HTPC build recommendations [Archive]

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trekie86

12-03-2009, 11:34 AM

All,

I am planning on building a Home Theater PC (HTPC) probably around February because I will be poor from the holidays until then. Here is my proposed list of components on newegg: newegg (https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=12979086). I don't plan on adding the video card or sound card right away to reduce costs and also because the MOBO can handle both initially. I'm going to eventually want a video card because I'd like to rip my Blu-ray onto the HDD. Also expecting an additional HDD in the future. Should I just add another drive or RAID the two in RAID-0 which would just make it easier to buy the 2nd one in the beginning.

I'd like your feedback on the component, whether they should work well or not. I'm planning on loading ubuntu on there with XBMC, any thoughts on that?

Thanks all.

shoota

12-03-2009, 05:15 PM

we can't see your list cause you have to be logged in to newegg to see it

Jsunn

12-04-2009, 04:30 AM

trekie86

12-04-2009, 08:44 AM

Apparently sharing the list only works for those who have new egg accounts. Here are the items I was thinking of.

SAPPHIRE 100253HDMI Radeon HD 4650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Low Profile Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16814102829)
Item #: N82E16814102829

LG Black 8X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 40X CD-ROM SATA Internal Combo LG Blu-ray Reader & 16X LightScribe DVD±R DVD Burner (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16827136162)
Item #: N82E16827136162

Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E5200 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16819116072)
Item #: N82E16819116072

Antec Black Aluminum / Steel Fusion Remote Black Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16811129054)
Item #: N82E16811129054

HT | OMEGA STRIKER 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16829271001)
Item #: N82E16829271001

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives -Bare Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16822136284)
Item #: N82E16822136284

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820231098)
Item #: N82E16820231098

Intel BOXDG43GT LGA 775 Intel G43 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813121389)
Item #: N82E16813121389

big poppa pump

12-04-2009, 02:24 PM

Mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394&cm_re=785G-_-13-128-394-_-Product

CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103688&cm_re=athlon_x2_240-_-19-103-688-_-Product

Get the above Mobo and CPU combination and ditch the separate video and sound card. The onboard video on the 785G is more than enough to playback all h.264/VC-1 movies. The onboard GPU also supports 7.1 channel LPCM through HDMI.

I'm going to eventually want a video card because I'd like to rip my Blu-ray onto the HDD.
You do not need a separate video card for that. As I said, the onboard video will do the decoding just fine.

[XC] leviathan18

12-04-2009, 03:31 PM

www.hfx.at

all i have to say about htpc

Serra

12-04-2009, 03:42 PM

My recommendations would require a knowledge of what you plan on using it for. If it's just basic DVD/Blu-ray playback, I found an Ion platform w/ an atom 330 works just fine and would save you a lot of upfront and ongoing costs. And you definitely wouldn't need a RAID-0 set for it (I would expect you wouldn't want one as media is a bother to lose). If you plan on gaming with it that's another story.

I ended up scrapping my Ion platform because it wouldn't play/upconvert Hulu properly, but with the new flash beta and nvidia beta drivers that issue has supposedly been overcome. Minus that issue everything else worked fine for me.

trekie86

12-04-2009, 08:05 PM

You do not need a separate video card for that. As I said, the onboard video will do the decoding just fine.

I was just concerned that trying to decode Blu-Rays would be too taxing on the CPU and generate a lot of heat. I'm hoping to keep the system as quiet as possible. I do like the MOBO, very happy with my GIGABYTE MOBO on my gaming rig, and although I haven't ventured into AMD yet, this processor looks great and the price is good.

And you definitely wouldn't need a RAID-0 set for it (I would expect you wouldn't want one as media is a bother to lose). If you plan on gaming with it that's another story.

Don't plan on gaming with it, just wanted to make response speed faster. I'm not too concerned with losing the media because I will have the originals of everything that I'd be putting on the system.

My recommendations would require a knowledge of what you plan on using it for

My plan is to put a majority of our video media library on the system and all of our audio media library on there so we can just sit down, queue something up and go. I'm eventually going to get an audio system with a good receiver to pump the audio through for when we want some great movie theater experience of company over for background music.

Thanks for all of your response so far, gonna take in your advice and make some modifications.

leviathan18;4139982]www.hfx.at

all i have to say about htpc

I thought about buying a system but I love getting down and dirty with the components and really increasing my knowledge of PCs. After all, this is XtremeSystems.

