HTPC-I'm going to take the plunge!

New Start Neil

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Ok, so I've decided to go for it and start speccing myself an HTPC! :clap:

I'm looking for all your help here to guide me on this rocky road! :D

My requirements are as follows:

  • A proper media centre case (such as an Antec Fusion).
  • The ability to fit 2 x DVD drives (My XBOX 360 HD DVD Drive and the upcoming Pioneer Blu Ray drive) if such a thing even exists?.
  • Nice and quiet.
  • Gigabit LAN.
  • The ability to run either Vista MCE or MCE 2005 comfortably without need to upgrade in a short while.
  • I don't need any TV tuners.
  • An optical or digital co-ax connection to connect to my Denon 1906 amp.
  • An HDCP enabled video card.
  • The ability to play HD files such as *.TS or H264 files comfortably.
  • A video card with the ability to connect to my Hitachi 42PD7200 plasma.
I will have VGA and DVI available on my plasma as currently my 360 is connected by component and my Sky HD box by HDMI, so rather than have to go to a switchbox of some description I'd like to use the connections I have to the best of their ability (I'm considering going VGA for my 360 if that helps).

That's surely enough for the moment, but please feel free to offer any advice on anything that I may have missed!

Many thanks. :)
 
You mention that you don't need a TV tuner?

Are you going to put your Sky HD box through the HTPC?
 
No, the Sky HD box will just exist on it's own for all our TV needs.

Thanks. :)

you will never want to backup your sky+ recordings onto dvd? if so you will need a tuner.

The hd-dvd drive is external so you will only need one dvd slot
 
you will never want to backup your sky+ recordings onto dvd? if so you will need a tuner.

No, I'm not interested in doing that.

The hd-dvd drive is external so you will only need one dvd slot

True, but I'd like to have it internal if possible to keep things tidy (I'm not a big fan of external devices TBH).
 
Your requirements are similar to mine, so you can check my spec here:

http://www.projecthtpc.co.uk/projects.html

Although, I would now put in 2GB of RAM as its so cheap. You could also put in an Nvidia 8500 with HDCP eg: Gigabyte 8500GT

If your keen on playing HD-DVD's and Blu-ray, may also be good to go for a - Abit Fatal1ty F-I90HD and Intel Core 2 DUO E4400 combination. :cool:
 
Your requirements are similar to mine, so you can check my spec here:

http://www.projecthtpc.co.uk/projects.html

Although, I would now put in 2GB of RAM as its so cheap. You could also put in an Nvidia 8500 with HDCP eg: Gigabyte 8500GT

If your keen on playing HD-DVD's and Blu-ray, may also be good to go for a - Abit Fatal1ty F-I90HD and Intel Core 2 DUO E4400 combination. :cool:

Just the sort of thing I was looking for, thanks (excellent site BTW :thumbsup: ).

So....

  • Nvidia 8500 with HDCP from DABS at £74.00 delivered.
  • Abit Fatal1ty F-I90HD Mobo at £82.00 delivered.

Any suggestions on RAM specs or a case (or anything else you think I may need)?

Cheers for all the replies too. :thumbsup:
 
Not sure if there are any good looking HTPC cases which can take 2 x 5.25" optical drives. However LG have a universal DVD/HD-DVD/Blu-Ray drive which is due in the UK soon I believe so you can play all formats without needing 2 drives.

http://www.span.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=13925&source=gbaseuk&currency=GBP

At £570 it's not cheap but then the dedicated Blu-ray drives aren't either.

The new Pioneer drive is listed at £165 from Overclockers, so I'll probably go with that as I already have my 360 HD DVD Drive.

Cheers.
 
For RAM I think this at Overclockers is hard to beat!

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-058-GL
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit @ £58.74 + delivery (£5.25).

The Antec Fusion case can be had from Ebuyer for £97.99 delivered if you use the Google checkout thing (£10 off).

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/112657/rb/28048337039

Nice one, thanks. :thumbsup:

So....

  • Nvidia 8500 with HDCP from DABS at £74.00 delivered (Dabs.com).
  • Abit Fatal1ty F-I90HD Mobo at £82.00 delivered (Overclockers)
  • RAM from the link above=£58.00 delivered (Overclockers).
  • Antec Fusion MATX MediaCenter Case £97.00 delivered (EBuyer).

That's a running total of £311.00 :thumbsup:

So I just need to add a SATA hard drive, and I'm pretty mnuch there-any recommendations for the main drive?

This will be an initial drive as I would intend to add to this further down the line.

