Htpc

[Disturbedguy]

Hey all

Am planning/ hoping to build a HTPC in the near future (money and the rest permitting).

Ive been looking for components but can't make my mind up nor do I know what is best for a HTPC.

Ideally am wanting a Micro ATX case so it can sit on a shelf or whatever under my T.V.

Im looking at spending about £450.

Thats not including the OS unless the budget allows it.

Also, any suggestions on which OS would be best?

Thanks in advance.

E!: - While I was typing this I spec'ed up a little something..what do people think of this, anyone got anything better?

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ , Brisbane Core, Dual Core 2.6GHz, 2x 512KB Cache, Retail Energy Eff' S AM2

320 GB Hitachi HDP725032GLA360 Deskstar T7K500, SATA 300, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.5 ms, NCQ

Aplus Case CS-Blockbuster-BAW (inc Window) Micro ATX with 2x USB, 2x Audio, 1x Firewire (No PSU)

Liteon 20A4P-21C 20x DVD±R, 8x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, DVD-RAM x12, IDE Black OEM

4GB (2x2GB) Super Talent Twin DDR2 PC2-6400 (800MHz), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-15

Gigabyte GA-MA74GM-S2H , AMD 740G, S AM2+, PCI-E 1.0 (x16), DDR2 667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, µATX

400W NorthQ NQ-4300GP-FL Pacific, Fanless PSU, 20+4 Pin, ATX 2.2, 80+ Efficiency

Total: - £310.80

Im not to sure on the PSU and neither could I find or think of a PSU to use.

[staffsMike]

Well my ideal HTPC is this

Antec NSK2480 + 380W Earthwatts PSU ~£70 (or posher version, the fusion for £120 with 430W)
AMD 4850e ~£39 (scan today only.. buy buy! lol)
Abit 780G mobo ~£42 (again scan today only)
2GB PC6400 ~£30
Western Digital 640GB AAKS ~ £50
LG or Pioneer Blu Ray Drive ~£60
Scythe mini ninja ~£30 (will run that chip passive)

Comes to about £320

If it's not quiet enough at stock, you could get yate loons or scythe slipstreams to replace the Tri- Cools. Should be about £10 for 2.

As for the OS.. Maybe Vista home premium.

But I'm sure you could do a Linux based one too.

[Disturbedguy]

Cheers mike that looks pretty good actually, definitely food for thought.

[Disturbedguy]

Would there be no need for a GFX card then?

[TAKTAK]

Would there be no need for a GFX card then?

with the 780g chipset, no
the onboard graphics with 780g is fine for HD output on a HTPC (won't give you amazing gaming tho, but it's not designed for gaming using onboard.)

and there are not many advantages of going for a 790g board.. just incase you wondered... (not for the price anyway )

[staffsMike]

Not with the 690G (essentially the same as the 740G) or the 780G no. They all play blu ray and such like very well.

The 780G can also run an HD3450 or HD3470 in crossfire with it's IGP which means you can get a healthy boost later on if you feel the need but that's only really for gamings sake. HD works well on all of them.

Have a read of this as it's a very good article

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article859-page1.html