New HTPC

[DerwenArtos12]

Hello all,
It's been a while but I am back. Haven't had time to be here much because of the new job. I work at Data Doctors now and between that and school I just haven't had the time. This lack of time has also killed my gaming, just don't have the time during the week and my weekends are too short and too few to play games. So I am building a HTPC. I miss all the shows I used to watch and I watch movies almost religously now. I have a good idea what I want to get but thought maybe you all had some advice. So here she is:

P4 3.0 775
DFI 915p-tag mobo
1gb Corsair Value Select ddr2-4200
Albatron 6600 vanilla
Ati TV Wonder Elite (considering dual tuners)
Emu 1212M aduio card
2x200GB WD hdd's mirrored
Thermaltake Tenor desktop case
1x 36GB raptor for boot(already have)
1x8x NuTech DVD Burner(already have)


I don't intend upon overclocking it at all and want to make this system very very quiet. Any suggestions?

 

[Clandestiny]

Why not get an A64? If you get an MSI RS480 you won't need an additional video card either. For HTPC you want a quiet machine.

 

[NietzscheRCN]

You didn't mention anything about a PSU or fans. They are a critical component when it comes to sound. I would go with SilenX. Definatly the quietest around. If you need more info on them I would be happy to answer any questions. Also raptors are louder than standard drives so I might suggest using a standard 7200 rpm.

 

[wisdomtooth]

Unfortunately, "quiet" and "Prescott" is rather incompatible. :laugh:

You might want to consider an AMD64 setup instead.

I don't know if that Thermaltake Tenor comes with a PSU or if it does would it be quiet. That's something to look into as well.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

It doesn't come with one and I have an enermax that I changed the fans out on already. I already have a few panaflo's around that I will probably use. I didn't want a64 because pentium 4's are better at encoding. I am a huge AMD fan, trust me, anyone who knows me from my time here before knows that.

 

[Clandestiny]

Get a real encoder card like one of these.

 

[airfoil]

You want to read this

A P4 Prescott based HTPC IMO is not the way to go - AMD64's run cooler and hence quieter, besides being more energy efficient etc etc.

You should consider an A64 3200.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: Clandestiny
Get a real encoder card like one of these.

I'm going either looking at an ATI TV wonder elite or a Hauppage WinTV PVR-250, both of which are true hardware encoders. I meant for divx encoding from DVD's and music encoding.

 

[Clandestiny]

Read this thread before you decide on the PVR.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

and do get an A64 that is comperable to teh 3.0 in video encoding I have to up to the 3800+ that costs twice as much.

 

[wisdomtooth]

Originally posted by: DerwenArtos12
It doesn't come with one and I have an enermax that I changed the fans out on already. I already have a few panaflo's around that I will probably use. I didn't want a64 because pentium 4's are better at encoding. I am a huge AMD fan, trust me, anyone who knows me from my time here before knows that.

Right now I have an HTPC built around a Northwood Pentium 4. These are a bit easier to cool than the Prescotts, and even then I had to go to great lengths to keep it quiet, including:

1) swapping out all the fans in my Silverstone LC03 case to Panaflos.

2) putting all the fans, including the Zalman CNPS7000 heatsink and motherboard NB fan (I use an i875 board) on fan controllers to run them at the lowest setting,

3) mounting all my fans and drives with rubber washers,

4) trying out my Radeon 9800 card with an Arctic Silencer and a Zalman VF700 (after evaluating both, I went with the Arctic Silencer),

5) swapping out my PSU from a two-fan model like your Enermax to a better-venting 120mm-fan unit (Seasonic Super Tornado).

All of the above cost me about $200 above the stock parts I started with.

I imagine you will have to do even more than that if you want to get a Prescott to run quiet.

HTH.

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: wisdomtooth
Unfortunately, "quiet" and "Prescott" is rather incompatible. :laugh:

You might want to consider an AMD64 setup instead.

I don't know if that Thermaltake Tenor comes with a PSU or if it does would it be quiet. That's something to look into as well.

Definitely. A 3000+ - 3200+ 90nm on a MSI Radeon Xpress board will serve you well for the backbone of an HTPC.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

How is the ECS readeon Xpress, I will not buy MSI.

Only 3pci slots on both of them? with the tuner taking up one possibly two slots and the audi taking up another, that is not much room for expansion.