Hoping someone can look over this HTPC list of components before I order please :)

[acrobat]

I pinched this list from various places, mostly from people on this site. I was originally going to make one based on stuff that I know, like Intel duel core and nVidia card and whatnot, but I saw people recommending these components because they are so energy efficient and stuff, so I've priced one up using them and I just want to check it will all work together and will be a good HTPC. I'll be using it with Vista 64bit Ultimate.

Here goes:

Motherboard
Abit A-S78H, AMD 780G, S AM2+, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR2 1066/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, Micro ATX
http://www.scan.co.uk/product.aspx?ProductId=25610
£46.45 Inc VAT

CPU:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4850e AM2 Dual Core 2.5GHz, 512KB x 2 Cache, Retail
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=807038
£44.38 Inc VAT

Heatsink and Fan:
Scythe Mini Ninja Heatpipe CPU Cooler S478/LAG775, AMD S754/939/940/AM2
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=657369
£27.60 Inc VAT

CD/DVD/HD-DVD/Blue Ray
LG GGC-H20L Lightscribe SATA 16xDVD±R +RWx8/-RW x6 Also READS - Blu-Ray & HD Disc's black - Retail
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=729076
£66.73 Inc VAT

RAM:
4GB (two packs of 2x1GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 4-4-4-12, DHX
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=585723
For 4 gig:
£86.10 Inc VAT.

Hard Drive:
320 GB Samsung HD322HJ Spinpoint F1, SATA 300, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.9 ms
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=867043
£35.24 Inc VAT

Storage Hard Drive (quiet/low power consump.)
1TB (1000 GB) Western Digital WD10EVCS AV-GP, SATA 300, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=864868
£110.41 Inc VAT

Case:
Antec Fusion 430HE Multimedia Case
(My friend has an unused one of these which he is going to sell me for a decent price)

Graphics Card:
256MB Sapphire HD3470 PCI-E 2.0 1400MHz GDDR3, 800MHz GPU 40 Cores, HDTV/2xDVI-I HDCP Ready Passive
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=770339
£34.30 Inc VAT

Keyboard:
Logitech Dinovo Edge (New) Cordless Keyboard, BackLit Keys, Bluetooth USB 1.1/2.0, Black
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=579460
£110.67 Inc VAT

Wireless/Wi-Fi Card, with Antenna:
Abit AirPace PCI-Express 54Mbps Wi-Fi Card with Antenna and Software AP - A World First
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=530773
£9.27 Inc VAT




I picked that little PCI-Express Wi-Fi card because I wanted to leave the PCI slots free in case I decide to get a TV card and Sound Card. I'm going to listen to the on board sound chip first before I decide. I read good things about that little Wi-Fi card anyway, so if all goes to plan, I'll never use the PCI slots.

[llololloy]

That RAM seems pricey, 4gb is around the £50 mark normally.
Don't think you need 2 hard drives. The 320 is around the same speed as the 1tb (same platter size). extra drive = extra heat + noise (both quiet, but you are increasing the noise by having 2)
That keyboard seems awfully expensive, why do you need that?
All else looks fine, good luck, though re: pci/pci-e, most new tuners and sound cards are using pci-e, something you may want to look into.

[acrobat]

Thank you llololloy! That was really useful.

1) The RAM I picked the same RAM that use in my main/gaming PC because I thought it might be a good idea to use the same RAM in everything in case a chip ever dies or something, I can always swap them around. I'm not sure if an extra £30 is worth that or not. I'll have to have a little think about that one. Thanks.

2) The drives I still like the idea of because I think I might fill the 1TB, so I figured the smaller one can just have Windows, maybe Office, maybe some old games, and it won't eat in to storage disk. I'll have a think about that though too. I was hoping noise and heat wouldn't be an issue because it's all meant to be pretty quiet and cool. (I'm hoping the big one can be left in some kind of idle mode most of the time too)

3) The keyboard is ridiculously expensive but I got talked into it My friend has one and I really like it, because he uses it with his HTPC and you don't need a mouse because the little track pad seems so good. Sometimes I find them fiddly, but that one just seemed really nice so I never felt like I would need a mouse for surfing the web and stuff. And also it's blue tooth which I liked the idea of, because I've got enough devices in my house using 2.4ghz or whatever And also it just slots into a little holder and that recharges it so you never need to change batteries in it. And it also looks really nice.
I would compromise if I could find a different one, but the ones I looked at that were a bit cheaper, weren't as good and it only saved about 20 quid or something. And seeing as I would be using it all the time I figured it's worth it. If anyone knows a good alternative though, please let me know!

