HTPC Help with components?

[chrimbow]

Yet another "what do think of my bits" post hope Im putting this in the right area

Im a novice first time builder, been reading up and just need a bit of advice on what I have come up with. Being a HTPC keeping it cool n quiet is what its about.
Already purchased-
Antec Fusion version 2
Abit AN-M2HD mobo (sticking with onboard graphics for now)

In my sights-
Samsung spinpoint 500gb SATA HDD
Samsung SH-S182M optical
OCZ DDR2 platinum 6400 2x1gb
AMD AM2 Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 6000+

Questions!
1- samsung optical- any reason to go for the Samsung SATA drive, not that bothered about it not having light scribe. Main thing is quietness.
2- CPU- not sure to go for a lower range model (less heat?) or go for CPU power.

Any other comments advice much appreciated, thanks

[Alistair]

I use a sata drive in my HTPC purely for the the nice thin cable to help with airflow. I take it you are going with the stock cooler on the AM2 CPU? The antec fusion will take a thermalright S128 heatsink
with a 120x25mm fan on top (just!).
http://www.thermalright.com/a_page/m...duct_si128.htm
I had this heatsink fan combo & it kept things cool & quiet

I have 2 WD 320GB SATA Drives (Model No. WD3200AAKS) they are fairly quiet & don't get very hot either

If you look at 'My System' opposite you see what my HTPC is

[MSIC]

Ther highest Energy Efficient core that scan sell seems to be the 5200, which runs at 2.6Ghz.
This is 87% the speed of the 3 Ghz 6000, but would not make your entire system feel 13% slower, only very specific tasks and as long as your hard drive (by far the biggest bottleneck and handicap) and RAM are large and fast enough, you won't notice.
For a HTPC system, i'd get the EE model. 2.6Ghz is good enough for most tasks, and for 720p and 1080p displaying / decoding work, your graphics card / chip will be responsible for this.
Just had a quick look at your motherboard i see it has a HDMI output and a basic GeForce 7 series chip. Should be very nice, let us know how it works in practice.

PS Get a SATA drive - better future proof if you want to move it into a different system in the future, plus the cables are physically thinner and easier to route.

[dangel]

Turn on Cool 'n Quiet in the bios and allow the CPU to ramp up/down as it needs to - this cuts temps a lot in general use. Use Speedfan to monitor those temps and ramp up/down the fan(s) as appropriate - also cuts noise. Get the SATA DVDR for sure - as people say less cabling woes and better airflow. All my systems (bar my lappy) now are SATA optical. CPU power isn't much of an issue unless your decoding HD stuff - and even then you've always the option of dropping in a dedicated graphics card that does the decoding later. My system (004) copes with HD decoding in software only (although the graphics can do it in hardware) just fine.

[chrimbow]

as long as your hard drive (by far the biggest bottleneck and handicap) and RAM are large and fast enough, you won't notice.

Re you referring to the samsungs specifically or any HDD?


Thanks for all the tips so far everyone, much appreciated

[chrimbow]

Ok, liittle problem here now now that Im underway building the HTPC
I bought the sata DVD writer, but the only two SATA power supplies in my Fusion case will be taken up by the 2x SATA HDD. What can I do?

[this_is_gav]

Just use a molex > sata adapter cable. Something like this.

[chrimbow]

Just use a molex > sata adapter cable. Something like this.

LOL thanks, I was assuming the worst and thinking Id end up having to swap the drive for IDE...
jeez wot a noob

[chrimbow]

Well, Im about 1/2 way through this build now... Just wondering if anyone else has built around this case, as looking at the manual it says
"A 3 pin connector with blue / black cables is available to connect the PS to your Mobo to monitor the PS fan speed"
Not sure if its me going a bit blind as its a bit late but I cant find this anywhere! All i have coming from the PS is the usual molex etc but no 3 pin jobby... Anyone point me in the right direction as to where I should be looking and what it loks like?

[this_is_gav]

Just a cable with normally 2 wires (as suggested, blue and black ones), with a 3-pin header at the end of it that plugs into a standard motherboard fan socket (most motherboards have 4-pin connectors now, but the 3-pin ones still fit). If your PSU doesn't have one, it's hardly the end of the world - it makes absolutely no difference at all to the running of the thing. It just means you can't monitor the fan speed of the PSU... and frankly if the fan speed is that important, you'll hear it.

[mike306dt]

What TV card setup etc are you using for your media centre? Be aware if you are running MCE - recorded programmes etc take up quite a great deal of space also

[tinners]

Well, Im about 1/2 way through this build now... Just wondering if anyone else has built around this case, as looking at the manual it says
"A 3 pin connector with blue / black cables is available to connect the PS to your Mobo to monitor the PS fan speed"
Not sure if its me going a bit blind as its a bit late but I cant find this anywhere! All i have coming from the PS is the usual molex etc but no 3 pin jobby... Anyone point me in the right direction as to where I should be looking and what it loks like?

Do PSUs have these any more ? The last 3 Ive bought (Corsair, Zalman and Seasonic) havent had a monitoring cable.

[Biscuit]

Iv never seen a monitoring cable on a PSU either.

[s_kinton]

Im sure my Enermax has a monitoring cable - never used it though.

[dangel]

Monitoring cables were quite common at one time - i've had a thermaltake & enermax PSU with them. Since most PSU's now actively control fans/have large low speed fans they're not so needed and I suppose the PSU has thermal cut out for failure anyway.

[chrimbow]

Should be very nice, let us know how it works in practice.

Well I have it up and running, few bits to do like tidy cables etc. Its farly quiet but not as much as Id hoped so the next thing thing on the shoping list is either an aftermarket cpu fan or replace the stock twin 120mm exhaust fans. (or both lol)
having a slight problem with the outer edge of my desktop missing atm, other than that all seems to be Ok so far. Impressed my self since it was my first attempt and 3 weeks ago I didnt have a clue So thanks to everyone who replied to my posts here !