Motherboard/video card/sound questions

[jonan]

Hi all, this is my first post on the forum - I've spent a lot of time searching through the forum to find answers to the many questions I've had while designing my first HTPC (which I'm about to start building). This site has been very useful BTW.

The first hurdle I came across was the PC case. This should have been easy but our TV table is shallow, so 43cm deep cases are too big. I decided on the Antec NSK1300 due to its shorter dimensions but then I realised that the limited cooling would be a problem with high performance video cards and processors. The machine will be used mainly for watching/recording TV, however I will be using it to run Flight Simulator X. FSX chews up every resource it can, so I'm going to need a powerful video card and big power supply, therefore the NSK1300 is ruled out. I don't want a huge desktop box like the Silverstone LC20 (too deep), so I'm thinking of using a Silverstone TJ08 mini tower. I would have used the SG01, but the 80mm fans could be too noisy compared with 120mm ones.

Anyway, I have two questions.

1) Regarding LGA775 mATX motherboards - I'll be using a PCIe x16 video card and a PCIe x1 DigitalNow tuner card. My mobo choice is the Intel DG965OT (mainly because it has spdif), however this board has the PCIe x1 (tuner card) slot to the left of the PCIe x16 (video card) slot. The question is - will the larger video cards (eg GeoForce 8800) take up the space over the x1 slot? If so then I'm going to have to use something like the Asus P5B-VM that has the two PCIe slots on either side of the older PCI slots.

2) Is spdif optical that important for sound? I don't have an amp and I'll probably start by using the TV speakers, but I would like to connect to some decent speakers down the track (inexpensive ones or my old ones with the red & black wire connectors). I'm actually not sure how people normally connect speakers to HTPCs.

[DDH]

jonan,

aboard!

I can't offer anything on question 1, but question 2 ...

SPDIF, optical or coaxial, is the way to go for sound to an amp for surround sound, ie 5.1 / 7.1, etc. If you are looking at going with 2 main speakers only then the questions more relate to how you will power them, ie a separate amplifier only, combination receiver / amplifier, etc. It sounds like in the first instance simply using the red and white RCA type connectors for sound through your TV will be a great option. Eventually you can take those same connectors and place them into an amplifier with some larger speakers if you wish.

I don't think you could say there is a "normal" way to connect speakers, just choices. If you are going for the home theatre then SPDIF and a good amp is it. If you have a small set up then L+R through the TV is good too. I have both, and both work well.

Best of luck, and have fun.