Media PC build - lots of questions...

[Neill_J]

Hi, I need some help and advice with my plan if anyone can provide….

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Usage:

I want to build a HTPC to go into the living room
It will be used mainly for recording Freeview TV, playback of DVD's, Music, Pics etc
Iplayer/catchup TV also would be good
May also use it with a webcam and Skype for family chats
This will output/connect to a 32" LED TV (at some point when I get one - still stuck on a 22" CRT ATM!)
I would like to have 1 small boot SSD for speed and a larger storage HDD for TV recordings and DVD backups (2gb or so)
Lan connectivity will probably be via homeplug route - longer term I am thinking of getting a NAS drive for TV/Data backup
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Lots of question areas from my research into this: (feel free to comment and advise me on these areas if you know anything

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I would like to control it via a remote and have from ages ago a windows xp media centre edition remote (with USB IR receiver) is this still compatible with Win7?
Does it work with other media apps?
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Have also been looking at the "Rii Mini PC Keyboard Touchpad V2 Black" for touchpad and keyboard - any comments/views on this one?
Thought this might make use of the PC a bit more practical day to day
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I am thinking of getting a Samsung UE32D6530 LED TV to hook this all up to - what kind of connector route is used to output vid and sound to the TV?
HDMI? Or some other method? What do GPU's output to these days?
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Case - I have an old case from around 5 years back which I used for windows xp media centre edition 2005
I think this is a coolermaster atcs case - possibly this one - ATC-620-SX1 (silver) (at least the picture looks just like the case I have)
http://www.dansdata.com/atc620.htm
Do you think I will be able to re-use this for a modern system?
I am not 100% sure of this as I don’t know if modern PCI express cards will fit in the case and the back plates?
It currently houses an old set of parts (which wont boot for some reason) - an ASUS P4P 800M, Pentium 4 - 2.53GHZ, 2 x 512MB Corsair XMS 3200, and an AGP GPU
I think it is micro ATX form factor

If this is not usable any other cases I could try?

Note - that the PC will need to slot into the gap under the TV:
Width = 45cm
Height = 16.5cm
Depth = 50cm

Also I want to have room in the case for a TV card so any case must allow the addition of one of these as well as a GPU
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Sound from the PC - do motherboards come with reasonbably good soundcards these days?
Short term I would just have the sound via the TV - but longer term maybe output to some speaker system
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TV card - I currently have 2 very old blackgold GDI Freeview tuners (PCI) single tuner cards
I am thinking of getting this card when it comes out (BGT3650):
http://shop.blackgold.tv/epages/BT3159.sf/en_AU/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT3159/Products/BGT3650
If I understand correct this will allow recording of 4 Freeview HD channels at once?
My area has just had the TV signal switched
Will this card only work with media centre or will other apps work with the card (i.e. pickup the TV signal?)
Again my questions on compatibility with the case here apply again - will it fit as I think this is a PCIE card?
(Will a GPU and this card fit in the case together?)
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Heat, noise and energy consumption are I guess of note here - less for all is better
However I do not want super slow equipment which will be unable to do what I want it to
With this in mind - what sort of motherboard/CPU/cooler/mem/PSU/GPU combinations would people recommend (in light of the above TV card and case choices)

I was thinking of a Z68 Motherboard with maybe an I5 2500K with 4-8GB of DDR3 Ram?
Is this good/bad in terms of heat/noise/performance/energy use constraints?
What motherboard brands are good - and which to avoid?
What GPU? I don’t want something too slow unable to handle things
What PSU to power it all - quieter the better!
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I have read some tales about people having issues with Media PC's and suspend resume:

Not going to sleep when told via the remote
Not waking up to record
Not shutting down after recoding
Once sleeping - waking up again for no apparent reason

