Proposed HTPC build

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23 Feb 2003
Posts
318
Location
Newport - S Wales
I've bee running a HTPC for a little while, but it's always been a tad unreliable. Yesterday it decided to finally die on me. It's always been a bit too big for my needs, I stupidly didn't measure anything when I bought it.

Spec was;

Core 2 2.66
4GB Giel DDR2 (4 x 1GB)
Asus P5D-N
2 x Gforce 7950GT
2 x WD 250gb - RAID 1
Hiper 580w PSU
Zalman HD160+ Case
Water cooled with a Zalman Reserator.

I'm now looking to go M-ATX as the board has decided to die on me. Again. I also want to ditch the watercooling and go to a smaller case. I may rebuild the Zalman case into a gaming rig further along the line.

Now I plan on the following;

Antec Fusion (Black)
Zotac GeForce 9300-ITX
Core 2 Duo (Reused)
Hiper 580w (Reused)
4 GB DDR (2 x 2GB) - Suggestions?
Cooling? - Suggestions?

I'd like this running on air, but it needs to be quiet. (Not totally silent, as the Sky+ box makes enough noise as it's always on) Can anyone suggest coolers that will fit? Does the IR work okay? Is it IMON like the Zalman? (I always had issues with it, due to powered USB hubs powering the IMON continuously)

Any thoughts on TV cards? I am running SKY+ in the living room and a Blu-Ray drive in the PC. It's possible a HTPC may migrate to my bedroom at some point, but I only have a standard TV ariel in there. What would be the best way to take advantage of this?

Any thoughts/suggestions? Like to get this ordered ASAP so I can build it on Tuesday.
 
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Coooling Either:
* http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-012-SY&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395
or
* http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-022-ZA&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395
both are pretty silent, The scythe has the blitie to run fanless if air flow is decent.

as for the tv card i think u may have a issue with the zotac having no pci exapantion, you'll have to go with a dongle style system such as:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-023-CP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=169

What you relaly should be asking yourself is have you got enouth secruity?
HAving a tv rare for newport let alone a computer as well, im suprised someone from bettws hasnt tried ot rob you yet?
 
An mITX board in a mATX case? Not really the best move ever, a lot of wasted space. The Zotac also lacks SATA and IDE ports (2 SATA, 1 eSATA, no IDE) and can't wake from USB.

If you're happy with the size of the Antec then you'd be best finding a good mATX Geforce 9400m board. Otherwise the In-Win mITX cases that Overclockers do are a good shout, you can get a full size BD drive in them (will save you a fortune compared to a slimline drive that most mITX cases need). Finding a good Intel mITX HTPC board might be a challenge though...
 
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