Htpc

[rob4001]

I was thinking of building a HTPC just for watching TV and playing movies my main pc I will use for games so I was wondering what parts I should get I have a rough idea but was wondering about using some second hand stuff to keep the cost to a minimum.

Thanks

[this_is_gav]

Have a read though this thread to get an idea of a normal HTPC, even if you're not intending to spend close to that amount. There's absolutely no reason why you couldn't use a standard midi tower for an HTPC using any old bits you can find, but it all depends on how you want to play it.

I'll just point out from the off that if you intend to play back HD videos then you'll either need a dual-core CPU (though a single core Opteron 146 can decode 720p) or one of the more recent graphics cards - HD2400Pro is popular as it's cheap, single-slot and can be used in low profile, and the software to enable HD playback is free (ATi's AVIVO). For nV cards (any of the 8x00 series) you'll also need to purchase PureVideo to use GPU-accelerated HD.

For the record my HTPC is a Elonex Artisan barebones, but I replaced the motherboard and CPU with a Core Duo laptop set up to keep power consumption and heat to a minimum, though they're not cheap unfortunately. I've got a 7100GS in and it's so hopeless it can't even show videos at 1920x1200 without stuttering. I wasn't expecting much, but I thought it would at least manage that. I'll be getting a 2400Pro soonish.

[staffsMike]

http://forums.hexus.net/current-barg...e-183-a-2.html

take a look at that thread.. £183 for the pc, then £30 for a HD2400 and you've got a perfect little HTPC.

Like i said in that thread I had one of these at work last year (C2D though) and it was well built and very quiet to the point of silent

[edp33]

If your viewing HD 720p then a 2400 Pro will be great and cheap to boot!, for 1080 content though people have reported problems with the 2400 Pro(see the AVSForum), the 2400XT or a 2600 card can play 1080 without a problem.