4) Ahh! I didn't know that. Thanks I might have to rethink that. I doubt I will ever get a TV card to be honest because I have two V+ boxes in my house, but things change so I dunno.. I'll think about that too.

[format]

Check the cooler fits in the case

[acrobat]

Check the cooler fits in the case

Thanks It think it does based on what I've read. The main thing I'm concerned about with that, is that people say it's a bit noisy, and yet it says in the specifications that it has a fan controller... So I am really hoping I can just set it to be very slow and quiet. If anyone has this heatsink&fan though and can tell me for sure, please do I hate noise! I'd rather fry my CPU than put up with noise (Some people are using it with no fan at all so I may get away with that too)

[crazyfool]

I have just built almost the exact same setup and i run the cooler passive (which does fit in the case btw ) which gives me about 30 - 40 idle. If its just going to be a htpc then the onboard gpu is more than enough for standard tv or hd content. Same goes with the ram as for htpc you can get away with 2GB. As for the hard drives i reckon 2 hdds in that case would get quite warm as there doesn't seem to be any active cooling around them. What i have done is have a 500gb samsung in there for the os and tv recording and then am going to use an extrenal 1tb hdd for movies and such...

[acrobat]

Thanks! I like the idea about an external, I think that's a good idea. Cooler and it would make it easy transferring stuff too, and I know you can get some really good external disks now days.

Anyway, I have a new question for you all. I decided I may as well do it properly and get everything now and then I can fit it once and not have to ever take the case off again (hopefully). So to do that, I need to choose a good TV Card, and a good Wi-Fi card. I am assuming (and hoping) that the on board sound will be good enough. If so, that leaves me with two PCI ports, and one PCI-Express port, and also the USB slots. So can anyone suggest a good TV Card and Wi-Fi?

I get TV via Virgin Media. I would hope to spend around £50 odd on the TV card (or less), and around £30 on the Wi-Fi (or less). For the Wi-Fi, I think my router only broadcasts at 54G, and the main requirement is just a good solid signal strength.

If I could get those two components added to my list I'll be ready to order.

[SiM]

Not really a problem, but 4GB is overkill. I am running 2gb and it works perfectly, of course if you want 4gb then that is not a problem if you don't mind spending extra money...

Also that 1TB drive is very expensive, get a samsung one for £84

[acrobat]

Thanks I suppose 4gig is overkill seeing as it will only really be doing mp3/movies/web.

As for the hard disk, I would like to leave the HTPC on 24/7 so I was just looking at external disks as that might be best, and I am trying to decide if I should get an internal one and fit it in an enclosure so I can keep it outside the PC and just plug it in to various PC's via USB. Or if I should go the whole hog and get one of these srubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishy newer external hard disks that let you connect it to the router and all kinds. Like this one for example:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=863544

What do you guys think? I don't really mind about the cost too much, but I wouldn't go above that £141 for the Freecom. (I looked at the WD My Book drives but they get terrible reviews).

[SiM]

Maybe you could look at just a single drive NAS case like this:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=756759

and then buy a 1TB to go inside. This is cheaper/better/more flexible. You can usually open these Icy Box ones quite easily so you can switch drives easily when one gets full

[acrobat]

Thanks, I like that Because not only can you swap disks if you ever want to, but I bet a good internal disk in that Icy Box would be quieter than most of these pre-made external things. I'd then just need to pick between the Western Digi I linked above, and the Samsung you mentioned, which I think is this one?
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=723884


Besides that, I'll still need to pick a decent Wi-Fi and TV Card, but then I'm set.

[TAKTAK]

the 780g chipset is fine for HTPC usage, the only thing it will struggle with is 3D gaming

[SiM]

Yup that is the drive. It is often on today only for around £83.99

[Mul.]

the 780g chipset is fine for HTPC usage, the only thing it will struggle with is 3D gaming

Indeedy. I built a HTPC recently with a Sempron 1.8GHz Dual Core, 2GB RAM, Radeon HD 3450, MSI 780G Antec Fusion. I found that the 780G performed very much like the HD 3450, which is understandable given that they pretty much use the same cores. While buying the HD 3450 could've been considered a waste of £25, I wasn't too fussed as I was able to free up the RAM that the 780G would've stole and Hybrid Crossfire was worth a shot in games.

Also for the record, I'm using an Abit Airpace PCI-E Wireless card as well and it works just fine with Vista x64.

[jeffel]

Hi get a 500gb hdd instead of 320gb.Scan seems to be doing 500gb hdd for £36 on today only.Its much more value for money.

[TAKTAK]

Hi get a 500gb hdd instead of 320gb.Scan seems to be doing 500gb hdd for £36 on today only.Its much more value for money.

or get a 640GB aaks.. large platter sizes and nice and zippy and quiet...