Low budget HTPC questions and spec up

MumboJumbo

MumboJumbo

MumboJumbo

Soldato
Joined
2 Dec 2006
Posts
8,204
Hey, I see there are a few of these threads about that I'm fishing through but I wanted to make my own because I have some specific requirements:

1- The pc is for the parents to plug up to the tv. Thus it needs to fit in and not be noticed, like a hifi unit. (Looking at the antec micro fusion case possibly? But it's loud.). Or a stylish small box would do.

2- Because its for the parents they aren't gaming. It's to play films and recorded tv mainly.

3- As cheap as possible. They aren't interested in spending money on things they don't need. £300 is really the top end of the budget but only if it's justifiable.

4- HDMI is required

5- Quiet as possible

6- TV card required

7- It only needs to store recorded tv/films and music. So really probably won't even be hitting over 180GB of used space.

8- Media keyboard with a touchpad

So I've been thinking about things. I'm guessing a sound card would be quite important as it's plugged up to some decent speakers and thats the whole point of watching films with nice sound. I'm unsure as to if it needs a graphics card. The 5450 would be the one to get but only if it's needed. A motherboard with hdmi should suffice I would imagine as they aren't doing anything graphical.

:EDIT:

It has just dawned on me that getting the 5450 would do HD audio so I would then not need a soundcard. So really it seems like a no brainier to get one.

:/edit:

So what ideas you guys got? I don't really see the point in paying for DDR3 and i've noticed a few mobo's being suggested which use it. If there are other mobos with hdmi and no DDR3 that would be preferable.

Also what are your views on remote controlls and the better ones and software etc for parents to use who aren't the best with pc's

Cheers guys. The pc is being built closer to Christmas so I've got some breathing room, just want to get thing sorted beforehand.
 
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Here is an idea for a spec i've had. The ram is a single stick of 2GB. However it takes me to £300 with the harddrive without the keyboard added in so really could do with price cuts if possible.

I forgot to add the harddrive:

Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-130-WD&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=768

mediapc.png
 
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Thought of usiong a shuttle at all?
That's what I use mine for, I was on a limited budget but managed to scrape together a half decent little machine for what it's used for.

SN25P
AMD x2 4400
2Gb DDR
BFG 9600GT OC

Had the HDd's lying around, and popped one of the samsung BD roms in there recently, copes fine.
 
It's just that the parents won't want a pc in their living room. They want something which just blends in. I suspect a shuttle would stand out. Plus really i've got limited space which will only fit something wide but not tall. O and it must have rubber feet.
 
you dont even need a graphics card.... just grab 785g mobo ( which on writing seem to out of stock on here for micro atx ) . that will do your sound and your graphics just fine..

not sure what the intel or nvidia alternative is
 
I'd do a demo before you make any purchase. I'm assuming you are going down the MCE route. If you have a PC, just get a USB TV card with a remote, set it up and see what they make of it.

If they aren't that happy with using it, then the PVR route would probably be a better option.

If you're set on a PC, there is also the Acer Revo/Zotac Z-Box - they can run a USB TV stick/external DVD drive etc and output 1080p over HDMI. Just not too much multitasking.
 
nice and cheap, sub far of 300quid, hoep it performs well dude.
Probably should get a low profile decent sink on it.
 
Yeah I'm wondering if I should get the antec micro fusion or the standard one. The standard one would have more room in and be quieter but is another 30 odd on top.

I definitly don't want to use any usb tv sticks. I want a proper one that can get all the digital channels and be used for sky. But I havn't looked into them yet. The picture above was just a rough idea really for the basic essentials.

We used to have PVR external tv thingy for the pc but it was horrendous to use. THe compro internal card I've got since has been briliant.
 
If you want the best, and want to blow half your budget, get the BlackGold BGT3595

Dual DVB-S2, Dual DVB-T

Only thing that lets this card down is the location of the sockets for low profile PCs.

I picked one up a couple of weeks ago - its a great card.
 
Change to an Nvidia card, slightly more flexible in thier DXVA implementation. Passive GT210 would do fine as long as you dont want it to run filters on top of decoding, and unlike a lot of Nvidia cards, it'll do HDMI audio :)

Otherwise looks good.
I'm building a machine at the moment. I decided to go for an Aphrodite case, because the low profile was too limiting in terms of what cooling, GPUs etc I could fit in. The PSU that comes with the Aphrodite isn't that loud. Im on the eye out for a cheap Zalman/Nexus to replace it though :)
 
I recently built a HTPC for my mum in an Antec 350 Micro Fusion case and it isnt loud at all - Stick the 80mm tri-cool fans on low and they should still move enough air to keep the case cool whilst being silent.

The specs of the unit I built are

Antec 350 Micro Fusion
AMD 4000+ with Coolermaster Vortex 752 heatsink
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H - 785G Mobo
2 x 1 GB Corsair PC5400 RAM
Samsung bluray Drive
160GB HDD
Windows 7 Home Premium

Plays everything I have tried so far (Blurays, Avis, 720p MKVs (at 1080p and 720p resolution)) and the sound level is tiny - In fact when I turn it on with the remote I am unsure whether it has turned on until the display lights up as I cant hear it.

Total costs (I got the mobo, CPU and RAM from ebay, and salvaged the HDD from another machine) - £275
 
A few questions.

What sort of TV resolution and size are we talking about?

What sort of stereo system are we talking about? HDMI may not be any use unless they have an AV amp with HDMI input.

How serious are they about audio and video quality? 180gb does not go far if recording and storing music and movies at quality.

If they are not doing True HD or 7.1 and such, an on board 785G GPU will be fine, if only MP3 or such then 16/44 is fine and you can use on board sound. If they are fussy and want Wav or Flac and have a Dac or such then a soundcard can be added later.

An example of my HTPC,
Silverstone Grandia GD02B case with Sharkoon 80mm SE fans at 7v
Asus Maximus II Gene
Intel E8500 with passive Silverstone NT06-E cooler
Corsair Dominator GT
Powercolor HD5750 with passive cooler
Samsung BluRay drive
Samsung F3 500gb HDD
Western Digital green 1.5TB HDD
Corsair 450w modular psu

The above is silent and I use the graphics HDMI out for digital, if I require connection to my stereo dac I use the on board spdif out. Of course it plays anything I want too, with plenty of room for lossless music and movie files.
 
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