Anyone know much about this - is this now ok in Win7?
I don’t want the machine on when it doesn’t need to be - but I also don’t want it missing recordings from not waking when it should!
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Do I need to use windows MCE for the media playback or can other 3rd party apps now do the job better (if so which)? (and also do they interface with the TV card's ok?)
Do 3rd party apps work ok with suspend/resume (waking for recordings and sleeping when done?)
One app I read about is XBMC - any good?
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This may be non-legal - cant remember 100% if it is or not (if it is don’t worry on this one)
But what format would people recommend to backup their DVD's to for playback via a media app?
MKV is one I read about - any others?
I guess MCE will not play these - but do others support it?
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TV Arial - I would need to split this somehow so one end goes to the TV and one goes to the TV card on the PC?
Anything around here I need to know or think about?
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I guess other questions will arise but lets see where these lead to for now

Thanks for any input, Neill

 

[SGWills]

i use XBMC for films and music and i think its amazing, it plays more or less anything i have thrown at it, you can use third party apps to get coverart, film info, cast etc (ember media manager is what i use) you can organise tv show and series within it aswel, quite a few skins to change the look to suit your taste and its free.

Case wise - this comes down to your own taste, you can get slim line cases, i used my old Li lian v1000 as it was black and the rest of my AV stuff is black aswel

you can look at the new AMD cpu as they can handle the graphics pretty well from what i read up on, i would say that 4 gig of ram would be more than enough for a media centre however no harm in putting more on if you so wish.

Im sure with the ATI + Nvidia cards you can do sounds over HDMI if your just connect through the TV, i connect mine by HDMI for the graphics and then phono to amp for sound.

answered a few questions not all of them though but its a start

 

[munz]

i5 2500k great for gaming pc, most people go for "k" version as it can be overclocked (create heat/requires more cpu votlages) to improve performance in games etc.

im pretty sure one of new AMD APU or i3 cpu, H67 mobo + hd6450/gt430 would destroy simple media tasks you describe. These options would use less power/create less heat/ be cheaper to buy.
If you need 3D content maybe go for higher spec GPU (gt450?/hd6670) but you dont mention this.

For full hd playback new i3 CPU + integrated graphics is more than enough.

There is the 24fps issue but easily sorted out with hd6450/gt430 added if you find it noticeable (basically a repeated frame every 40 seconds)

Small cases are great but you have to watch heat output, you wont fry your CPU at 60+ degrees but you will damage your Hard drive at these temps., go for low power/low heat this also tends to mean less noise, less/slower fans etc.

 

[Legion]

This is quite the wall of text to answer in one chunk,but here goes.

I would like to control it via a remote and have from ages ago a windows xp media centre edition remote (with USB IR receiver) is this still compatible with Win7?
Does it work with other media apps?

Compatible and usable with Win7 = Yes.
With other apps (such as XMBC) it may need reconfiguring which isn't dramatically difficult.

Have also been looking at the "Rii Mini PC Keyboard Touchpad V2 Black" for touchpad and keyboard - any comments/views on this one?
Thought this might make use of the PC a bit more practical day to day

It's all about what you prefer,I personally can't live with mini keyboards and went with a Logitech K800 as I do a lot of typing.
I love it.

I am thinking of getting a Samsung UE32D6530 LED TV to hook this all up to - what kind of connector route is used to output vid and sound to the TV?
HDMI? Or some other method? What do GPU's output to these days?

HDMI is by far the most popular.

Case - I have an old case from around 5 years back which I used for windows xp media centre edition 2005
I think this is a coolermaster atcs case - possibly this one - ATC-620-SX1

It's perfectly usable it's M-atx and takes Atx power supplies,these are still todays standards.

Sound from the PC - do motherboards come with reasonbably good soundcards these days?
Short term I would just have the sound via the TV - but longer term maybe output to some speaker system

The onboard sound supplied with motherboards today is fine.

TV card - I currently have 2 very old blackgold GDI Freeview tuners (PCI) single tuner cards
I am thinking of getting this card when it comes out (BGT3650):
http://shop.blackgold.tv/epages/BT3159.sf/en_AU/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT3159/Products/BGT3650
If I understand correct this will allow recording of 4 Freeview HD channels at once?
My area has just had the TV signal switched
Will this card only work with media centre or will other apps work with the card (i.e. pickup the TV signal?)
Again my questions on compatibility with the case here apply again - will it fit as I think this is a PCIE card?
(Will a GPU and this card fit in the case together)

If you are going to use the case you have and a GPU then those 2 old pci tv cards will have to go!
The Blackgold card will work in the bottom pci-e x16 slot of an m-atx motherboard while using a gpu also.

