[tony_yates]

Righty ho, I'm pretty certain I'm going to take the plunge and build an HTPC, but first thought I get a second opinion.

My aim is to consolidate all my boxes into one, well two if you count the AV receiver (yet to be bought), its to be HD capable and by its very nature will offer other functionality e.g. music\video libray\server.

The real main aim is to be able to receive, watch and record BBC HD in time for the olympics.

The build I have come up with is as follows:

Motherboard Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H 780G http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=775308 55.00 scan.co.uk
CPU AMD Athlon 64 X2 4450e 2.3GHz Socket AM2 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=807039 49.00 scan.co.uk
Memory 1GB Micron Major, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800) http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=527001 12.00 scan.co.uk
HDD 500 GB Samsung HD501LJ Spinpoint http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=494552 45.00 scan.co.uk
DVB-S Compro VideoMate S350 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=683707 23.00 scan.co.uk
CD\DVD already have one

Total 184.00

Case THERMALTAKE CASE MOZART SX VC7001SNS SILVER 470mm wide 120.00

I'll be using XPSP2 + Media Portal

Ideally I'd like a combined DVB-T + DVB-S2 card but can't find one, so have thought about going for the DVB-S card above as a stop gap unless there's a cheap DVB-S2. I've no real need for DVB-T yet as we don't switch until november and at the moment don't get any digital service at all.

I would consider a more expensive DVB-S2 card if it looks imminent that the BBC will move to DVB-S2 soon i.e. before the olympics - does anyone know if this will happen?

I'm not sure on which case yet, I was going for the thermaltake mentioned but it's 47cm wide and doesn't come with a PSU, ideally I'd like a case with a VFD display and 42cm wide but not higher than say 12cm and including psu so I'm open to suggestions. I've started looking at the Antec micro fusion 350, any other ideas?

So my first sanity check question; can I get an HD FTA satellite PVR which can play DVDs for around £300? If I can I'd need to decide whether to bother.

My second question; will the above kit work? In the future it'll act as a digital library of music,films and photos maybe even serving TV to me kids when they get their own PCs.

Many thanks and sorry for the long post.

[kempez]

The stuff looks fine, although I would go for a 2GB kit for a bit for longevity if it were me. I wouldn't get a Thermaltake but that's a personal preference, I find the build quality to be pretty bad with their stuff. Silverstone do some nice cases, although you can pay for the quality.

The AMD CPU/Onboard Video should cope with HD OK, although if you're looking for flawless 1080p then you might want to consider a discrete card

The compro would be a decent card, although it's not fantastic

[mossym]

i'm a big fan of seperate cards for graphics, just think they rule out a lot of potential headaches. worth trying without one though if budget is vital

[kempez]

Originally Posted by mossym

i'm a big fan of seperate cards for graphics, just think they rule out a lot of potential headaches. worth trying without one though if budget is vital

Agreed but the latest AMD/ATI graphics chipset is very good so as you said I think it should be OK

[Biffa001]

780g chipset if a-ok for ALL HD files or HD-DVD / BLu-Ray discs

[tony_yates]

Cheers all,

I agree a separate graphics card would probably be better, but I decided on this mobo as it was recommended by another member for playing HD, and Biff's thread and response to this seems to confirm.

The beauty about all of this is that a card be added if actually needed.

Another reason going the HTPC route is hopefully having the ability to react to new formats etc as and when they come, which as at the moment with things seeming very dynamic can only be a good thing.

[Zarch]

Originally Posted by tony_yates

I agree a separate graphics card would probably be better

You don't need a seperate graphics card with that board for any HD source. Maybe if you were gaming, yes, but not for HD playback.

See my build thread for the stats to back that up.

[tony_yates]

Originally Posted by kempez

The stuff looks fine, although I would go for a 2GB kit for a bit for longevity if it were me. I wouldn't get a Thermaltake but that's a personal preference, I find the build quality to be pretty bad with their stuff. Silverstone do some nice cases, although you can pay for the quality.

The AMD CPU/Onboard Video should cope with HD OK, although if you're looking for flawless 1080p then you might want to consider a discrete card

The compro would be a decent card, although it's not fantastic

Cheers for the heads up on the Thermaltake, another spanner in the works as I really like the look of it, but can't tell from pictures what the quality is like.

I'll have another look at the silverstones. What other makes are there I keep coming with the same ones antec et al, maybe there's a reason for that.

[Tumble]

Originally Posted by mickwall

You don't need a seperate graphics card with that board for any HD source. Maybe if you were gaming, yes, but not for HD playback.

See my build thread for the stats to back that up.

To add to mickwall's comment - no need for separate GPU for HD. Indeed the mobo will crossfire with an HD34xx card if you want to use it for serious gaming. I'm using the Asus version of it crossfired with a Sapphire HD3470 and the results are very impressive.

Re the Gigabyte board in a tight case the Northbridge cooler is proving inadequate. V1.1 of the board is due in July. Purely on looking at pictures and a hunch I thought this may be the case and went for the Asus board. The downside of the Asus board is a very basic BIOS, no internal or external firewire, and the rquirement to set internal jumpers to move between VGA & DVD/HDMI outputs!!

If you have space look at the Zalman case. The space is easier to work in and keep cool passively. It is also well built.

Look at using a Logitech DiNovo Mini or Edge in place of a remote - much more functional.

[Zarch]

Originally Posted by Tumble

Re the Gigabyte board in a tight case the Northbridge cooler is proving inadequate. V1.1 of the board is due in July. Purely on looking at pictures and a hunch I thought this may be the case and went for the Asus board.

I ordered mine last week(from ebuyer) and it was the 1.1 version that came!!

(see pic in my build thread which shows the new heatsink)

[Tumble]

Originally Posted by mickwall

I ordered mine last week(from ebuyer) and it was the 1.1 version that came!!

(see pic in my build thread which shows the new heatsink)

& so you have - I'd been checking US sites, and the V1.1 replacement wasn't expected until July.

I did notice from your build post that you are using Catalyst 8.5. Certainly on the Asus board the drivers (I think they are actually 8.493.0.0 or similar from the 8.5 download package) loses the crossfire functionality. THE ONLY DRIVERS THAT WORK ARE 8.476.0.0

We could do with a 780g mobo thread to compare problems and solutions.