My first system, to be ordered soon... (please look and comment)

[RedFoxxx]

Hi guys

I'm new to these forums and HTPC and I'm just about to order the parts for my first system.

The main use for it will be

*Record and play analog TV
*Record and play full digital TV (but can only get 2 channels atm...sigh)
*Play Bluray
*Stream/play over wireless network (have wireless usb card)
*quiet (of course)
*more than likely the tv will be a samsung full lcd hd, maybe a 46" - however I'll purchase this after the build.

So far I've done a bit of research (so much info out there) and this is what i have so far. Your recommendations/changes/help greatly appreciated

If I am missing any obvious incompatabilities with this below, am i missing anything, what cables, fans etc do i need and any other parts?

I have keyboard/mouse - thats it.

Its been a while since my last desktop, there seems to be heaps of diff ram, what do i need?

KINGSTON 2GB 667MHz DDR2 Non-ECC CL5 UNBUFFERED DIMM KVR667D2N5/2G

Intel BX80557E2200 E2200/2.20GHz/ 1MB CACHE/ 800 FSB/ LGA775 [ Category ]

Motherboard Abit Fatal1ty F-I90HD (or recommend another one?)

Antec Fusion Black HTPC Desktop Black, LCD with IR receiver, 430W PSU

Pioneer BDC-S02BK Blu-Ray Combo Drive, SATA, Black, Retail with Cyberlink Software

Compro VideoMate Vista E800F DVB-T&A PCIE Card with MCE Remote Real-Time H/W Encoding

Samsung EcoGreen 5400rpm F1 DT 1TB HD103UI/Y HDD 32MB Cache 1000GB SATA II 3.0Gbps

Vista home premium 32bit
+internet to other download software

[logifuse]

At the moment (until the update known as Fiji comes out - look it up) VMC will only support analogue or digital in the same system. Fiji shouldn't be far away, but you'll need to get it with a Windows OEM version (you'll see the discussion about it).

Tuner - think hard before going with the Compro & remember that hybrid tuners aren't an analogue tuner + a digital tuner - they're an analogue or digital tuner (can't be both at the same time). Look hard at the Hauppauge HVR-2200 - more expensive but dual hybrid tuners & a very reliable card. If you're keen on Compro, have a look at the E900 - it's new & some people are having problems, but it should get better with better drivers.

The Abit Fatal1ty F-I90HD is getting a bit old & tired (& will struggle at 1080p). Unfortunately there currently aren't any great Intel CPU motherboards with onboard graphics (versions of Nvidia's great onboard graphics for Intel are coming, but who knows how long?). You might want to look at a newer board with a single slot heatsink video card.

Look at getting the 800MHz version of that RAM (or 1066 if the board you settle on supports it) - I assume that CPU can use the higher speed RAM?

Cables/fans - the Fusion has OK fans in it & you can start with the Intel CPU heatsink & fan & if you need to get it quieter, you can swap them for quieter ones down the track.

Justin

[Vico]

Fiji is out RTM in places that can't be said here in the forum, but you know what i mean ....google is a great help

[RedFoxxx]

Its doing my head to find a mother board that has hdmi, fits into that case and has decent video

can some recommend?

whats uatx and will that fit?

Ive been looking at the asus p5k- models but yeah if someone could suggest it be great

---
edit: revised system

Antec Fusion V2 HTPC PC Case 1 $269.00 $269.00

Asus P5N-MX nForce AIO MB MBASP5N-MX 1 $59.00 $59.00

GeForce 8600GT 16X PCI-E 512Mb VDGF8600GT-E2 1 $89.00 $89.00

Intel Dual Core E2220 2.4G CPU CPINPC2D-E2220 1 $99.00 $99.00

2048Mb 2Gb DDR2 800 Memory MYD208-2048KKHX 1 $69.00 $69.00

1000Gb 1Tb Samsung SATA2 32Mb 1 $168.00 $168.00

Hauppauge HVR-2200 Dual Tuner 1 $209.00 $209.00

SATA Data SATA150 /300 Cable 1 $5.00 $5.00

Total Price (Inc GST) $967.00


DVI TO HDMI 1.8m cable ~$40
Pioneer blue ray player BDC-S02BK ~$200

Total cost = ~$1200

how does that look? am i missing anything?

[dgaust]

The Abit is a pretty good board, who says it's old and tired . I wouldn't recommend one now though, there are newer boards with better onboard graphics.

If you check logifuse's signature you'll see one that seems to be decent (means an AMD chip though), and the onboard video helps with blu-ray playback. You won't get that with the F-190HD.

Also the F-190HD's chipset doesn't like the Pioneer drive when it wakes from sleep, so I have to use a cheap PCI sata card to get it working from sleep.

[Mark^Bastard]

Originally Posted by RedFoxxx

Its doing my head to find a mother board that has hdmi, fits into that case and has decent video

can some recommend?

I'm currently looking at the Intel G45. Looks like it fits your needs.

[epathie]

The Intel BLKDG45ID looks the goods. HDMI and DVI outputs. Built in 7.1 sound as well.

Thanks for the tip!


/Dave

[RedFoxxx]

guys just an update

ive half recived the following parts, rest come early next week

AMD ADH4850DOBOX 4850e Athlon X2 Dual core 2.5GHz 45W AM2 1MB
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H AM2+, AMD780G, 5200HT, DDR2, VGA, PCIE2.0, RAID, GbLAN, 1394a, mATX
Corsair VS2GBKIT667D2(1GX2) 2G (2x 1GB ) DDRII-667 (PC-5300) : 2GB (2x 1GB Kit) Value Select 240-pin 2x128Mx64
Samsung HD103UJ SATA 1TB 7200rpm 32M Cache 3.0Gbps
Shintaro 14SH-KEYRF 2.4ghz Wireless Keyboard
Hauppauge HVR2200 MCE PCIe Dual Hybrid
Antec NSK2480 Case with 380W
Rock Remote Control for Windows Vista
Scythe Shuriken Low Profile CPU Cooler
Pioneer Bluray BDC-S02BK
(above = ~$1250 delievered)

Will be running with Vista Home 32bit on a 46" samsung
Vista codec pack, any dvd, clonedvd for my dvd libary

Is there anything else I'm missing ?

With connections, run HDMI from TV to HTPC, then antenna from HTPC (2200) to External wall antenna? Is that all or do you run another antenna to the tv from the HTPC or not?

[bobafett_h]

Originally Posted by epathie

The Intel BLKDG45ID looks the goods. HDMI and DVI outputs. Built in 7.1 sound as well.

Thanks for the tip!


/Dave

Except that it's an Intel branded board... Intel make great chipsets and CPUs, but their motherboards are almost as bad as their graphics, even though they are using their own chipsets... It's ultimately their BIOS which lets everything down. I've seen way too many problems with Intel boards where they simply won't support CPUs and RAM that cheaper boards from other brands handle easily... Intel boards usually look ugly too with cheap looking components, inadequate cooling and yucky colours.

G45 chipset is currently the best chipset to go with if you want to stick with an Intel CPU though. There are a few out from Gigabyte (such as the GA-EG45M-DS2H) and Asus now.