Views on new HTPC build

[gaz12]

Building a new HTPC in the nxk week and just wanted to get afew views on what im gona get with regard to parts etc:

MOTHERBOARD:Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H
CPU :AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750+, Black Edition
RAM :TWIN2X4096-6400C5 G - 4GB Corsair (2x2GB) TwinX XMS2
HD :500GB Hitachi 0A35415 Deskstar P7K500, SATA
CASE :CiT S001 Micro ATX Desktop / Tower Combo 450W


Is this the best board to get with the 780g chipset around the same money also should i go for the 800 ram and would it b comp with this board,nxt has anyone used this case as i used silverstone in the past for my gaming rigs and wanyed to know what space was like as i will prob get a graphics card later.
Also as ive noticed theres a scan thread do members get a discount from these as i will b buying from there as im local to bolton???

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would get this motherboard instead:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...tml?asu-m3a78e

It has VGA,DVI,HDMI and Displayport outputs. It also has all solid capacitors. It used to be around £65 but has recently gone up in price!! Novatech do have free postage though!!

Here is a picture of the back panel



Scan does free postage for Hexus members with 20+ useful posts.

I would also consider a different CPU such as the Athon X2 5050e as this has lower power consumption:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/AMD-A...2-Cache-Retail

The Athlon X2 7750+ is faster though.

Also the XMS2 RAM is on Scan Today Only this weekend for £30. The offer runs out by midday on Monday:

http://www.scan.co.uk/TodayOnly/Index.aspx

[Biscuit]

i wouldnt trust a generic built in PSU as far as i could throw it! get a cheap corsair or seasonic.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

You can get a Silverpower 400w for £35 and an Enermax or Akasa 350w for a few quid under this too. Silverpower is part of the same company as Tagan. Also the 700w FSP is on Scan Today Only this weekend for around £28.

[Biscuit]

if he got a 700w he would miss the sweet spot of the effeciancy to power usage curve completely. I would definately stick below 500w. Below 400 if possible.

[gaz12]

Cheers peeps for replys,prob go for a better case now as i need good cooling as im gona add a graphics card for abit of light gaming the only thing is was gona buy me mates 8800gts but as chipset is ati would i b better gettin a 8200 chipset motherboard or just add a ati card??if so which ati card is around the same range as a 8800gts as im a ati virgin lol.

Used to have my power hungry gamin rig runnin 24/7 so power comp is not really an issue but has been nice as my elec bill is abit cheaper since i only have a laptop now,can c this HTPC turnin into another gaming rig if im not carefull so need to find a nice balance with a micro based system.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

There is the 40nm ATI RV740 coming out next month or in early May. It should(hopefully) have lower power consumption than even an HD4830 but offer performance close to an HD4850.

Here is a review of an engineering sample:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon...-preview-test/

Also the latest 128 shader G92 rebadge the GTS250 does have relatively low power consumption.

I agree going for a lower power PSU makes more sense for a low powered build. If you are going to be gaming then with newer titles a X2 7750+ makes more sense despite the fact is much higher power consumption and runs hotter than the older Athlon X2 processors which are not Phenom based. What 8800GTS are you going for?? There is the older G80 based 8800GTS 320mb and 640mn which had 96 stream processors and the newer 8800GTS 512mb which has 128 shaders. I would have at least a decent 400w PSU as a minimum if you are getting any of them.

[Blaineoliver]

You know you can run wahtever graphics card on wahtever chip, it doesnt make a difference, the 8800GTX may be a bit large for the case though?

[gaz12]

The 8800GTS is XFX xxx one but only 320mb version so think its the older model but only gona cost me 40 notes so cant complain,the reason why i never touched ATI cards is due to bad press really due to drivers etc so just played safe with what i new.
Which cases will take a card of this size but must b of micro form quite like the Antec with the side mounted drives and removable motherboard tray,also if i go for an addon card i suspect the hybrid crossfire will not matter as if i was addin a low end card as the board im lookin at has the hybrid crossfire support.
Just noticed the board i was gona go for the Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H has a note on scan about runnin a 125w cpus but as i will upgrade to a Phenom will i have probs?? whats the GA-MA78GM-US2H like with 125w cpus and would this b a better option.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The 8800GTS is XFX xxx one but only 320mb version so think its the older model but only gona cost me 40 notes so cant complain,the reason why i never touched ATI cards is due to bad press really due to drivers etc so just played safe with what i new.
Which cases will take a card of this size but must b of micro form quite like the Antec with the side mounted drives and removable motherboard tray,also if i go for an addon card i suspect the hybrid crossfire will not matter as if i was addin a low end card as the board im lookin at has the hybrid crossfire support.
Just noticed the board i was gona go for the Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H has a note on scan about runnin a 125w cpus but as i will upgrade to a Phenom will i have probs?? whats the GA-MA78GM-US2H like with 125w cpus and would this b a better option.

???? The bad press was actually about Nvidia drivers in Vista:

http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news...ia-drivers.ars

I have had an x1900gt,HD3870 and HD4830 under both Vista and XP and the drivers have not caused me many issues TBH. On the other hand I have had problems with both a 6800LE and an 8800GTS 512mb giving me hardware problems. The latter decided it had enough of living and went kaput. Of course there are the major problems with Nvidia having their G84 and G86 chips dying prematurely because of a manufacturing oversight.

The Asus motherboard is a better choice TBH. I would look at the Gigabyte support page for the motherboard for CPUs supported:

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/M...2995#anchor_os

The newer Phenom II processors have lower power consumption and the triple cores and some of the lower end quad cores are rated at 95w. Seems 125w processors are not supported!!

The Asus does support 140w CPUs though:

http://www.asus.com/Product.aspx?P_ID=KjpYqzmAd9vsTM2D

[Biscuit]

ATI where quite bad with the 2900 series for drivers at first and genrally i have never been overly impressed with their UI control centre thing but recently they have got a lot better, releasing a new driver roughly every month if im not mistaken.

[gaz12]

Would have gone for the Asus as ive always used them in my past systems but would prefer to buy from scan as its local so no waitin for posti and if i have any probs just return to store,gona do abit of ringin around see if i can source on in my area did pop down to the Northern comp fair at bowlers on sat but its gone right down hill from last time i went.
Also think the driver issue was before vista think it was games using AA but was a bit ago lol.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

It was not a driver issue but a design flaw with the HD2*** series and HD3*** series. AA was done using the shaders(?) and it meant a huge performance hit unfortunately. However the HD4*** series was re-designed and the performance hit has gone now.