HTPC/Gaming/Workhorse 3-in-1

[dave01978]

Hi guys n gals,
This is my first post so please be gentle!

OK, so Im looking at building my first PC since my old Duron 1200 based tissue box smoked on me a few weeks ago.

What do I need it for then?
Viewing HDCP content (connected to my HD LCD - which will double use as a monitor).
Running programmy stuff like Oracle, SQL Server, visual studio, Dreamweaver, Autocad LT - oh and maybe a little surfing - but if it can do Oracle then it can do all the above.
I'll also probably want to play some games (as I don't want a separate PS3/Xbox360)
I'll also be using it as a media jukebox. TV use isnt required at the moment but will want to add digital tuners at a later stage.

OK, bearing all this in mind I have trawled scan, overclockers and ebuyer and come up with the following spec:

Case: Antec Fusion with 430w ATX12v 2.0 PSU ~£110
or if really splashing out:
OrigenAE H7 HTPC Case with VFD/IR Module and MCE Remote, Silver ~£140, + extra value gold 600w psu £20 or Hiper 530W Black Type M PSU - ATX v2.2 ~£47

CPU: Core 2 Duo E6300 ~£120
Mobo: ASRock ConRoe945G-DVI i945G (mAtx) - as it gets rave reviews over at proclockers ~£45
Sound card: creative soundblaster x-fi extreme (or gamer) ~£45
Graphics: Sapphire X1950 Pro ~£120
HD:Samsung SpinPoint P120 250GB SATA SP2504C (SATA)~£50
DVD/RW: Hitachi (SATA) ~£35 or for antec case any other make ~£20 (as only takes 1 drive) (I have spare lite-on IDE CD/RW for the silverstone dual drive case)
Memory: Kingston Valueram 2Gb 667MHz DDR2 Non Ecc CL5 Kit Of 2 X 1GB ~£105, or ~£50 for 2x512MB
OS: Windows XP MCE OEM ~£75
So in total approx. £690 - £780. Which makes me happy as comes in cheaper than sony vaio media center at £800!

Questions:
1. Will it all fit in the Antec box?
2. Is the memory compatible with the mobo?
3. Can the stock Antec PSU handle all that? Ive read the x1950 pro needs at least 30 amps at 12v to work, but cant find a spec for the Antec PSU output amperages.

Any thoughts on case/PSU combos?


Regards

Daveo

[Nick Smith]

everything looks ok to me.

Not sure about the 430W PSU, if i were you i'd go for the Hiper...or even a 520W Corsair, as i've heard that in general that they're much better PSU's.

[menthel]

The psu is built into the case and is a real cracker, so should be fine.

[dave01978]

Thanks guys,

The thing is confusing me is that similar PSUs from antec at 430w for ATX v2.0 seemed to be under-amped on the rails: 34W at 5V and then ~14A at 12V, now if there are 2 12V rails that gives 28A which is way too low for the card especially when coupled with all the other components, in fact Ive just read that the recommended minimum PSU size is 450w for this card. Does the x1950 draw its power from the 12V rails or the 5V ones?

Some people report that PSUs under 450w make the system crash when running any serious 3D stuff as the sapphire just drops out.

Being a bit of a 'self-build' newb I don't really understand what these all mean at the moment especially as the built-in case PSUs dont seem to be specced on the manufacturers web sites

[menthel]

I can't help you with the 1950 pro, but my setup runs nicely with the psu. I have added a 400gb hdd and a tv card recently too! Am also changing over to a 4200x2 soon too.

<------

[dave01978]

Cheers menthel

Yeh, probably would want to drop in another drive later, but it will take me a while to get through 250GB

I guess dual drives isnt that important so the antec case would be best, but all my other home cinema kit is brushed alu sony stuff so the origen would look best-unless I respray the antec black bits silver?!!?

Other case options I have are:
Thermaltake Bach VB8001SNS
Thermaltake Mozart VC4001SNS
Both ~&#163;118, ATX/mATX compatible, and include media centre remotes and IR/VFD panels, and have 3 front mounted 5.25" bays with flip panel and 1 stealth drive opening tho the mozart doesnt aesthetically fit so well due to the huge black bit on the front

[directhex]

is it really an htpc without a tv card?

does that x1950 support hdcp?

why xp instead of vista?

get 2 gig of ram. don't even think about 1 gig for what you want to do

[dave01978]

Hi directhex,

From the Sapphire site, all X1000 series cards support HDCP, with this one being the best value-you can get a silent version for £135 which I probably will. The TV card will come later, for now its just going to be a media centre.

Quite frankly I don't care what windows version I have as long as it can run windows services, IIS and apache and not be locked down to security newbsville as I will be in developer mode.

Oracle requires a domain admin to be able to do any serious config stuff,so I need business or ultimate,and as its an HTPC requiring media centre functionality it has to be Vista Ultimate which is yet another £40 more than XP MCE which can do the same stuff that I want. (Plus I think Aero is just a marketing gimmick for newbs who cant understand Alt-Tab)

Apparently the Antec p150 PSU can handle the x1950 Pro fine, so if Antec get back to me that its the same PSU, im in on the Fusion case.

[dave87]

If you go the Vista Route, get it OEM - much cheaper, and by the looks of it, you fill all requirements.