Upgrading my HTPC (Check my spec)

nintenjo · 2 Aug 2008 at 20:08

I am just about to order some new parts for my HTPC to get it up to spec.. So have a gander and let me know what you think:

Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H, AMD 780G, S AM2+
2GB (2x1GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400
500 GB Samsung HD502IJ Spinpoint F1
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4450e AM2 Dual Core 2.3GHz
TP-Link WN851N 300Mbps Wireless "N" PCI Adapter
Hauppauge WinTV-NOVA-HD-S2 PCI TV Card

Your thoughts?? Im looking for a quiet system so wont be overclocked and no games so onboard graphics should be fine.

goujon945 · 2 Aug 2008 at 20:12

Looks good mate. may i ask what case you are using?

nintenjo · 2 Aug 2008 at 20:17

You may.. Its all going in a Silverstone Grandia GD01 with IR and LCD display

http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/p_contents.php?pno=gd01&area=usa

It does actually take a full ATX board but i thought the mATX board might give it a bit more room to breathe for airflow and i dont really need any more than 2 PCI slots..

goujon945 · 2 Aug 2008 at 20:23

Looks like a real nice build mate, tbh i'm a tad jealous! It's pretty much the exact spec i would buy if i had the cash. I assume you have a compatible cpu cooler?

nintenjo · 2 Aug 2008 at 20:48

I am planning to use my existing Zalman CNPS7700-AlCu .. its pretty good on my Athlon 3400+ i have currently, and i think its AM2 compatible. If not its a retail CPU so could use the Retail HS/Fan although its probably quite noisy.

nintenjo · 2 Aug 2008 at 20:56

I am also planning to change my OS from XP (using media centre software: Soundgraph Imedian) to vista Prem using MCE built in.

I am hoping the spec will be good enough for recording HD TV in real time.. thats my only issue.

errata · 18 Aug 2008 at 13:47

Recording digital HD is usually not a problem unless your also re-encoding it to a different format. Playback would benefit from ATI's hardware support, make sure you have efficient decoder for playback and its enabled

sibeer · 19 Aug 2008 at 18:45

That spec will be ideal for the intended usage. If it was me though I would be really tempted to take advantage of the small form factor and get a low profile case.