Please help me build a HTPC

[turbohardtop]

I need to build a home theather pc mostly to play saved contents (music, movies and pictures). What components do you recommend. I just read the reviews on the Nvidia GeForce 8800Gt card and plan to use this. Which ATX motherboard and CPU would you recommend in addition to other components like audio, harddrive and memory amount. Thanks in advance.

 

[SpeedEng66]

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=710828

here's a link for general hd setups

but more info is needed
are you tryin to get hd/sd quality?
tv = hd?
hdmi or dvi slots on the tv?

since c2d are so cheap these days, it's great! but if you dont need hd all you really need is a basic setup (those are even cheaper )

in my sig is my pos htpc and with that I can push 720i (but all I really need is sd so it works great for what I really need )

 

[heyheybooboo]

GIGABYTE GA-MA69GM-S2H AM2 AMD 690G HDMI - $80
Integrated DVI/ HDMI onboard graphics interface with HDCP - fully support Blu-ray/ HD DVD playback and 8-Channel High Definition audio onboard (Optical S/PDIF Out if you want to pass audio to a SS receiver)

AMD X2 4200+ Windsor 2.2GHz Socket AM2 65W - $80


You don't really need that video card but if you want to considerably off-load VC1 / h264
(Blu-ray/ HD DVD) cpu utilization a Radeon HD 2600XT or nVidia 8600gt starting at $100 would do the trick.

That assumes that you can find a pc Blu-ray/ HD DVD player without feeling totally ripped off.

HDTV PCI Tuner Card & USB HDTV Tuner Chart

Please advise as to whether you will be doing OTA / cable / or both

 

[turbohardtop]

well, the wife says it is ok to buy a new HTPC so I am trying to build the baddest but I do not want to something that is overkill. This device I am looking to build would be used as a gaming device too. I was not planning to use a tuner in this device since there is no tuner for satellite. I might use a tuner for off the air. How is the quality on the onboard hdmi outputs. I thought that the onboard might be a little noisey? I want to use a video card that would offload the processing for mpeg2, H264, etc. I want this box to be able to handle HD if necessary.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: turbohardtop
well, the wife says it is ok to buy a new HTPC so I am trying to build the baddest but I do not want to something that is overkill. This device I am looking to build would be used as a gaming device too. I was not planning to use a tuner in this device since there is no tuner for satellite. I might use a tuner for off the air. How is the quality on the onboard hdmi outputs. I thought that the onboard might be a little noisey? I want to use a video card that would offload the processing for mpeg2, H264, etc. I want this box to be able to handle HD if necessary.

The 8800Gt it is, then, with DVId out to your panel (if it has one - this may be a case for the DVI-to-HDMI Adapter).

Check the AVS Forum concerning HDMI audio only out. Does the 8800gt push audio? I don't know . . . You need to come up with a design for your panel that allows your satellite hookup, computer hookup, game console (if necessary) and hi-def dvd player.

I would suggest optical toslink out to a surround sound receiver - the onboard sound on the Gigabyte is perfect for that - and push your satellite audio through to the receiver, too.

Your set up is not really an htpc. You are just connecting your computer to your panel. For future HDDVD/Blu-Ray I would just buy a separate player and hook it into your panel - push your audio from the player to the receiver OR some panels have audio loopback to the receiver OR some receivers can pass all to the panel . . .

You will be tested later . . .

Nevermind on the Gigabyte mobo. It is specificly configured as an excellent htpc mobo.

 

[jodhas]

From my experience, gaming and HTPC just don't mix...

Edit: With the quieter and less power hungry Radeon 38xx and Geforce 8800GT gaming HTPC just might be a possibility.

 

[Kuroyama]

Assuming this goes in a small box in your living room then you'll want to minimize the heat your parts are generating because ventilation is a bigger problem in these small boxes. For instance, if you go with an AMD part then instead of the 65 watt 4200+ recommended above go for the comparable but lower power 45 watt BE-2400 http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103204

About the smallest case that'll take a micro-ATX board is the Antec NSK1300

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811129019

Buy the biggest and quietest heatsink that'll fit in your case. For the NSK1300 with a Socket AM2 board about the largest (and quietest) HSF that'll fit in is the Zalman CNPS 8000 (it'll block a memory slot though)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835118005

The PSU fan is temperature controlled which is nice. I found the box ran nearly silent when I used onboard graphics, but since I upgraded to the RX2600XT card the PSU noise level has gone from near silent to a noticeable but tolerable buzzing sound as the PSU has to crank up its speed to keep up with the added heat (the cooling is almost entirely controlled by the 12" PSU fan). So again, if you're going for a small case then you might be better off not getting a top of the line GPU unless you actually need it.

If you're going to be running a good sound system off this then don't use onboard audio. I really like my Bluegears b-Enspirer audio (it's paired with Logitech Z-5450 5.1 speakers) :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...29127002&Tpk=bluegears