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I'm about to build my first HTPC and just wanted to run a config by everyone.
CPU: 4850e
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-DS2H or its big brother GA-MA790FX-DS5
Ram: 2GB corsair select
PSU: Corsair Micro CMPSU-550VXAU
HDD: Samsung HD753LJ (750GB)
Tuner: Hauppauge HVR2200
Network: D-link wireless-N
Software: Vista Home premium
I currently have a Vista X64 as my games/daily PC, WHS (backup, file storage, sharing, remote file sharing) and a Vista home laptop. I plan to have the WHS store most of my recorded media and serve to the HTPC. I have a mix of 100mb wired and 250-300mb wireless.
Now I'm going to install all this into my current little AV unit. I'll include a link in a sec of my messy setup as it is now.
Looks pretty good to me (better than my home system!). My only comments are:
1. CPU looks like a bit of overkill - if the system is a dedicated HTPC. But I guess like a car you can never have too much horse power!
2. Are you able to connect the system via ethernet? Wireless is OK, but nothing beats streaming media like an ethernet connection, particularly if you are using a home server to store your media.
3. I have not used the 64 bit Windows - heard of too many issues with compatibility etc... with many plugins and drivers. And to be honest, if you are not using all that grunt, why install it? See point 1!
I'm running a 2.4g dual core for my HTPC and it's perfect.
2GB ram on x64 wouldn't be really enough. I say stick with x32 for now
Corsair... never used it, I'm a Kingston man myself, but unless it's generic, all ram is good ram.
Mmmmm, wireless N. (G suck a$$)
Hey all thanks for the comments. The X64 vista is my main game/work machine and it has 8Gb of ram on it. I run photoshop and alot of editing software and it has helped alot from my olf 3Gb setup.
On the HTPC I plan just to run 32bit and 2Gb of ram as I don't want driver issues and what not. Like I have read before this box needs to just work........... wife proof like it was a dvd player.
GA-MA790FX-DS5 Was a mistake as I ment the ATX version of the GA-MA78GPM-DS2H as size isn't an issue for me. I'm also thinking the extra sata, pci-e slots will come in handy down the track.
I also forgot to mention that the onboard video will be for backup and I plan to run off a X800 or probably a X1950Pro until I upgrade to one of the newer cards. I'm hoping that this will take some stress off the M.board and allow easier cooling.
I've also tested the wireless N setup by streaming from my WHS to the laptop and 295Mb (all devices are currently at max 5m away, just under the house!) and it is heaps of bandwidth for HD content.
Also I use alot of corsair value select ram on my work machines, lifetime warranty and some even overclock, lol.
Anyway I'm going to download my dodgy shot of my current setup before I start hacking a computer in there.
Ok please forgive the horrid quality of these pics as I just took them quickly with my wife's point and shoot. I'll change them out on the weekend for proper photo's.
As you can see its just a smallish TV (not full HD) sitting on a cabinet. I'm going to leave my Wii and PS2 in the open slot for easy access. Under that where the doors are is DVD shelving. This will be gutted out to house the HTPC.
HDD will be mounted with 5'25 expansions onto rubber mounts standing veritly. Mboard will be raised up a few cm from the base to allow airflow underneath. The whole section will be split into two halfs with airflow suck in from one side and pushed out of the other. This will allow the front to remain closed and quiet. The PSU will be mounted and the very back to one side to keep noise down. I'll mount a small IR sending up in the middle section.
At this stage I haven't really decided what to do with the Blue-ray player. More than likely I'll make a custom door setup for the mid section and mount the drive onto the roof.
This must all sound abit vague, I'll put up better details soon when I get time to draw up a plan.
Last edited by TJ_King; 17th September 2008 at 09:44 PM.
Reason: updating
I also forgot to mention that the onboard video will be for backup and I plan to run off a X800 or probably a X1950Pro until I upgrade to one of the newer cards. I'm hoping that this will take some stress off the M.board and allow easier cooling.
actually, unless you require TV-OUT (ie, RCA/Componant...not DVI/HDMI) then i suggest to use the onboard.
Yes the chipset will get hotter, but its either increase the heat of one heatsource a little (10-20C) or introduce an additional significant heat source, which could end up being 60+C
plus, im not 100% sure if those 2 cards support hardware acceleration, which could dump all the TV/DVD/BluRay decoding to the CPU. It might be able to handle the DVD and maybe TV, but it won't handle the BluRay decoding. The onboard video definately does.
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Dilithium -> A64 X2 4850, ECS 8200A, 2x1024Mb Crucial, Onboard GF8200, 1x80Gb Seagate SATA, 2x250Gb Seagate SATA II in Stripe, Pioneer 212BK, ThermalTake Tenor, HDA X-Plosion, DVICO Dual Tuner, Acer 32" 720p LCD
Trilithium -> A64 X2 4850e, ABIT Nforce Mobo, 2x2GB DDR2-800 Patriot, Sapphire HD2400XT, 160GB Samsung SATA, Pioneer K06 DVD Burner, Hiper Slimline Chassis w/Slimline CPU Cooler, Digital Now Tiny Twin Tuner, Sound Blaster USB, Hisence 42" 1080p LCD TV :):):)
