HTPC Build

Procrastastudy

Sorry if this is in the wrong place as I know there is a HTPC build - but I'm also looking for this to double as a seconday gaming system for when I have friends over for multiplayer.

I'll makesure I ask all my saorsat questions over there

1. What is your budget? €500 - 750 cheaper the better really

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? DVR, Downlaoding ahem perfectly leagal stuff from the interweb, NAS (a bit) and gaming.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? No - will get a student version but advice on what to get would be good

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? No

5. Do you need a monitor? No - hooking up via HDMI to the TV and optical to the surround sound.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? No wireless needed have KB and mouse. Any good remote would be awesome

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Not on the HTPC

8. How can you pay? Credit Card

9. When are you purchasing? Soonish

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? Dublin but I'm not fun when I'm building things so wouldn't inflict that on anyone

Monotype

What kind of gaming do you have in mind?

With a HTPC, I'd usually think of more compact sizes - a mini-ITX board and integrated graphics for low power consumption and noise.
It's still possible to get an ITX board with a graphics card with lowish consumption... what about say a 7750 or something? Wouldn't be amazing for games now. If you're putting in tuning/capture cards on top of a graphics card, you'd have to get a board with more slots.

Procrastastudy

I was hoping for something not much bigger than 2 DVD players (or a medium sized amp) with something around the performance of a 6870. I need to get a capture card also for the TV.

I must have a look regards picture quality as I remember it always looked odd - this was before HD to be fair so I suspect that was something to do with overlay.

Monotype

Is it to fit in a shelf?

I was looking into this myself a while ago. The problem that I found with many of these HTPC cases was that the length from front to back is a lot bigger than any DVD player, HE amp or cable box.

http://www1.hardwareversand.de/Desktop/42383/Lian+Li+PC-C50B+HTPC-Chassis+-+black+%2CmATX%2C+ohne+Netzteil.article
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUgjLnlqIbA

http://www1.hardwareversand.de/Desktop/43464/Silverstone+SST-ML03B+Milo+Desktop+-+black.article
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sXjcX_I0hc

The second one is actually low profile so wouldn't be suitable for higher end cards.

An alternative to consider is a USB tuner and go with an ITX board?

Procrastastudy

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/cooler-master-pc-case-mini-itx,16201.html

It must be fate!

EDIT: Would lake to use my 6870 in the HTPC build. Give me an excuse to get a better card for my desktop

EDIT 2: Or not its 20mm too high.

M00lers

I have a Silverstone LC13-E and use it with a 2500K and Asus 6870 Direct CU, looks great in the shelf if you have the room for it.

Procrastastudy

Nice looking kit!

I hadn't actually bothered to measure the place it needs to go - now I'm do its very tight

150mm (H) x 480mm (W) x 310mm (D)

I mightb have to take a saw to my Ikea TV stand

U_Fig

Almost all itx boards will only have 1 pcie slot so you'll have to go USB for the tuners..You'll need to go USB for the tuners tho or mini pcie but they're a lot more hassle..

C14N

GCDLawstudent wrote: »

I was hoping for something not much bigger than 2 DVD players (or a medium sized amp) with something around the performance of a 6870.

I'm not sure that's really possible with any amount of money. You'll be looking at a low-profile case, a full GPU like the 6870 probably won't fit into it (unless you're happy to leave the lid off). If you're shelf is 15cm high, you'll want it to be 12cm tall maximum, unless you really are looking to take a saw to it

Also, what TV are you recording? The Irish channels require a different type of card to the Freeview English ones (DVB-T for Irish, DVB-S for English) so you'll have to either get a hybrid card or have two different ones.

chalkitdown

Probably best to go for USB DVB-T tuner and a dual tuner card for DVB-S2.