[XC] leviathan18

12-04-2009, 10:07 PM

i know i love to build my rigs also, but as a center piece of the home theater in my case is in the living room i want a nice case and i haven seen anything sexier than those made by HFX they even use bang and olufsen amps so quality is there.

trekie86

12-05-2009, 06:57 PM

leviathan18;4140478']i know i love to build my rigs also, but as a center piece of the home theater in my case is in the living room i want a nice case and i haven seen anything sexier than those made by HFX they even use bang and olufsen amps so quality is there.

That's why I'm going with the nice Antec case, looks just like a stereo receiver.

Anyway, I've revised my list:

Case: Antec Black Aluminum / Steel Fusion Remote Black Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129054)
MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394)
PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ500MXSP 500W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341016)
CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor Model ADX240OCGQBOX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103688)
Memory: G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-2GBPK (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231144)
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EADS 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136317)
Optical: LITE-ON Black 4X Blu-ray Reader SATA Model iHOS104-06 - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106325)

Props to Big Poppa Pump, with his suggestion, I dropped the price down to under $600. I'll keep you guys informed of the progress. I'm sure by the time I'm ready to buy this stuff the price will go down some more or something better will be available.

Jsunn

12-05-2009, 07:10 PM

Looks like a nice setup! Buy the stuff already, lets get building!

-J

shoota

12-05-2009, 10:22 PM

leviathan18;4139982']www.hfx.at

all i have to say about htpc

nice but darn expensive i think

alpha0ne

12-06-2009, 04:54 AM

If you plan on playing bloooray/hd-dvd and want the full hd audio then your best/cheapest option is to buy a radeon 5*** series card that can now [in the last few days] bitsream hd-audio using the latest MPC-HC and ffdshow builds

No more need to buy PDVD/TMT3/WinDVD to play back bit perfect audio/video :up:

trekie86

12-07-2009, 08:11 AM

Anybody have any recommendations on using Ubuntu and XBMC? Better alternatives? What is some good DVD ripping software for linux? I've heard great things about DVDFab but its windows only.

Jamesrt2004

12-07-2009, 08:39 AM

big poppa pump

12-07-2009, 04:04 PM

sorry but 500w psu LOL?

you'd get by with 200w psu don't be wasting money
get a decent antec 300W or even the OCZ StealthXStream 400w thats still much cheaper then the one you chose (nearly half the price in UK)

I agree! :yepp:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008

This one should be more than enough for the HTPC.

trekie86

12-07-2009, 08:31 PM

big poppa pump

12-08-2009, 05:36 AM

How is the heatsink that comes with the Anthon II, am I going to want to get an aftermarket cooler?

If you are not going to overclock and use it purely as a HTPC, the stock cooler should work out just fine.

trekie86

12-08-2009, 08:20 AM

If you are not going to overclock and use it purely as a HTPC, the stock cooler should work out just fine.

Great. The heatsink that came with my Intel E8500 was crap and didn't touch any of the settings until I put a new one on. I'm probably going to keep the speed at stock, not really a need to overclock when its going to be a media player.

Donnie27

12-08-2009, 08:22 AM

Thanks. I didn't think about reducing the psu after I took out the video card and sound card. How is the heatsink that comes with the Anthon II, am I going to want to get an aftermarket cooler?

Thanks for all of the recommendations, you guys rock. This is why I love this forum.

Props to Big Poppa, I was looking for an 80 PLUS certified psu and that one hits it on the head with the best rating on the egg for <= 400W.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817339009

Powering two of my computers (including my HTPC), one is a year old. I bought one of them for $24 with free shipping!

Also give a look at cases that might match your receiver.

http://www.directron.com/htpc6000s.html
http://www.directron.com/htpc3701.html

If you have the money!

http://www.directron.com/moncaso932p.html

Don't waste your money on a sound card, only hard core gamers need them.

Edit, I know this is Xtremesystems.org but it is pretty lame to overclock an HTPC, not enough gains to justify OCing it LOL! 3rd party coolers with 120MM fans are a good idea since they make almost NO noise, unlike noisy stock coolers.

[XC] leviathan18

12-08-2009, 09:33 AM

a mini itx solution from lian li http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112227&cm_re=lian_li-_-11-112-227-_-Product

trekie86

12-08-2009, 08:43 PM

Also give a look at cases that might match your receiver.

No receiver yet, just planning ahead. I really like the black finish on the Antec and it does match our DirectTV receiver and my PS3. Thanks for the suggestions though. The more information I get the better.

Edit, I know this is Xtremesystems.org but it is pretty lame to overclock an HTPC, not enough gains to justify OCing it LOL! 3rd party coolers with 120MM fans are a good idea since they make almost NO noise, unlike noisy stock coolers.