I'm currently running a BGT 3600 with a Gainward Phantom GTX 570 in a HTPC gaming build with no problems at all or loss of bandwidth using the BGT in the bottom slot.

The card will indeed record 4 channels if you arent watching any,if you are watching one the other 3 tuners will record 3 channels (I'm sure you are getting the idea by now)

Heat, noise and energy consumption are I guess of note here - less for all is better
However I do not want super slow equipment which will be unable to do what I want it to
With this in mind - what sort of motherboard/CPU/cooler/mem/PSU/GPU combinations would people recommend (in light of the above TV card and case choices)

I was thinking of a Z68 Motherboard with maybe an I5 2500K with 4-8GB of DDR3 Ram?
Is this good/bad in terms of heat/noise/performance/energy use constraints?
What motherboard brands are good - and which to avoid?
What GPU? I don’t want something too slow unable to handle things
What PSU to power it all - quieter the better!

Am I right in assuming that all you want to do on this pc is watch and record tv and playback media?
Do you want to use it for general pc usage as well?
You haven't mentioned gaming either so we'll rule that out also.

I'd suggest you Look at buying an AMD Llano A8-3850 CPU(has a nice and fast gpu built into it) and an Asus F1A75 M-PRO motherboard and 4gb of ram,8gb would be absolute overkill for your needs. (I'll tell you why exactly an Asus board in your next question)
For overall system "snappiness" you want to be looking at buying an SSD as your boot drive and use a 1tb+ hdd to record tv on and store your media etc.
1tb is nothing these days and you'll find it's soon gone,if you dont have a nas or server and no plans to buy or build either you may want to look at a bigger case you can pack with 2tb drives later down the line.
You could alternatively use external usb drives,the choices are all yours.

The above system with 1 ssd,1 3.5" hdd,1 optical drive,keyboard,tv card and a few case fans will draw 90-100w (at the wall socket) watching tv/playing HD content.
A 300-350w Atx psu is more than you'd ever need even if you swapped to a case to allow for more hard drives.

If you want a gaming build you want to be looking at an i5 2500k build with a gaming gpu.
I wouldnt recommend you do that in the case you currently have!
Power requirements for this would depend entirely on what gpu you want to put in it.

I have read some tales about people having issues with Media PC's and suspend resume:

Not going to sleep when told via the remote
Not waking up to record
Not shutting down after recoding
Once sleeping - waking up again for no apparent reason

Anyone know much about this - is this now ok in Win7?
I don’t want the machine on when it doesn’t need to be - but I also don’t want it missing recordings from not waking when it should!

This is still a problem and it varies from motherboard to motherboard and sometimes they even break it with bios updates.
In my HTPC's I've had more success with this on Asus boards than any other brand though.
Use "google" a lot when looking at boards to buy.

Do I need to use windows MCE for the media playback or can other 3rd party apps now do the job better (if so which)? (and also do they interface with the TV card's ok?)

There is still no perfect all in one solution,it's all about taste.
Most people with tv cards use Windows media centre to record tv and XMBC for media playback.
XMBC doesn't natively support tv cards and they have no plans at all to include tv support for it.
I've read it can be made to work with the use of various frontends and backends,but looks like a lot of hassle and Windows media centre does it so effortlessly.

Media Portal is also quite good for tv cards and has the added feature that you can stream the tv signals over your network.

Do 3rd party apps work ok with suspend/resume (waking for recordings and sleeping when done?)

No issues using Windows media centre,others I can't comment on.

This may be non-legal - cant remember 100% if it is or not (if it is don’t worry on this one)
But what format would people recommend to backup their DVD's to for playback via a media app?
MKV is one I read about - any others?
I guess MCE will not play these - but do others support it?

I'm not going to comment on how you should back up your media collection,but Windows Media center will play back any format with the installation of a codec pack (google shark007 it's a good choice for beginners)

TV Arial - I would need to split this somehow so one end goes to the TV and one goes to the TV card on the PC?
Anything around here I need to know or think about?

