic 40Gb IDE hdd.

This works well I can record and view simultaneously without too many issues but Vista is struggling to render the menus etc fast enough when this background stuff is taking place so it's time for an upgrade...

Coming my way already is:

160Gb Seagate SATA drive,
Sexy Zalman HD160+ case - this is FULL ATX,
500W Seasonic silent PSU,
Thermalright SI-128 SE (fits both AM2 and S775 chips)

What can you guys suggest around the £200 mark as a cpu/mobo/ram combo?
A single requirement: HD audio built onto the motherboard (with optical out)

I will probably purchase a Radeon HD 2600XT to run my TV so no onboard video required.

Thanks
 
vintage-x said:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-152-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=793 processor

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-007-EA&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=326 motherboard

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-096-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=697 RAM


£119.81 in total should handle what you want
Click to expand...

Looks decent, but get this ram: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-072-OC

...its cheaper, better quality and faster.


Too be honest, you just want something that uses as little power as possible and produces the least heat, unless you want High Definition, but even then, that spec should be able to handle it? (don't quote me on that)
 
Hmm but why would i want a mATX board when I could fit an ATX board? Ideally I'd like the capability of expansion interms of additional tuner cards and stuff like that.

I was actually heading towards AM2 before this suggestion, it looks like I can get a much better system for the money given that the motherboards are so much cheaper for AM2 (due to integrated ondie memory controllers)?

EDIT: I do want this build to handle HD in the long run, hence why I'm getting a 2600XT which has hardware decoding for x264 and other HD formats
 
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