Thoughts on this HTPC build.

K

killem2

Coastermaker
I'm getting very close to getting the green light to pull the trigger. This is actually going to be a basic setup to begin with. Small, and able to fit on a shelf above my tv. Its going to be a straight replacement for our cable bill. With so many shows airing just a few days to a week afterwards online, I just have to cut that 80.00 a month. We also have netflix so it'll be perfect.

My overall budget for the entire project is 800.00 max. The lower the better. Here is what I came up with.

2eutlhi.jpg


As for speakers, I was going to keep that simple since I have an autisic son who just loves to get into things he isn't suppose too.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121014

Thoughts?
 
Kougar

Kougar

Techgage Staff
Staff member
Looks pretty good to me :) I can't see anything I'd change... good luck with ditching that cable bill! Wish I could do that. :)
 
Merlin

Merlin

The Tech Wizard
Looks like you did a lot of research for the pricing. Looks goo
I have a Caviar Green and its failing me, and its the main drive, have to replace mine when I change out the MSI mobo
Its fun to build, yours looks great, have fun
Merlin
 
K

killem2

Coastermaker
Well new updates, I have dug through my crap and found a lot of useful things to cut my prices down considerably!

I have a copy of vista, I have 8 gigs of ram ddr2 in my current desktop, so one of those 4 sticks is coming out for this htpc, i have a rock hard segate drive I've been using for nearly 4 years, working great! Since it's ddr2 I cut down some things here is the new list!

this has some extras than before because I do need to convert vcr tapes and mount my tv, but over all I think it'll be great and if I need any power later on, hd 5450's are dirty cheap!

2pq3mgh.jpg
 
K

killem2

Coastermaker
Thanks, I was doing a little more research and I think I am switching to one of those lian li cases that stand sorta upright, and getting a sea sonic psu, caused the price to jump about 110.00 but I'd rather be safe and use a solid case with better cooling still tiny, and a good psu.
 
TheCrimsonStar

TheCrimsonStar

Tech Monkey
Very good build. looks like it'll work great for you. a couple things though. First, I personally will not recommend a Celeron processor, because it's just basically a stripped-down Pentium processor, made cheaper and less powerful, and the fan that comes with them get really loud from time to time.

You said one of the sticks of RAM from your current build is coming out to go into the new one correct? You want to make sure it's the same exact type of RAM and if possible, the same brand. Reason being, is that I have several different RAM sticks of the same speed, but different brand. When I tried to put them into the comp I have, it either wouldn't recognize it, or it would cause my computer to not boot properly or at all. Big pain :(

You also said you have netflix; I'm just wondering if you're going to be using it to stream HD video from your computer to watch on your (if you have it) HDTV. If you are, I doubt the onboard graphics card on that motherboard will stream it smoothly (onboard just plain sucks 90% of the time). One review on newegg said the HDMI port is dying after only a week of use with this mobo. Sadly though, I can't find a good low-profile PCIe x16 graphics card that even has HDMI or could even run HD video smoothly. regular PCI-e x16 isn't really useful anymore; everything's moved over to PCIe 2.0. Heck, even newegg only carries like 30 PCIe x16 cards. lol

If you want to use it to stream HD video and don't mind spending a little more money to get a better motherboard (one WITH PCIe 2.0) and get a good GPU for streaming HD video, here's a motherboard that can do that (same brand, $20 more than the one you chose), and a good GPU ($54.99) After that, you'll need a good HD decoder to play HD video smoothly too. Best one I've used is CoreAVC. There could be a better one out there, but this is the best I've used. I am below the recommended requirements for playing HD video and this decoder makes it run silky smooth.

Hope I helped :) If you aren't gonna be using your pc for what I am thinking, then just disregard this post ;)
 
Kougar

Kougar

Techgage Staff
Staff member
I understand the change of CPU brings down the entire platform cost and affects most of te other components in your new build, but I do suggest looking at ANY other GPU than the G41. This is simply the worst GPU to use for image quality, and if HD video will be used it will become an issue. If this HTPC will not use HD video then I wouldn't be concerned nearly as much.

NVIDIA's 9300 IGP is getting a little dusty, but it is still better than the G41 IGP. The processor you have listed would fit these 9300M IGP boards, but I would also recommend the ~$17 exta for this processor. "Pentiums" have a half the L2 cache of the normal Core 2 Duo chips, and "Wolfdale Celerons" have 1/6th the L2 cache of a standard Wolfdale Core 2 Duo...

One idea if you already have an old DDR2 SODIMM laying around, this board might fit your Mini-ITX case while delivering a "decent" IGP and would accept one of AMD's very cheap X2's: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813153179 Everything else from AMD uses Micro-ATX pretty much, however.
 
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TheCrimsonStar

TheCrimsonStar

Tech Monkey
and also note that unless you are into gaming or very detailed HD video editing, you should probably go with an AMD processor instead of Intel. That board Kougar found you will work well with HD video, and would be cheaper than the mobo/gpu combo I suggested. here's a good dual-core AMD processor should you choose to go with the AMD board:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103688

I laughed when I read this review on that processor. The only bad thing anyone said about it:

Cons: It didnt come with a $1,000,000 Check inside. Darn it.
Click to expand...
 
K

killem2

Coastermaker
Well my tv is only a 720p tv, I wouldn't mine streaming HD but its not really important. The ram is corsiar xms ddr2 800 all the same speeds and types. I thought about going amd I just couldn't not find a decent priced mini itx one. I won't be playing any games other than maybe some emulated games if I bother to set that up, and no hd editing not my sorta thing :p, that jet way board is mighty tempting, I will have to see what I can do with it.

As far as a low profile card that can do HD wouldn't this fit the bill? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150469

as reviewed by our very own tech gage it is the perfect HTPC card?


Otherwise though if it's just 720 because that's all my tv can do, would my original celly build be ok with the g41?

or perhaps this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121310
 
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TheCrimsonStar

TheCrimsonStar

Tech Monkey
for the xfx radeon 5450, it possibly wouldn't work for 1, maybe 2 reasons (depending on which PSU you're getting). First, it needs a minimum 400W power supply. Is that Sea Sonic power supply at least 400W? and second, that card's interface is PCI-Express 2.1 x16. The board you're getting is only PCI-Express x16, and if you go with the Jet Way board, it would only be PCI, limiting you even more.

For the ASUS Radeon HD 4350, you would need to get that motherboard I showed you (the one that's $20 more than the one you chose) or another of your choice with PCI-Express 2.0 x16, because that's the interface that card uses.
 
K

killem2

Coastermaker
Ahh, well I talked it over with the wife and while she likes the idea of getting the price as low as possible she doesn't agree with possibly sacrificing quality to get there. so i think I am going to see about that amd route listed above.

Also if I go with an AM3 chip will ddr2 ram work with it?
 
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TheCrimsonStar

TheCrimsonStar

Tech Monkey
ahhh that's what I was wondering about. lol it didn't hit me till now. That motherboard uses the same RAM as in laptops (200 pin SO-DIMM), so no it wouldn't work :(

I can't find any other good AMD micro-itx motherboard on newegg that's capable of PCI-E 2.0 either.
 
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Kougar

Kougar

Techgage Staff
Staff member
Hope y'all enjoy the new HTPC!

Newegg's been running coupon codes / sales all this week & weekend, has been a great time to get something you've been planning on purchasing. :)
 
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