Any standard aerial splitter will work fine.
The only thing you need to know is when you split the signal it's not as strong.
If you have a strong signal now it shouldn't be a problem,it only really affects sources that have a weak signal to begin with.

No more walls of text please lol,it's this that's putting people off answering your questions (took me nearly an hour + later edits)

Read,read,read, loads of sites out there that do this a lot better than our little sff section here.
You aren't going to find the answers to your questions all in one place,you need to dig around various forums to get a few opinions.
We also have a home cinema and hi fi forum here which if you did a little searching would answer a lot of your questions,media software and tv cards tends to be discussed there rather than in here.

Avforums is also a huge source of information for setting up and using media pc's with tv cards.
Tons and tons of threads all at your finger tips,all you have to do is use google and search functions within forums.

Downoad and install XMBC on any pc you have and have a play with it now rather than later when you've spent a fortune and decided you don't like it.
It's a small download and leaves no permanent files on your pc should you decide to uninstall it.

 

[Neill_J]

Hi SGWills

Thanks for the info - I have since I posted had a quick play with XBMC and it looks very nice. From what little i have read it seems very customisable

Case - I am leaning towards re-using the old case, if that doesn't work then I will need to identify a case which will fit the dimensions I posted and will fit a Dual PCI express motherboard, am sure there are some (but hope I wont need to get one)

My question around video connection and HDMI, I will use that method if I can but do the modern GPU's have HDMI on the back? I am a bit out the picture on hardware this last year or 2 due to a little one

If i went down the route of inbuilt video then the same question there I guess - do they have HDMI?

Many thanks, Neill

i use XBMC for films and music and i think its amazing, it plays more or less anything i have thrown at it, you can use third party apps to get coverart, film info, cast etc (ember media manager is what i use) you can organise tv show and series within it aswel, quite a few skins to change the look to suit your taste and its free.

Case wise - this comes down to your own taste, you can get slim line cases, i used my old Li lian v1000 as it was black and the rest of my AV stuff is black aswel

you can look at the new AMD cpu as they can handle the graphics pretty well from what i read up on, i would say that 4 gig of ram would be more than enough for a media centre however no harm in putting more on if you so wish.

Im sure with the ATI + Nvidia cards you can do sounds over HDMI if your just connect through the TV, i connect mine by HDMI for the graphics and then phono to amp for sound.

answered a few questions not all of them though but its a start

 

[Neill_J]

Hi Munz

I should have made clear that my main use for this is a Media PC
I have a separate PC for gaming (not that I get time these days with an 18month old lol)

I think I would be happy with an I3 CPU - they seem well rated
The I5 would maybe be overkill and unnecessary (and quicker than my gaming PC!)
This would seem a good balance of performance and efficiency

I think I would be happy with the built in video from the CPU (though I have no idea how this works in principal - how does a CPU do video?). everything I have read indicates they are quick enough for Media usage.
I do want the option for an add on card later on if I choose that route so need any mainboard to be able to support 2 x PCI express

this 24fps issue I have read about somewhere before (anandtech possibly) - is it confined to the built in video or also add on cards?

Many thanks, Neill

i5 2500k great for gaming pc, most people go for "k" version as it can be overclocked (create heat/requires more cpu votlages) to improve performance in games etc.

im pretty sure one of new AMD APU or i3 cpu, H67 mobo + hd6450/gt430 would destroy simple media tasks you describe. These options would use less power/create less heat/ be cheaper to buy.
If you need 3D content maybe go for higher spec GPU (gt450?/hd6670) but you dont mention this.

For full hd playback new i3 CPU + integrated graphics is more than enough.

There is the 24fps issue but easily sorted out with hd6450/gt430 added if you find it noticeable (basically a repeated frame every 40 seconds)

Small cases are great but you have to watch heat output, you wont fry your CPU at 60+ degrees but you will damage your Hard drive at these temps., go for low power/low heat this also tends to mean less noise, less/slower fans etc.

