HTPC Spec - Criticism/Opinions Appreciated

[t_i_g_e_rr]

I am building a HTPC. I have spent weeks researching this, only to come out with a very similar build as everyone else. However, opinions and options welcomed (by the way, thanks to anyone else who has posted their ideas that I have now copied )

Goal: Fair priced, simple, HTPC, games not crucial, reasonably quiet
Connects to two satallites (one french (forgot which), one normal norman Sky) since terrestrial signal is bad where I live.
To connect to: 32” Panasonic Viera TV (TX32LMD70A) via HDMI.
Buying new speakers (see below).

Basics

1) Case
Antec Aria NSK1380-UK (350W PSU)
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4V4G
£70.81
PSU included, apparently quiet, I like the small size, no case display though (do I need one? more trouble than it's worth?), Antec good name.

2) Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H 780G (v 1.1)
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142347
£55.35
HDMI/HDCP, SPDIF if I need, on board sound and graphics, cheap, popular, microATX for size is bonus

3) Processor (CPU)
Athlon 64 X2 4850e
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=541T
£45.34
low power so low heat and low noise, quite cheap, popular on here

4) Memory (RAM)
Corsair DDR2 4GB 800Mhz
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4PDL
£50.71
up to 800mhz supported by processor (though max 1066 by motherboard), cheap

5) Storage (HDD)
Samsung Spinpoint HD753LJ 750GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139739
£59.89
reportedly quiet, 750GB seems to be cheapest per GB right now – buy more if required later

6) Optical Drive
LG GGC-H20L Blu-ray combo drive
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4XKQ
£66.72
Blue Ray, cheap!

7) TV Card
Pinacle 4000i OEM
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=809136
£32.75
I want dual satellite, ideally S2 for HD in future, but nobody makes the card I want at an acceptable price, so I went for this. Anyone else found anything?

8) Operating System (OS)
Windows Vista Home premium 64 SP1
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=527302
£55.10
Couldn’t decide between 32 and 64. Still can’t decide. Will probably add TV pack (fiji). Maybe try mediaportal.

9) Keyboard and Mouse
Logitech Wireless deluxe 660 desktop
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=52ZB
£16.20
I wanted cordless, ideally one that would 'dock' to charge, but they cost about £100 more (!?), so I will happily cope with rechargeable batteries.

10) Remote Control
Microsoft standard remote
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=143741
£18.79
Standard remote seems to give less problems, from what I've read


Total price for basic build: £517


Extras

11) Speakers
Logitech Z-5500
http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/5918...er-system.html
£172 + 14.10 delivery = £186.10
Gets good reviews. I'm not a sound person, a PC person, seems simple, so suits me.

I think I will use Open Office.
Undecided about adding extra cooling (can I change heatsink later?)
I want a webcam too.
I might do just a bit more work looking for cheaper prices, but I think I've done a fair bit of work on this already .

All thoughts welcome, even if it is just “looks fine”. Have I forgotten anything (cables, etc)? I would especially like to hear from anyone who has used any of these components themselves.

Thanks.

[sambd]

I wouldn't bother with the speaker you would be much better off saving a bit more cash and getting an av reciever and a 5.1 speaker package like these

http://www.richersounds.com/showprod...PREMIER-PK-SIL

They would sound much better you would only need to spend another £200 ish

[irishandrew]

Unless you're running 64bit there's no real gain in the 4GB of RAM. On the otherhand Vista 64 has recently being playing quite nicely driver wise with Fiji etc. Personally I stick to 32 at the moment as fewer problems with 3rd party components/software/drivers... 3 gigs is fine - I run my HTPC with 2gigs of DDR3.

-Andrew

[irishandrew]

Oh and by the way - I use the same optical drive and have had no problems with it (and paid about twice that when I bought it!). Play's HD-DVD's too, which considering many can be picked up in places like game-exchange for under £5 is quite nice

[irishandrew]

Oh (it's late and I should really stop hitting submit...) I completely agree with sambd re the speakers. Use a receiver and get some proper surround, you won't regret it.

[t_i_g_e_rr]

Thanks so far! General comments still appreciated, but also more specifically:

Has anyone any experience of this case, Antec Aria NSK1380-UK (350W PSU)?

[eeit232]

780G chipset won't give you Lossless audio from your blu-rays (well, it will, but only 2-channel). A board that does 7.1 LPCM over hdmi to an AVR will sound alot better, or get a bitstreaming solution like the G45 or Asus Xonar. I can vouch for the LG drive and the Spinpoints, I have both and no trouble yet. I would say stick with 32bit Vista for now, and reiterate that a separate AVR and speakers will give a huge audio benefit over the Logitech speakers, especially if you get a lossless audio solution as mentioned above

[t_i_g_e_rr]

I had been trying to figure that out about the lossless audio, so thank you. I'll have to do a bit of digging. If anyone could tell me what specific motherboards they have used I would be grateful.?

