Advice Needed on Proposed Setup

air

Hi all,
Sticking together a HTPC for a friend and was hoping people could give a look at my proposed system to see if they could make any improvements.
I'm looking at something like this:

Microsoft Remote Keyboard and Mouse Combination
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=317024
79.90
MCE500 Dual Tunder Card
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=314511&view=detailed 192
Silverstone SST-LC04 HTPC, Silver Aluminium w/240W PSU
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=304130

179
400GB Hard Disk
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=313190
210
Motherboard
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=317858

108
1GB Memory
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=123697&cks=ACC 98
AMD Athlon 64 3700
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=309484
229.95
XFX GeForce 7300GS Graphics Card
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=317471

77
DVD Burner
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=314089
44.50

In particular I'm wondering if the PSU will be adequate for the setup.
Also is there any kind of option for using thin clients at other tvs to stream video and / or music from an MCE machine?
I had a look at Sage TV and their thin client is pretty nice and cheap at 109 dollars also.

air

OK, I've found some info on the media centre extender devices - like the Linksys Wireless Media Center Extender (WMCE54AG), anyone got any experience with these?

andy1249

The remote keyboard and mouse combination does not have an IR reciever in the package , the unit assumes you already have the MCE remote control and reciever or some other IR reciever.

It does say this in the text somewhere.

Just so as you know , I got caught out with this , the MCE remote is an extra 39.99 from komplett.

SouperComputer

before I look at the spec, I need to know exactly what this person wants in their home.

Gaming?
Networkability (Multi zone)?
Expanability?
Noise\heat considerations?

TBH, on the outset, it looks overspeccd on CPU.

leahcim

That seems like a seriously high spec PC for a media system.

Unless this person is planning on using this system for gaming it is a little overkill.

I notice the graphics card had fan cooling rather than a heat sink solution. The less fans you can have in a HTPC the better and there are plenty of adequate graphics cards with no fan.

8T8

The CPU is fairly powerful but the GPU is a basic enough item not bottom of the barrel but I wouldn't call it overkill either, a decent choice for getting NVIDIA's Purevideo up & running.


Air a word of warning I had the exact same case as that the one you picked out & the PSU failed on me, this was the at the time the hardware setup;
Athlon 64 3200+
1GB DDR400
160GB Hitachi HD
Motherboard with integrated GeForce 6150 video, HD audio and ethernet
NEC DVD writer
ATI 550 Pro TV Tuner

The PSU just died on me a few weeks after normal operation, I would also not recommend putting a high end Athlon 64 into it's case as you have to enable Cool & Quiet to keep the fan RPM under control as the fan is way more audible in that case. The grill at the top of the case is right over the CPU fan as such the CPU fan is practically in ear shot.

If you really want to use that case get something which only needs a very quiet fan or none at all.

One more warning about the SST-LC04 be sure your motherboard is not using PCI-E slots they do not ship the riser cards required to use PCI-E devices only PCI and AGP ones though I think they now sell a PCI-E riser card on their website.

Ultimately I took another chance on Silverstone & settled on one of these instead and it's a great case I think. Though it needs to be out of sight a bit as it is does not really sport the entire AV look. It's quiet with a fair amount of hardware in it and upgradeable plus you can use any kind of PCI/AGP or PCI-E card you want with it.

air

Cheers for the replies lads.

Andy - the video card comes with the MCE remote so I'd imagine it surely includes the standard IR receiver and the two emitters also.

Souper - the pc will be used as a standard pc on a 32in LCD for limited browsing / email etc, as a media centre pc and I've also put a bid on one of the Linksys extenders to allow it to serve tv / video / music to another TV downstairs that has CAT5 available to it also.
What do you mean by multizone?
Gaming is unlikely.
The CPU is possibly overkill but the cheapest 939 is only a hundred cheaper so I said I'd go for that one, might go for the cheap one in that case. I'm sure a 3000 will have no problem with two tv streams.
Expandability - no requirements that I can see at the moment.
Noise - being relatively quiet would be good alright as this will likely be sitting in the open in the area where it will be used.

leahcim
I'm not too well up on the graphics card scene, care to recommend something more appropriate?

8T8
Thats a bit of a pain regarding the case, i was kind of set on a using a HTPC style one as it will be seen as a piece of hifi equipment alright.
Woudl any of the larger hsf combos that are available for 939 be likely to fit within the case or would they be ruled out on height grounds?
Dont think I'll be using the PCI-E slots

May go for a cheaper motherboard also due to the earlier reprimands on my friviolity

8T8

Really there is little need to change the graphics card, the small fan on those cards run at a slow pace & are not really loud at all, that said you can buy fan-less versions as well which of course would be better in a totally silent system but some fan-less versions can obstruct an expansion slot so for space reasons you might want the fan version.

If you want lose the fan but also use a full height card card see this passive X1300 you also gets ATI's AVIVO video decoder which is the same thing basically as NVIDIA's Purevideo - in short image quality enhancement for DVD's.

As for cases the look and height was what drawed me to the SST-LC04 as well though it was actually bigger than I thought it would be.

As for case suggestions well it is even bigger but take a look at the SST-LC01 (Silverstone link) or anything else along those lines they are basically the same as a midi tower lying on its side and can accommodate any kind of standard computer hardware.

Be sure to Google for reviews of any case you decide on to see what they are like.

air

Right, against everyones advice I went ahead and chanced that case & setup (downgraded the cpu alright).
Anyway, the feckin case is no more ATX compatible than a corn flakes box.
It only comes with two risers - one for an AGP card and one for a PCI.
No PCI-Express support whatsoever and I cant see how it would even work with the AGP and PCI at the same time.
Will have to RMA the MB.
Can anyone recommend a board that works with it?
Will probably have to swap the graphics card aswell now that I think of it.
Hope the cooling off period isnt over.

andy1249

That case just sounds like too much hassle , dont build around that , change the case not the essential parts , ultimately its function not form that you want ! There are plenty of nice cases out there .

8T8

air wrote:

Right, against everyones advice I went ahead and chanced that case & setup (downgraded the cpu alright).
Anyway, the feckin case is no more ATX compatible than a corn flakes box.
It only comes with two risers - one for an AGP card and one for a PCI.
No PCI-Express support whatsoever and I cant see how it would even work with the AGP and PCI at the same time.
Will have to RMA the MB.
Can anyone recommend a board that works with it?
Will probably have to swap the graphics card aswell now that I think of it.
Hope the cooling off period isnt over.

Cant say we didn't gave you fair warning.

That said the motherboard should be ideally mATX in form factor (though they say it takes ATX but that could be a tight fit) and to use the AGP and PCI risers at the same time you need to have the PCI port right beneath the AGP port on the motherboard in order for the risers to work.

Look at the cases website & at the arrangement of the risers in pictures at the bottom.

They now sell a PCI-E riser card (they didnt when I had that case) for the LC04 case that will allow you to use a PCI-E graphics card but I'm not sure where you will be able to obtain the riser card.

I'd go with what andy1249 said and use a different case the LC04 isnt worth the hassle personally.