 

[Neill_J]

Hi Legion

apologies to you and the others for the wall of text
too many questions is my problem!
Let me respond to your points below...

thanks very much for taking the time to help

Neill

This is quite the wall of text to answer in one chunk,but here goes.



Compatible and usable with Win7 = Yes.
With other apps (such as XMBC) it may need reconfiguring which isn't dramatically difficult.



It's all about what you prefer,I personally can't live with mini keyboards and went with a Logitech K800 as I do a lot of typing.
I love it.

Agree - personal taste here


HDMI is by far the most popular.
As I mentioned in an earlier reply - if I use HDMI I assume this is a connection option for both add on cards types/brands (ATI/Nvidia) and also built in video from a CPU?


It's perfectly usable it's M-atx and takes Atx power supplies,these are still todays standards.

good news - I will try to recycle the case for this project


The onboard sound supplied with motherboards today is fine.
noted




If you are going to use the case you have and a GPU then those 2 old pci tv cards will have to go!
Yep, I had already planned this in - I have not seen any new mainboards in Micro ATX form factor with more than 1 PCI slot
this is why I was planning on getting a quad card as there are always times when 2 tuners are not enough!

The Blackgold card will work in the bottom pci-e x16 slot of an m-atx motherboard while using a gpu also.
To check I understand things here - if I had a separate GPU and the TV tuner (both are PCIexpress) then most modern boards would work with this combo?
I see various things about the PCI express connectors such as some working on x16 speed then others on x8 speed etc (I assume this is related to mainly use as a GPU and not a TV card in the same slot)
So in summary if the motherboard has 2 PCI express slots then this would be ok? (one slot for the GPU (if I dont use the built in video) and the other for the TV tuner)

I'm currently running a BGT 3600 with a Gainward Phantom GTX 570 in a HTPC gaming build with no problems at all or loss of bandwidth using the BGT in the bottom slot.

The card will indeed record 4 channels if you arent watching any,if you are watching one the other 3 tuners will record 3 channels (I'm sure you are getting the idea by now)
Yep



Am I right in assuming that all you want to do on this pc is watch and record tv and playback media?
Yes correct - though with an option for future extra use possibly as gaming PC
Do you want to use it for general pc usage as well?
At the moment the intention would be Media PC and maybe a bit of skype and youtube, iplayer etc and the odd web browsing (but the laptop is more likely for that)
You haven't mentioned gaming either so we'll rule that out also.
Agreed - not planned at the moment (but if i can leave the possibility there)

I'd suggest you Look at buying an AMD Llano A8-3850 CPU(has a nice and fast gpu built into it) and an Asus F1A75 M-PRO motherboard and 4gb of ram,8gb would be absolute overkill for your needs. (I'll tell you why exactly an Asus board in your next question)
Mentioned on an earlier post am leaning towards and intel I3. Are these ok or do you think the AMD is better for me?
For overall system "snappiness" you want to be looking at buying an SSD as your boot drive and use a 1tb+ hdd to record tv on and store your media etc.
1tb is nothing these days and you'll find it's soon gone,if you dont have a nas or server and no plans to buy or build either you may want to look at a bigger case you can pack with 2tb drives later down the line.
You could alternatively use external usb drives,the choices are all yours.
This is an area I am thinking about generally
I would like a NAS for media, but for now I think I would go for the 30-40GB SSD for the OS and then 1 x 2TB HDD for TV recordings.
NAS drive eventually would be the best goal.

The above system with 1 ssd,1 3.5" hdd,1 optical drive,keyboard,tv card and a few case fans will draw 90-100w (at the wall socket) watching tv/playing HD content.
A 300-350w Atx psu is more than you'd ever need even if you swapped to a case to allow for more hard drives.
Ok thanks, will this 300-350 PSU be ok for an I3 intel and all the stuff that goes with it?
Any particularly good silent PSU models anyone could point me to?

If you want a gaming build you want to be looking at an i5 2500k build with a gaming gpu.
I wouldnt recommend you do that in the case you currently have!
Power requirements for this would depend entirely on what gpu you want to put in it.