As for speakers... looks like I'm going to have to learn about this after all. Can anyone recommend a place to start? Maybe somewhere I can read a group test for speakers and/or an explanation of the basics so I know what to look for. (Note: I'm not looking to spend too much, and I want it to be simple).

[sswats]

If you're getting those speakers you do not need lossless audio.

Unless you're spending at least £500 on your sound system alone, plus you were saying you're not a sound person, i doubt you'll be able to hear the difference in audio quality that lossless offers.
And anyway you can get an Asus Xonar later.

For the speakers/amp package pick a budget and go to the home cinema sections of these forums and you'll be given plenty of recommendations.

My criticism of your system is just the Antec 1380 case. It looks good in pictures, but when I saw it up close I didn't like it at all. And although not lookers and bigger, I preferred the Antec 2480 for the same price or the antec fusion with case display for £95. plus you get better cooling.
If you don't need the TV card the Antec Minuet 350 looks pretty cool

And for a HTPC, 2gb is plenty.

[t_i_g_e_rr]

This all seems good advice, thank you.

I am currently thinking of starting with standard cooling, and then upgrading later once I know how much space I have in the case and what extra cooling I may need. Will I be OK to change heatsinks's, etc at a later date?

Thanks

[saltyzip]

Looks like a very similar setup to which I have just built:

Differences in RED:

1. Antec Fusion Black (NO PSU)+ Remote IMON RM200 - LCD is a bit of a gimmick
2. Seasonic S12II 430W PSU - Quiet
3. Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H 780G (v 1.1)
4. Athlon 64 X2 4850e 45w
5. Syth Ninja Mini CPU Cooler (Passive cooled)
6. Corsair DDR2 2GB 800Mhz
7. Samsung Spinpoint 250GB - Went for a small drive as all my music/movies/pictures are all stored on Windows Home Server (WHS).
8. Pioneer BDC-202BK Blue Ray Drive
9. Windows Vista Ultimate 64 SP1 - no problems with drivers, went for ultimate for the remote desktop option - necessity as debugging windows issues on the main TV is not an option.
10. Logitech Wireless Keyboard and mouse (£19.99 from PC World - not a great range on it though - bought as after thought to help setup the HTPC)
11. Asus EAH3450/HTP/512M Passive Cooled Hybrid Graphics Card - needed SVIDEO out, some of us still have a big fat CRT TVs

I purchased the case from morecomputers, only place it was in stock, the rest I bought from BT Shop(DABS) all bar the PSU and Graphics Card which I got from Scan.

Can't complain about any of your spec changes though, good selection.

I've had no problems with the remote in MCE, other than with the MyMovies add in. It seems a recent Vista patch has messed something up, as I'm not the only one experiencing the problem.

I've installed all the latest drivers and no issues to report. Make sure you setup the power saving options in Vista, there is no seperate applet which normally comes with the motherboard, as it's not needed.

My CPU idle's well underclocked at 1000MHz and very rarely needs much more power. CPU Temperature is 13 degrees, the case is cool as ice, the two Antec 120mm case fans do their job nicely and quietly.

Good Luck!

[mark0326]

Originally Posted by saltyzip

CPU Temperature is 13 degrees...

You must have a 'very' cold lounge?

[saltyzip]

Yes I live in the ICEHotel, only joshing

Seriously though I use Everest Ultimate to monitor the CPUs core and it's reporting back that each one is 13 degress celcius.

When using the Everest stress test it upped the CPU temperature to a puppy warming 30 degrees.

My lounge ambient termperature is about 21 degrees.

I have to take my hats off to AMD for producing an excellent CPU.

[saltyzip]

See picture attachments taken from Everest for the run down of my HTPC running at idle and the temperature of the CPU.

I might try and update Everest, if there is a newer version, as I would have hoped it could have shown me the SouthBridge temperature too.

[mark0326]

Those temperature readings need just a pinch of salt.

Blowing 21 degree warm air over a CPU isn't going to cool it much below 21 degrees - that would just be defying the laws of nature. As you are passively cooled I'd be more than sceptical of your temps.

Several of these CPU temperature reading programs are a bit suspect, CoreTemp included (for some), RealTemp is better but requires a little setting up before-hand.

All this is of course not really necessary as long as your are not approaching critical melt-down temperatures.

For comparison though, in CoreTemp my water-cooled Q6600 o/c'd to 3GHz in a 20 degree room reads 30 degrees idle average across the cores. (also had graphics in the loop)

Enjoy your HTPC!