HTPC Build...

[FifthFreedom]

Hey guys.

I'm looking to build a HTPC for my living room.

It needs to be able to:

Play MKV's in 1080p/720p format.

Be as small as reasonably feasible.

Have room for 2/3 TB harddrives and one optical drive. (Not sure how many bays HTPCs have...?)

Have wifi.

With regards to price, as cheap as possible but must be able to play any HD movies I throw at it easily.

What parts would you guys recommend?

Thanks for any help with this,
FifthFreedom

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I assume that you will not be using it for gaming??

I would go with an AMD based system.

Basically here are the bits I would choose:

Antec NSK1480:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/141005

It can take 2 HDDs and an optical drive:

http://www.antec.com/usa/productDeta...an=us&id=91480

It also has a 350w PSU.

AMD 780G micro atx motherboard:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150278

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1...52&modelmenu=1

The integrated graphics on the 780G can handle Blu-Ray,HD-DVD and HD video. The motherboard also has DVI,Displayport,HDMI and VGA outputs and 8 channel sound.

AMD X2 4850e:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/144638

4gb RAM:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146049

Samsung 1TB with Vista Ultimate DVD:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/153318

Samsung 1TB disc:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143288

Blu-Ray and HD-DVD drive:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139985

Asus Xonar surround card if you need better quality sound than the one on the motherboard:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146350

A summary of the spec:

NSK1480 case with 350w PSU
Athlon X2 4850e 2.5ghz energy efficient CPU
AMD 780G motherbaord
4GB RAM
2TB Storage
Blu-Ray and HD-DVD capable optical drive
High quality 7.1 surround card
Vista Ultimate

The total cost will be £543.13 from Ebuyer with free Supersaver postage.



Bascially all of the above will cost £545.43. A wireless card would cost another £10 to £20. Without the sound card and with a normal DVD rewriter drive the total cost including a wireless card would be around £450.

[staffsMike]

I didn't realise that board had all 4 major video outputs... impressive

I'd agree with what CAT is saying, unless you need full height cards or more HDD's.

[smargh]

I have a Gigabyte GA-E7AUM-DS2H if you want me to do any tests. It can play 1080p .mkv files just fine, but it lacks a DisplayPort. I prefer Gigabyte over Asus though - just a personal preference. I think I remember Asus's web site being a pain in the ass sometimes.

*The* thread on the GA-E7AUM-DS2H is here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1087407

[Pob255]

I've been looking at one recently.

Same basic spec but a few changes
Aplus Blockbuster case (it takes 2 hdd but has 2x 5.25" and 1x 3.5" which could be used for extra hard drives)
modular psu (takes standard atx psu's)

The advantage here is that it can take full height and length graphics cards so if you want to game an additional graphics card can be added.

Oh And for wireless I'd look at a USB stick not a pci card (I've always had less problems with wireless usb sticks than pci cards)

edit: the 9400 is a better onboard gpu but for video playback it really shouldn't be any major problem, the issue is price
the 780g and 8200 can be got for around £50-60 both are good enough for video playback, the 9400 is closer to £100 (if I remember correctly) and while it's better for gaming it's still a relatively weak gpu, better to get a separate card

Found the xfx 9300 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/XFX-G...-VGA-Micro-ATX
is £100 but does have the advantage of socket775 so you can use intel cpu's if you dont like AMD

[staffsMike]

That's odd, I always have problems with usb wireless and have never had a problem with PCI. It's always connected before I can open the browser.

Cube's aren't as easy to blend into the living room being teh major problem with that case.

[Pob255]

That's odd, I always have problems with usb wireless and have never had a problem with PCI. It's always connected before I can open the browser.

Cube's aren't as easy to blend into the living room being teh major problem with that case.

my mistake, I got mixed up and thought CAT sugested the nsk1380
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/140118


as to the pci cards, like I said I've had problems before, card detecting the wireless network but just refusing to talk to the DNS server
Fixed the problem with a wireless usb stick, stuck with velcro to the back of a 5.25" blank with a short usb extention cable running through the pc to a usb socket on the motherboard.

I would say avoid the cheapest ones but no need to go silly, we've also had issues with expensive pcima cards, replaced them with things that cost half the price and worked without issue.

[staffsMike]

Ahhhh yeah, always forget about that one lol

[NightshadowUK]

Cat's spec is pretty much the standard for HTPCs at the moment so you'll not go wrong with it.

Just a note on buying the Xonar, if it's part of a home theater most of the time you'd just take an optical out from the 780G board and plug it into the back of your AV receiver, so it may not be necessary.

[Shooty*]

Wow. Thanks for the pointers on this. Anyone got an "all in one" keyboard (like bottom half of a laptop) with built in mouse they can recommend? Or remote control?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The only one I know off is this one:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Keyso...w-White-colour

[Pob255]

I guess you mean a keyboard with touch pad built in, I've not used one but seen plenty, some have the touch pad below like a laptop, some have it to the side.
Personally I think I'd prefer the touch pad to the side as there'd be less chance of accidentally brushing it when you type (nothing worse on a laptop if your cursor suddenly jumps up 3 lines in the middle of a sentance)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Keysonic-Wir...YMPM2P3VDCANH5

One thing I have used which works great for distant access is a wireless keyboard & gyroscopic mouse combo. works like a normal optical wireless mouse on a surface, but you can also pick it up and wave it to make your cursor move.
(would depend on screen size&distance, works great with a projector when you're on the other side of the room)

3rd option, Keyboards with tracker balls or joystick

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Keysonic-2-4...3074370&sr=1-4

There are other makes
Cherry http://www.cherrycorp.com/english/ke...6240/index.htm
IBM http://www.lambda-tek.com/components...&prodID=B35828
Accuratus http://www.ceratech.co.uk/cpages/key...c540-metal.htm

[Shooty*]

Guys, if I REALLY wanted an additional graphics card in that set up (to enable Dawn Of War and similar generation RTS gameplay), what would you recommend? Or would the onboard cope?

[crazyfool]

the onboard is basically an integrated 3450 so not exactly great for gaming but any budget gpu such as a 3650 etc... should cope on low/ medium settings

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The best thing would be to try the games on the integrated graphics card first. If it is not good enough you can get a better card instead. I would look at the graphics card sticky also. The lowest I would go would be a HD4650 GDDR3 for £55 or a cheap HD4670 for around £63.

[Shooty*]

I'll have a look, but with that case, it would have to be low profile cards with that recommended case, yah?