This is still a problem and it varies from motherboard to motherboard and sometimes they even break it with bios updates.
In my HTPC's I've had more success with this on Asus boards than any other brand though.
Use "google" a lot when looking at boards to buy.
Boards to buy - I have been as I say mulling the I3 route
One board I was thinking of is the - Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H Intel Z68 (REV B3) Socket 1155 DDR3 PCI-Express Motherboard
Anyone got one of those?



There is still no perfect all in one solution,it's all about taste.
Most people with tv cards use Windows media centre to record tv and XMBC for media playback.
XMBC doesn't natively support tv cards and they have no plans at all to include tv support for it.
I've read it can be made to work with the use of various frontends and backends,but looks like a lot of hassle and Windows media centre does it so effortlessly.
I would probably stick with media center for most if it works in the main
XMBC looks good but if MCE works I prefer the one solution route

Media Portal is also quite good for tv cards and has the added feature that you can stream the tv signals over your network.



No issues using Windows media centre,others I can't comment on.



I'm not going to comment on how you should back up your media collection,but Windows Media center will play back any format with the installation of a codec pack (google shark007 it's a good choice for beginners)
thanks for the tip


Any standard aerial splitter will work fine.
The only thing you need to know is when you split the signal it's not as strong.
If you have a strong signal now it shouldn't be a problem,it only really affects sources that have a weak signal to begin with.
I currently have a wall socket which the Arial connects to (goes to the PVR).
I am going to try to work out the best way to split the signal cable to TV and Media PC - anyone got a link to equipment which will do this?

No more walls of text please lol,it's this that's putting people off answering your questions (took me nearly an hour + later edits)
So did my reply's sorry. I hadnt realised my post was such a tome lol

Read,read,read, loads of sites out there that do this a lot better than our little sff section here.
You aren't going to find the answers to your questions all in one place,you need to dig around various forums to get a few opinions.
We also have a home cinema and hi fi forum here which if you did a little searching would answer a lot of your questions,media software and tv cards tends to be discussed there rather than in here.
Ok thanks, I guess my questions really span more than just SFF, I will go through these sections/sites

Avforums is also a huge source of information for setting up and using media pc's with tv cards.
Tons and tons of threads all at your finger tips,all you have to do is use google and search functions within forums.
I have been reading a bit on there the last 24 hours - it is a great source of info (probably too much info to digest)

Downoad and install XMBC on any pc you have and have a play with it now rather than later when you've spent a fortune and decided you don't like it.
It's a small download and leaves no permanent files on your pc should you decide to uninstall it
Have already started

 

[Legion]

I'll go over the hardware again as that is what's currently confusing you the most.

Pci-e (pci express) comes in 3 slot sizes 1x 4x and 16x.
16x as you've guessed is primarily for use with graphics card but other cards such as sound cards,raid cards and tv cards etc can also be used in these slots without issue.

For example my motherboard in my gaming htpc has 2 pci-e x16 slots,1 pci-e x1 slot and 1 pci slot.

My graphics card has a very large and silent cooler on it which blocks 2 1/2 slots only leaving the bottom pci-e x16 slot usuable in my situation.
My tv card is pci-e x1 and usable in any pci-e x16,x4 or x1 slot,so it goes in the pci-e x16 slot on the bottom of the motherboard as the x1 slot is blocked by the gfx card.

All current M-atx motherboards which are capable of running multiple gfx cards (sli or crossfire) are laid out in this way.

HDMI
The current generation i3 and above cpu's using socket 1155 all have a gpu built into the cpu itself.
It's the motherboard you buy for these cpu's that dictates the outputs to video you can use,not the cpu directly itself.

Motherboards based on the H61,H67 and Z68 chipset all support and have built in outputs for HDMI when using any of the above listed cpu's.
If you want a seperate gpu for gaming 99.9% of all new graphics cards have an HDMI port,check before you buy.

You say you might want to use the system for gaming later down the line,in this case I'd forget my AMD recommendation and go i3 with a z68 board.
This way you can swap out the cpu for an i5 later and add a gfx card capable of playing the games that interest you with the level of detail that suits your budget.

