Media PC

Spec atm:

Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio 7.1 Soundcard (PCI) - OEM
Samsung SH-S182D 18x18 DVD±RW ReWriter (Black) - OEM
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB ST3500630AS SATA-II 16MB Cache (not sure on this)
Asus M2NPV-VM Micro ATX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC5300C4 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ 2.00GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail

Total : £283.05 inc. P&P

Anything you would change? Need case, keyboard/mouse (Keysonic?) and the Remote.
 
Syk3 said:
Why a different CPU Cooler? Are stock ones loud?

Which case would you get?
Click to expand...

Usually yeah, either poor cooling and/or whining. It doesn't matter what case I would get as it's probably not you would get. I'm willing to accept a larger case even though HTPC are usually smaller, I just hate small cases. Larger cases have superior cooling and quieter too, and can change things easier without taking the whole thing apart. This is my HTPC case, looks slightly different now, gone back to onboard, 2.5" is in 5.25" area with a 3.5", using Ninja fan.

htpc.jpg
 
Spec so far:

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB ST3500630AS SATA-II 16MB Cache
Samsung SH-S182D 18x18 DVD±RW ReWriter (Black) - OEM
Asus M2NPV-VM Micro ATX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC5300C4 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ 2.00GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail

+ Antec NSK3400
+ Keysonic ACK-540
(~£80)


Total: £256.03+£90 = £336.03
 
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squiffy said:
That case is similar to the TJ-08, except different intake cooling fans. And the Antec comes with a PSU though.
Click to expand...
Yeah, seems a bit smaller than normal too.

If i was to to get a case, i think i would prefer it to be a bit smaller.

Everything else look okay?

What else would you add?
 
You need IR control.
Make sure that Seagate is "quiet motor" version, apparently the noisy ones are louder than a Raptor.

I don't want to recommend CPU cooler as unsure of the fit.
 
squiffy said:
You need IR control.
Make sure that Seagate is "quiet motor" version, apparently the noisy ones are louder than a Raptor.

I don't want to recommend CPU cooler as unsure of the fit.
Click to expand...
Could always get one at a later date.

What IR Contol you recommend?
 
Do you want case mounted IR receiver or will the PC be out of direct line of sight? If the latter the £24 Microsoft MCE remote/USB IR works fine.
 
squiffy said:
Do you want case mounted IR receiver or will the PC be out of direct line of sight? If the latter the £24 Microsoft MCE remote/USB IR works fine.
Click to expand...
Either way really.
 
some random thoughts....

the Biostar T-Series TA690G AM2 looks interesting. It has an integrated ATI Radeon X1250 graphics with integrated HDMI, DVI and TV-Out ports.

The WD Caviar SE16 500GB is rated as being one of the quietest of the large capacity drives with a low power consumption. No idea of price tho.

Whatever case you go for, make sure it will accommodate an acknowledged quiet cooler. The problem with the smaller cases is that a) some of them have small and noisy PSUs and b) some can only accommodate small and relatively noisy coolers.

It's very hard to make a pc as quiet as a TV and DVD player!

As an alternative to MCE, take a look at www.gbpvr.com

for what it's worth, my HTPC spec is

Silverstone LC17 Case, Silverstone Passive 350W PSU
Abit NF7-S, XP-2500M @ 2.0Ghz, 512GB RAM
Nova-T USB2, Nova-T 500
ATI 9600 Pro Passive,
Windows XP-SP2
1x 250GB + 1 x 400GB disks

I can record 2 shows whilst playing back another without any problems at all.
 
I went over the top with my HTPC spec' (told the missus I've future proofed it ;) ) but one area which I would recommend hands down is the Terratec Cinergy 2400i dual DVB-T card. You'll need a spare PCI-e 1x slot for it but it's very fast at changing channels and picks up Film4 and a few others where my hauppauge ones just didn't!

Worth every penny!
 
Doesnt have to be in a HTPC Case, i will just have to tuck it around the back.

Just main thing is quite a large HDD Capacity, and Silent.
 
Syk3 said:
Doesnt have to be in a HTPC Case, i will just have to tuck it around the back.

Just main thing is quite a large HDD Capacity, and Silent.
Click to expand...

I agree, they are the 2 most important things. Problem is, silent is tricky (and sometimes expensive) because you are probably going to end up with several fans and a hard disk in the case, all making at least a small amount of noise and it all adds up. You will need to select your components carefully. I would recommend you spend a little time reading up over at silentpcreview.

for recording and watching freeview, you need very little CPU power. Match a low power/underclocked cpu to a huge heatsink and you may be able to run it with fan on the cpu.

If you want to convert recordings to divx, the historically an intel chip does better than AMD, though now they have added SSE3, AMD may have caught up some.

Watching HD will probably require more CPU power but where to you plan to get your HD source from?
 
gEd said:
I agree, they are the 2 most important things. Problem is, silent is tricky (and sometimes expensive) because you are probably going to end up with several fans and a hard disk in the case, all making at least a small amount of noise and it all adds up. You will need to select your components carefully. I would recommend you spend a little time reading up over at silentpcreview.

for recording and watching freeview, you need very little CPU power. Match a low power/underclocked cpu to a huge heatsink and you may be able to run it with fan on the cpu.

If you want to convert recordings to divx, the historically an intel chip does better than AMD, though now they have added SSE3, AMD may have caught up some.

Watching HD will probably require more CPU power but where to you plan to get your HD source from?
Click to expand...
Doesnt have to view freeview.

I will have Sky+ upstairs soonish, but the PC is to be used as a cheaper PC and for playing downloaded movies/HD Movies.
 
Closer to the time where i would prefer to order.

What do you recommend then?

Also - is it quieter to go for a bigger PC case then?

I would prefer it to be as quiet as possible, with future upgrades being able to happen.
 
Also - is it quieter to go for a bigger PC case then?
Click to expand...

Think about it, if a larger case has 12cm fans, and space for larger HSF (passive) or space for 12cm CPU fan, then compare that to a slimline case with 6 or 8cm fans, with 8cm stock cooler/Zalman 7000, then the former will be quieter.
 
squiffy said:
Think about it, if a larger case has 12cm fans, and space for larger HSF (passive) or space for 12cm CPU fan, then compare that to a slimline case with 6 or 8cm fans, with 8cm stock cooler/Zalman 7000, then the former will be quieter.
Click to expand...
Yes, but the Zalman im sure are pretty quiet.
 
That's not my point. A 12cm fan 40cfm will be quieter than a 8cm 40cfm fan. Whether it's case, CPU or PSU fan.

Likewise a Zalman 7700B will be quieter than 7000B shifting the same airflow, and because of the extra surface area of the 7700B, it'll be cooler, so to get the same temps you can lower the 7700 fan even more.

ie 4200x2 with Ninja in the TJ-08 with fan at 800rpm is at 26/26 idle. On the 3700 with stock/4400x2 heatpipe it usualled hovered at 30 degrees, and that's a single core CPU. The fan was louder too, even at 1600rpm it made a high pitched whining sound. The Ninja fan at 800rpm is silent
 
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