Thanks again all, this really is much appreciated. :)

[Edit] - I've just noticed that that Antec case only takes 2 x HDDs, which isn't the end of the world but it would be nice to have a bit more scope for adding 2 or 3 more hard drives.

[Edit #2] - I forgot about an O/S! :blush:

I'm thinking of getting Vista Ultimate OEM from Overclockers for £130.00.
 
Wow that is cheap for a BD drive. Cheapest I'd seen previously was well over £300.
 
How about the intel 4300 from Ebuyer for £63 delivered using google checkout.
(with a 7600GS and Vista HD-DVD uses 20% CPU)
 
If your keen on playing HD-DVD's and Blu-ray, may also be good to go for a - Abit Fatal1ty F-I90HD and Intel Core 2 DUO E4400 combination. :cool:

Am I right in saying that the E4400 is not compatible with the Fatal1ty F-I90HD? :confused:

According to Abit's site, it's E6300/E6400/E6600/E6700 Core 2 Duo CPUs....

http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/intel-core2-duo.php

Damn my head hurts! :suicide: :D

Thanks everyone, I'm getting closer now. :)

[Edit] -Also, would the HDMI out on the F-I90HD be used or solely the DVI out on the video card?

Ta (again). :blush:
 
Am I right in saying that the E4400 is not compatible with the Fatal1ty F-I90HD? :confused:

According to Abit's site, it's E6300/E6400/E6600/E6700 Core 2 Duo CPUs....

They are all the same chip, just sold in slightly different packages. The 6300 is 266 FSB x 6 multiplier. The 4300 is 200FSB x 9 multiplier. There is nothing stopping you from altering the FSB speed and multiplier of either chip to turn it into the other .... it still works. (I set the 4300 @ 266 x 9, which makes it a lot faster than the standard 6300))

"Vista HD-DVD"
Windows Vista gives much better hardware acceleration on HD-DVD/BlueRay when using Nvidia graphics cards than Windows XP.
 
Am I right in saying that the E4400 is not compatible with the Fatal1ty F-I90HD? :confused:

According to Abit's site, it's E6300/E6400/E6600/E6700 Core 2 Duo CPUs....

http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/intel-core2-duo.php

Damn my head hurts! :suicide: :D

Nah, it'll work fine. The E4400s are newer than the E6xxx C2Ds and Abit have been slow updating their website by the looks of it.

Personally (and I will when I can afford it) I'd go for the following:

Antec Fusion MATX Mediacenter Case
Abit Fatality F-I90HD with Radeon Xpress 1250
E4400 Core2duo CPU
Geil 2GB DDR PC6400 low latency RAM
Samsung SpinPoint T HD501LJ 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache

Total Cost: £400 inc. Delivery (using Ebuyer & Overclockers).

I'd make use of the HDMI on the motherboard but would look to add a 8500GT or the new ATI HD 2600s with "Hardware processed 1080p video playback of Blu-ray™ and HD DVDs" (not yet released) if need be.
 
So....

  • Nvidia 8500 with HDCP from DABS at £74.00 delivered (Dabs.com).
  • Abit Fatal1ty F-I90HD Mobo at £82.00 delivered (Overclockers)
  • RAM from the link above=£58.00 delivered (Overclockers).
  • Silverstone SST-GD01S-R (£85.00 delivered from Scan)
  • Intel Core 2 Duo E4400, Socket 775 (£93.50 delivered from Scan)
  • Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 32Bit (£115 delivered from Scan)

Total (so far!) = £507.50 delivered. :)

Now.....is there anything I've forgotten or need to change!? :suicide: :D
 
I'd save some money and go with Vista Home Premium for a HTPC as it has all the goodies you'll need at about £75 from Overclockers.

You haven't listed a hard drive above. The Samsung is the drive to go for if you need one.
 
Update time! :D

  • Nvidia 8500 with HDCP from DABS at £74.00 delivered (Dabs.com).
  • Abit Fatal1ty F-I90HD Mobo at £82.00 delivered (Overclockers)
  • RAM from the link above=£58.00 delivered (Overclockers).
  • Silverstone SST-GD01S-R (£85.00 delivered from Scan)
  • Intel Core 2 Duo E4400, Socket 775 (£93.50 delivered from Scan)
  • Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (£66 delivered from Scan)
  • Samsung SpinPoint T HD501LJ 500GB SATA-II (£70 delivered from Scan)

Total (so far!) = £528.50 delivered. :)

Howzat!? :)
 

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