Wasn't planning on OCing the processor, just wanted to know how good the stock cooler is. I'll start using the stock cooler, monitor the temps and possibly go for an aftermarket cooler. The biggest thing is going to be to make sure that I have enough space.

My need for a sound card was to have optical out, because that is the plan for a receiver to have an optical input. Now that they come on Motherboards, I'm not going to go for one.

Thanks

Donnie27

12-10-2009, 06:27 AM

No receiver yet, just planning ahead. I really like the black finish on the Antec and it does match our DirectTV receiver and my PS3. Thanks for the suggestions though. The more information I get the better.

Wasn't planning on OCing the processor, just wanted to know how good the stock cooler is. I'll start using the stock cooler, monitor the temps and possibly go for an aftermarket cooler. The biggest thing is going to be to make sure that I have enough space.

My need for a sound card was to have optical out, because that is the plan for a receiver to have an optical input. Now that they come on Motherboards, I'm not going to go for one.

Thanks

The stock coolers aren't worth using on a HTPC IMHO. There nice 3rd party fans that range from as little as 28 to $45.

http://www.directron.com/scmnj1100.html
Scythe Ninja Mini Rev. B CPU Cooler SCMNJ-1100, for Intel LGA1366 / LGA775 / Socket 478 and AMD Socket AM3 / AM2+ / AM2 / 940 / 939 / 754 Processors,
Part Number: COOL-SCMNJ-1100
Regular price:$38.99On Sale: $35.99

Case, it's good that you have a something to go with as far as looks. That makes the rest easy!

What kind of remote will you use?
http://www.directron.com/mgir01bk.html

That's $5 cheaper than what Newegg sells it for.

trekie86

12-10-2009, 09:33 AM

Case, it's good that you have a something to go with as far as looks. That makes the rest easy!

What kind of remote will you use?

The case comes with a remote. If I wasn't getting a case with a remote already, I would probably just buy one that doesn't look like crap. Some of them are so small and cheap looking. Of course, if I decide to go with Windows 7 instead of Ubuntu, I may dual boot, we'll see, I have a windows media center remote laying around somewhere.

Donnie27

12-10-2009, 10:44 AM

The case comes with a remote. If I wasn't getting a case with a remote already, I would probably just buy one that doesn't look like crap. Some of them are so small and cheap looking. Of course, if I decide to go with Windows 7 instead of Ubuntu, I may dual boot, we'll see, I have a windows media center remote laying around somewhere.

http://www.xpcgear.com/remotevista.html

That's the one I use and it works great. It controls a lot of Creative's software as well.

http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr245/Donnie27_photos/FinishOldSub.jpg

The reason I don't bother with a touchscreen.

http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr245/Donnie27_photos/46inchLCDcomputerscreen.jpg

shoota

12-10-2009, 10:59 AM

sorry i don't get it. why don't you bother with a touchscreen?

alpha0ne

12-11-2009, 01:54 AM

Hi Donnie, do you find that MS remote chews thru batteries ??

Donnie27

12-11-2009, 06:23 AM

Hi Donnie, do you find that MS remote chews thru batteries ??

Nope! Plus I only paid $16.

Donnie27

12-11-2009, 06:32 AM

sorry i don't get it. why don't you bother with a touchscreen?

My 46" LCD TV is my monitor. Touchscreen HTPC seems to be the rage these days. Like this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811235011&cm_re=home_theater_pc-_-11-235-011-_-Product) one. Or even this (http://www.directron.com/moneual902.html) one that might be the best deal out there.

mechman

12-11-2009, 01:03 PM

What about the Zotac ION boards? They sure look like a great deal (mobo, cpu, gpu all in one) and are sooo tempting: Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&Description=zotac%20ion&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&Order=RATING)

alpha0ne

12-12-2009, 12:55 AM

Like this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811235011&cm_re=home_theater_pc-_-11-235-011-_-Product) one. Or even this (http://www.directron.com/moneual902.html) one that might be the best deal out there.

Only if your filthy rich :(

Donnie27

12-14-2009, 06:21 AM

Only if your filthy rich :(

Don't need to be rich to afford that LOL! Please also note that I said I wouldn't use that kind of case. I just linked for reference.

Happy Joe

12-16-2009, 12:53 PM

A 1TB HDD seems a bit small for a HTPC (especially for Blu-ray). I'm currently near 2.5 TB, of movies, (only 16GB of music).

Enjoy!