I'd go with a Z68 board over the H61 and H67 as this will allow you to overclock a "k" designated cpu (i5 2500k for example) therefore giving you even more longevity over the non overclocking H61 and H67 motherboards.
If you have no intention of overclocking buy a H67 based board instead.

I'd also forget the 300-350w psu and buy something around 500w now instead of having to replace that later also if you plan to add a fairly high powered graphics card for gaming further down the line.

The case you have now will keep a media pc cool enough,but it's not going to be much use to you if you decide you want to game on the system at some point.
You could mod the case with some extra fans if there's room for them,only you can decide if this is something you'd want to do.

I'd suggest you look at Silverstone GD04B,GD05B and GD06B cases.
They sure aren't the best looking cases ever but they are cheap and have the best layout and smallest volume of any M-atx htpc case capable of taking large graphics cards and a decent amount of hard drives.

They also have 3 120mm fan mounts giving them ample airflow to keep a beastly gaming htpc nice and cool.

A simple Y splitter is all you need to split your aerial cable (a couple of quid tops),plug that into the wall socket with leads going to whatever you want to feed a signal to.

 

[munz]

yeah the 24fps issue is confined to i3/i5/i7 when using integrated graphics, easily solved by adding a graphics card like hd6450/gt430.

Z68 vs H67, h67 is cheaper, they can both use IGP if for some reason your gpu fails/rma/ you decide not get to buy one at first.
h67 cant overclock, but why would you want to overclock a media pc? it will just create more heat/noise/and use more voltages.
If you are using a matx case then you cant really get massive air cpu cooler in there, so you want cpu temps to be lowish with stock cooler ideally.
I3 retail cpu are packed with low height cpu cooler which are ideal for media use.


whats your budget?

Maybe take look at G620 it dual core intel processor, uses less power than i3, and is basically i3 without quicksync and hyperthreading, and is about £40 cheaper.

The ultimate HTPC guide

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1302559

PSU wise: Corsair 430w and Antec green 380w look good,

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The 65W A6-3500 triple core has better video decode ability over an HD6450 and probably better video encode ability when compared to a G620T. It costs around £72. There are some cheaper ASRock and Biostar A75 motherboards for around £50 to £55.

The dual core 65W A4-3400 dual core for around £60 is being released soon which has an HD6450 level IGP.

 

[Neill_J]

Hi Legion

Sorry for slow reply - busy weekend
Thanks again for the additional info, much clearer now

Thanks, Neill

I'll go over the hardware again as that is what's currently confusing you the most.

Pci-e (pci express) comes in 3 slot sizes 1x 4x and 16x.
16x as you've guessed is primarily for use with graphics card but other cards such as sound cards,raid cards and tv cards etc can also be used in these slots without issue.

For example my motherboard in my gaming htpc has 2 pci-e x16 slots,1 pci-e x1 slot and 1 pci slot.

My graphics card has a very large and silent cooler on it which blocks 2 1/2 slots only leaving the bottom pci-e x16 slot usuable in my situation.
My tv card is pci-e x1 and usable in any pci-e x16,x4 or x1 slot,so it goes in the pci-e x16 slot on the bottom of the motherboard as the x1 slot is blocked by the gfx card.

All current M-atx motherboards which are capable of running multiple gfx cards (sli or crossfire) are laid out in this way.

HDMI
The current generation i3 and above cpu's using socket 1155 all have a gpu built into the cpu itself.
It's the motherboard you buy for these cpu's that dictates the outputs to video you can use,not the cpu directly itself.

Motherboards based on the H61,H67 and Z68 chipset all support and have built in outputs for HDMI when using any of the above listed cpu's.
If you want a seperate gpu for gaming 99.9% of all new graphics cards have an HDMI port,check before you buy.

You say you might want to use the system for gaming later down the line,in this case I'd forget my AMD recommendation and go i3 with a z68 board.
This way you can swap out the cpu for an i5 later and add a gfx card capable of playing the games that interest you with the level of detail that suits your budget.

I'd go with a Z68 board over the H61 and H67 as this will allow you to overclock a "k" designated cpu (i5 2500k for example) therefore giving you even more longevity over the non overclocking H61 and H67 motherboards.
If you have no intention of overclocking buy a H67 based board instead.

