HTPC Build - £500

[kidzer]

Hi Folks,

I've given up keeping up with hardware, 'cause it annoys me a bit the amount of stuff that is actually out there, to that end - I've no idea what would be classed as 'current' for HTPC/SFF PC hardware for £500.

I found this thread - http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...tpc-build.html

Which has suggestions from CAT-THE-FIFTH, in terms of hardware (I'm getting the same case, I like it!) - would something like that still be current enough - or have there been any new developments since January?

I'd be looking to get a GPU for playing some games on it too (it'll be plugging into a 720p TV in my room), I was eyeing up the Zotac 9600 LP, except it isn't realeased yet - but I'd get something like that later on.

But yeah, would a setup like that still be decent enough for Blu-Ray/HD-DVD playback? (Adding up the prices now it seems to come in at under £400, which is even nicer!)

Cheers folks!

David

[staffsMike]

I'd agree with that build. There are slightly more powrful.. low power CPU's from amd now, 5050e or something like that.

780G is a great basis for an HTPC especially with that board given all of it's video outputs.

Not sure exactly how quiet the case suggested is, it should be good but with 80mm fans it's hard to say, the bigger brother NSK2480 might be better for very low noise. The Blu Ray DVD drive is super long as well so watch out for any difficulties you might have with the build. The drive is however perfectly silent in operation

[kidzer]

Cool, I'll see what else I can find for the CPU - and I'll give the NSK2480 a look too.

Cheers!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Most of the specs are still valid!!

The Athlon X2 5050e is slightly faster than the 4850e:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/149212

Alternatively you could go for a Phenom II X3 710 triple core if you want a bit more power:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/159069

I would get this Geil RAM instead of the OCZ:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/161773

However both the OCZ RAM and the Geil RAM do cost the same. This is down to personal preference though.

Also if you prefer Western Digital over Samsung for hard drives also consider the Western Digital Green Power series:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150245

Regarding the graphics card the case should take full height graphics cards though. If anything the 9800gt Green Edition and the RV740 GDDR5 are being released in the next few weeks too.
The RV740 GDDR5 should have better performance than an HD4830 and hopefully better power consumption and a shorter PCB too. I think it is being released in the first week of May.

Apart from that the rest of build is fine.

[crazyfool]

5050e is a good choice, I have a 4050e in my htpc and a 5050e in one of my pcs and it seems much faster ever thought the difference is only 200mhz... as said above 780g is a good choice for a htpc but just to throw another option in there, the 8200 boards are also just as good and although I have a 780g I think the 8200 would be a better choice as i find nvidia drivers much better then ati's... but thats just personal preference...

[BobF64]

I just built one myself, using 5050e, NSK2480 but one of the nVidia 8300 based boards instead, Asus M3N78-EM.

Works very nicely for MCE and Blu-Ray.

Just wish the TV tuner cards IR control would do what its supposed to though.