Could someone check my bits please?

Kotek Besar

Looking at my first HTPC setup. I'm not on expert on this, nor am I a gamer at all. What I want to be able to do is this:

• Plug it into my 40" 1080p TV, over HDMI
• Play blu-ray movies from HTPC's blu-ray drive
• Play blu-ray movies / MKV / M2TS files from the HTPC's hard drive that I have ripped previously
• Play MP3 audio files
• Play slideshows of photos
• Control the whole thing with a remote control, rather than a mouse / keyboard

Would the below be too much, too little, or totally incorrect? €500 is my budget, and I've gone over it slightly. Oh, btw, I already own a Retail Vista Ultimate licence which is currently not installed on a machine.

If someone could be give me some pointers either way, I'd be much obliged!

Kotek Besar

Or from Scan.co.uk (slightly better CPU, but no building service)..

kaisersose77

i'd go for this drive

http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=19273&agid=1074

plays blu-rays and hd-dvds and cheaper than the one you have picked. I know hd-dvd is dead but there is plenty of cheap films still about.

and this ram will do fine

http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=24382&agid=599 and if you have 32bit vista then you can save more and go for 2gb.

Slutmonkey57b

Integrated graphics will lick balls for HDMI playback. Buy a Radeon HD 4350 or 4550.

Kotek Besar

kaisersose77 wrote: »

i'd go for this drive

http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=19273&agid=1074

plays blu-rays and hd-dvds and cheaper than the one you have picked. I know hd-dvd is dead but there is plenty of cheap films still about.

and this ram will do fine

http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=24382&agid=599 and if you have 32bit vista then you can save more and go for 2gb.

Great! Thanks so much for that.

Ok, changed the RAM and the blu-ray drive for what you've suggested. Appreciate that. Going to install 64-bit Vista, so will leave the RAM at 4gb - but thanks for the heads up!



€537 then, with the shipping.

Are there any parts I've forgot? E.g., the configurator doesn't seem to think I need a heatsink or fan? Apologise if this is a stupid statement - it's been a long time since I built a PC!

Kotek Besar

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

Integrated graphics will lick balls for HDMI playback. Buy a Radeon HD 4350 or 4550.

Serious? I read good things about the Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H.

Do you think the XFX RADEON HD 4350 512 MB DDR2 PCI-E 2.0 at €35.31 would be a significant improvement?

Thanks again lads.

eddiem74

benifa wrote: »

Serious? I read good things about the Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H.

Do you think the XFX RADEON HD 4350 512 MB DDR2 PCI-E 2.0 at €35.31 would be a significant improvement?

Thanks again lads.

I am looking at an upgrade to a 4550, I believe that is the minimum you should get. Also has native HDMI so no DVI/HDMI dongle needed.

Slutmonkey57b

benifa wrote: »

Serious? I read good things about the Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H.

Do you think the XFX RADEON HD 4350 512 MB DDR2 PCI-E 2.0 at €35.31 would be a significant improvement?

Thanks again lads.

The integrated graphics will do it, but will still stutter and is robbing some of your main memory. The integrated graphics on those chipsets is just a version of the previous gen Radeon graphics card anyway. The 4350/4550 has integrated sound decoding so it should output everything over the hdmi cable. For €35 it's a hard upgrade to argue with.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3420&p=2
For more.

Kotek Besar

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

The integrated graphics will do it, but will still stutter and is robbing some of your main memory. The integrated graphics on those chipsets is just a version of the previous gen Radeon graphics card anyway. The 4350/4550 has integrated sound decoding so it should output everything over the hdmi cable. For €35 it's a hard upgrade to argue with.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3420&p=2
For more.

Thanks Slutmonkey. Will spend the €35 so.

Call me stupid, but there's no HDMI port on that card. How will I get the video and the sound to my 1080p TV?

kaisersose77

think they usually come with a dvi to hdmi dongle, when u find the one u want just checks the description or manufacturers site, or somebody here will confirm it.

akaSol

Some cards use a SPDIF conector to your sound card, then out through the DVI/HDMI connector.(Whch usually comes in the box but can be bought for less than €5)

>Sol

eddiem74

benifa wrote: »

Thanks Slutmonkey. Will spend the €35 so.

Call me stupid, but there's no HDMI port on that card. How will I get the video and the sound to my 1080p TV?

FYI, I have a 3650 with DVI/HDMI dongle, it works for sound/video with the drivers included with the card, however as soon as I updated to more recent drivers, the sound was gone, and I needed to use sound via SPDIF from mobo. There seems to be a fair few folks who have experienced similar.

As a result I am now gonna upgrade to the 4550 which has a HDMI out on it. Make sure any card you pick also has HDMI on it, don't really understand why you would not ? Will save you an upgrade later. :pac:

mediacentre.ie

eddiem74 wrote: »

FYI, I have a 3650 with DVI/HDMI dongle, it works for sound/video with the drivers included with the card, however as soon as I updated to more recent drivers, the sound was gone, and I needed to use sound via SPDIF from mobo. There seems to be a fair few folks who have experienced similar.

As a result I am now gonna upgrade to the 4550 which has a HDMI out on it. Make sure any card you pick also has HDMI on it, don't really understand why you would not ? Will save you an upgrade later. :pac:

you need to download this driver for hdmi sound: ATI HDMI Audio Device

http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=14&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false

the new ati drivers don't come with it.

Kotek Besar

Thanks lads.

Another thing, the configurator doesn't appear to require a CPU heatsink / fan to be selected. Do I need one for the Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H and AMD Phenom X3 8450?

mediacentre.ie

all processors come with their own fan and heatsink

eddiem74

mediacentre.ie wrote: »

you need to download this driver for hdmi sound: ATI HDMI Audio Device

http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=14&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false

the new ati drivers don't come with it.

I done that, it still does not work.

It works with the drivers provided on the disk that came with it. It works even with the later ATI HDMI Audio from realtek installed with those drivers, however as soon as I update the ATI video drivers, the sound does not work and in CCC the connection changes from HDMI to DVI.

From googling around others seem to also experience this.

kaisersose77

mediacentre.ie wrote: »

all processors come with their own fan and heatsink

german sites sell try and boxed versions of the cpu's, not sure if the tray version has fan/heatsink.

Kotek Besar

mediacentre.ie wrote: »

all processors come with their own fan and heatsink

Just to confirm then, I don't need to buy a fan, nor a heatsink? Then.. why do fans and heatsinks exist?

Or am I just an übern00b?

Slutmonkey57b

When you buy a "boxed" or "retail" processor, you get a fan/heatsink for free from the manufacturer. If you buy a "tray" or "OEM" processor, you have to buy your own.