I'd also forget the 300-350w psu and buy something around 500w now instead of having to replace that later also if you plan to add a fairly high powered graphics card for gaming further down the line.

The case you have now will keep a media pc cool enough,but it's not going to be much use to you if you decide you want to game on the system at some point.
You could mod the case with some extra fans if there's room for them,only you can decide if this is something you'd want to do.

I'd suggest you look at Silverstone GD04B,GD05B and GD06B cases.
They sure aren't the best looking cases ever but they are cheap and have the best layout and smallest volume of any M-atx htpc case capable of taking large graphics cards and a decent amount of hard drives.

They also have 3 120mm fan mounts giving them ample airflow to keep a beastly gaming htpc nice and cool.

A simple Y splitter is all you need to split your aerial cable (a couple of quid tops),plug that into the wall socket with leads going to whatever you want to feed a signal to.

 

[Neill_J]

Hi

my latest thoughts about what to get after the advice given are:

Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H Intel Z68 (REV B3) Socket 1155 DDR3
CPU - Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor
Memory - 4GB Corsair Vengeance Blue LP (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz

Are the above ok together? to me they look ok for HDMI output and also allow 2 PCIE cards

Is there any difference between the various (1155) I3 processors apart from clock speed?

PSU choice has me stumped (see questions below)

I presume I would be better with a modular one so I can remove unnecessary cables?
What kind of wattage would I need for the above components?
If I was to also look to run (at some future point) a dedicated GPU such as a ATI6950 what power PSU should I get as a minimum for that?
Does a 400watt PSU draw more power than a 500watt PSU for the same components? (i.e. is the wattage quoted showing the maximum output it can provide rather than the amount it draws all the time?) Does a 400 idle at a lower power/cost than a 500?
Can anyone provide me a link to a PSU on OCUK which is good - and quiet. Corsair TX models seem to be rated (but wattage seems high) - how are the CX models rated?

Many thanks, Neill

 

[Legion]

Hi

my latest thoughts about what to get after the advice given are:

Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H Intel Z68 (REV B3) Socket 1155 DDR3
CPU - Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor
Memory - 4GB Corsair Vengeance Blue LP (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz

Are the above ok together? to me they look ok for HDMI output and also allow 2 PCIE cards

Will all work fine Neil.

Is there any difference between the various (1155) I3 processors apart from clock speed?

No difference apart from clockspeed,the exception being the i3 2105 which has the hd3000 igpu while the rest have the hd2000 igpu.

PSU choice has me stumped (see questions below)

I presume I would be better with a modular one so I can remove unnecessary cables?
What kind of wattage would I need for the above components?
If I was to also look to run (at some future point) a dedicated GPU such as a ATI6950 what power PSU should I get as a minimum for that?
Does a 400watt PSU draw more power than a 500watt PSU for the same components? (i.e. is the wattage quoted showing the maximum output it can provide rather than the amount it draws all the time?) Does a 400 idle at a lower power/cost than a 500?
Can anyone provide me a link to a PSU on OCUK which is good - and quiet. Corsair TX models seem to be rated (but wattage seems high) - how are the CX models rated?

Many thanks, Neill

Power supplies only draw what they need Neil,if you have a 600w psu with a 200w power draw that's what the psu gives it.

The wattage rating for the psu is the maximum sustained output that particular psu is certified to run at.

The power cost differences between a 400w and 500w at idle will be miniscule and not worth concerning yourself with.

Your current hardware list is going to run well below 100 watts atm.
Add +20w for your planned tv card.
If you planned on a graphics card around the power of a 6950 the system is going to draw around 250w whilst playing some system taxing games.

So you want something around 400w to give you more breathing room over the 250w you actually need.
This is good news as you can't really buy anything under 400w that's actually worth spending any money on.

If you want to buy everything from Ocuk and money is tight,then this will do you nicely
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-059-CS&tool=5

If you want modular and have more to spend,then this:-
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-118-AN&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1088

Personally I'd go middle of the road and pick this one:-
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-042-BQ&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1083