New HTPC Build

volkan

volkan

volkan

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Joined
30 May 2008
Posts
74
Location
London, UK
Hi Guys,

I currently have a 'HTPC' built of odd parts, that has been working fine, but it is getting old, and I never managed to get 5.1 working through a Bose V20 which will accept Dolby and DTS signals.

[Sidebar, the Bose can only be connected via optical, and the current HTPC has a Creative Recon 3D PCI-E. With Dolby enabled, it seems to work fine, until a video is played and all the speaker mappings go haywire. I open the Creative control panel, test the front speak, and the back one plays etc. Never managed to fix it. So the new HTPC will 100% need to work with the Bose unit]

The current PC has a GForce 210 which I am willing to re-use, however I trust most onboard graphics would be just as good? My budget is around £500 without any storage (everything is currently stored on a NAS), so I guess I am looking for a good mobo/cpu/soundcard combination to ensure we can get a Dolby encoded signal via optical to the Bose unit.

It has been a few years since I have looked into this, and I have spent the last few hours doing research, but I was just hoping someone could make some recommendations and point me in the right direction. I have never had much knowledge on soundcards, but I believe I need one which can encode 5.1 (AC3?) over optical. My current soundcard does have this, but it never worked.

I'm looking forward to your recommendations.

Cheers,
V
 
Hows this?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-4130 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £83.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £79.99
1 x ASRock H87M Intel H87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £71.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £59.99
1 x Seasonic G series 360w '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £49.99
1 x Alpenföhn Panorama CPU Cooler £19.99
Total : £375.54 (includes shipping : £8.00).



No need for the separate graphics. Onboard optical should work as well as a dedicated soundcard into the bose (provided the motherboard drivers are any good, no idea how good Asrocks drivers are)
 
Thanks for the reply, I should have noted space isn't an issue, so I could get a HTPC case which will support ATX, so I'm not limited to just Micro-ATX boards.

Like I said audio is the most important factor. As long as the onboard optical and encode DTS or Dolby, that's perfect.

I was looking at http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-566-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2574

I like the idea that the Z87 can support 4k, but I'm not sure if supports Dolby/DTS. Maybe I should just get a half decent soundcard?
 
volkan said:
That does look good, but it is based on a Creative chip which has been causing the problem with the current HTPC, I am a little off Creative TBH, but perhaps I just have a crap card. I know it isn't the bose unit, it handles 5.1 perfectly via the Sky HD box and Xbox.
Click to expand...

It`s possible the fault might be with your sound card. If you have the same problem with the Sniper, you can always send it back.
 
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