Help with HTPC build.

km_corrigan

I need some advice choosing components for a HTPC i want to build.
I am looking to go all out on this one, so to make it quite i'll use a SSD for OS and and store everything else on a NAS.
I have pretty much chosen the case and will build around its limitations (430w PSU) ... i hope this is enough.
I am still undecided on Mobo and to use a dedicated GPU or not, i was looking into the nVidia 630i/7100 chipset but after further research have discovered that it would not be able to produce full HD although it has HDMI. So i need advice here mainly!
Just to let u know i might do the odd bit of gaming on it (WoW), i want good processing power too, for encoding and the likes. Mainly i need it quite and easy on power consumption as i will want to have it on all the time downloading.

All help and advice will be apprieciated greatly!

SouperComputer

Well, power consumption wise, the Core2 offers the most processing power per watt of energy consumed. That said AMD are not too far behind. If you REALLY wanted to conserve power, you could run a Core2 solo or a Core2 mobile (solo or duo)

For SSD do you mean a RAM disk for flash? Keep in mind a stick of RAM eats up 15W on average. Something to consider when the core2 CPU's are around the 45W mark.

TBH, even with the energy prices going the way they are, you arent going to save an apreciable amount of money if you go Core2 solo. The HD's are the biggest offenders. PC on 24/7 costs about 180e a year to run.


As for the PSU in that case, remember that for PSU's, not all Watts are created equal. What you want to look at is the amperage available on each rail. Something with a 120MM fan is good too, good airflow with low RPM and low noise.

Example: I have a "400W", Fortron PSU in my desktop computer, its probably 3 yeas old now, if not more. It runs one of the crappiest CPU's of all time, an Overclocked D805. This CPU consumes in the region of 145W of power and in its overclocked state is almost as quick as an entry level core2! In the same case, I have 1x 15K SCSI drive, 3x SATA & PATA drives and a mildly overclocked 6800GT.

Long story short, the PSU in the case you linked to will be plenty powerful for a quad core setup 2-3HD's (maybe 4) and a graphics card good enough for 1080p

Encoding or transcoding, Core2, entry-level, overclocked is the most bang-for-buck you will get. Quad is ideal, depending on how much cpu intensive tasks it will be running simultaneously.

There are some good boards out there with HDMI onboard. They will do 1080p with ease, but your gaming could be another story. Give the onboard a go, it it doesnt cut it, you can add a juicier card at a later stage.

HTH

km_corrigan

Thanks for the advice Souper!

I have decided to go the AMD/ATi path with the:

Gigabyte GA-MA78GM S2H Motherboard
9850 Phenom
Antec Fusion Black 420w
2x 1gb of ddr2 800mhz or 1066mhz

Probably gonna get a big 2.5' HD for os, and have 2tb's on NAS.

Has anyone had experience building with this board? I know it supports 1066mhz ram, but heard its CPU dependant on weather to use 800 or 1066, so am at a decisioon there.

Also im not to sure on which OS to use, have a copy of Xp Pro and Vista Ultimate.. but not sure which to use.. i have heard of people using Vista 64bit for HTPC'c, can anyone shed any light there?

I need some advice on which TV card if any to get, i have no understanding how they work (ie what you need for each one, sky, chorus etc) so if someone could give me the low down on them that would be great!

mediacentre.ie

for sky FloppyDTV S2, Trex CAM and predator firmware

here is the guide

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/skymceintegration.html

chorus

Technotrend C-1501 or FloppyDTV C.