Build thread- Lots of help needed please

Ones

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Hello welcome to my first ever thread on the tinternet :clap:

I am finally going for an HTPC and i have read through all the stickys i could find.
Thanks to all that took the time to put the guides together.

I do not intend to do any gaming and i think my requirements are fairly basic however i want to ensure i do not buy the wrong kit.

Present standing
As things stand i do not have a Blu ray or HD player and only have a very very average DVD player
Have a 1080p LCD so hoping to finally make proper use of it

Requirements
-need to be able to watch blu rays / HD's and my collection of DVD rips
-surf the web from main tv

I will get an Amp next month and from reading Jameson_UK's post it appears that this is where things may get interesting. So i want to ensure the motherboard i choose will not hinder me.

So far i have gone through threads and put together the following kit list

KeySonic 2.4Ghz Wireless HTPC Compact Keyboard with Integrated TouchPad - USB 104608 366 in stock £34.79 £30.25 £34.79 £30.25


AMD Athlon X2 5050e Socket AM2 45W Energy Efficient Retail Boxed Processor 149212 31 in stock £52.87 £45.97 £52.87 £45.97



Corsair 4GB Kit (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Kit CL5 1.9V 130429 351 in stock £37.49 £32.60 £37.49 £32.60



LG Electronics Blu-Ray & HD-DVD-Rom Combo 16x DVDRW Black SATA - Retail Box With Software 139985 81 in stock £78.68 £68.41 £78.68 £68.41



Gigabyte GA-MA780G-UD3H AMD 780G Socket AM2+ 8 channel audio VGA DVI HDMI ATX Motherboard 160852 2 in stock £74.98 £65.20 £74.98 £65.20


Antec EarthWatts 380W 80%+ Efficiency PSU - 80mm Fan 4x SATA PCI-E 120375 18 in stock £38.99 £33.90 £38.99 £33.90



Antec Fusion Remote Veris Black MATX Media Center Case - No PSU 148791 24 in stock £116.10 £100.95 £116.10 £100.95



Samsung SpinPoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB Hard Drive SATAII *32MB Cache* - OEM 143288 622 in stock £66.99 £58.25 £66.99 £58.25



Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium w/SP1 - Complete package - 1 PC - DVD - English International 142788 5 in stock


Does the above look ok? The total comes to about £625

Would appreciate any feedback

Thanks
 
Hi,
You've listed the exact same Ram, motherboard, processor and hard drive as I've used in my build.
I've had my pc running for a while with no real problems to report so far. I've connected the pc to my amp using the optical socket on the motherboard , and installed AC3 Filter and get Dobly and DTS no problem.
It's played everything fine so far, avi, mpeg, dvd, mkv and also .iso dvd rips.
I can't comment on BluRay playback as I've still not gotten around to buying any yet :D.
I'm using the onboard graphics and connected via hdmi to my 1080p tv.

The only thing that hasn't worked for me was the motherboard bios update, when I flashed the bios, the pc wouldn't boot properly , so I re-flashed with the original bios and it's been fine since.

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks Ninja,

I "borrowed" very heavily from your thread.

Up until a month ago i barely knew what a HTPC was but thanks to this place it has become a necessity and i cannot wait to start the adventure for real.

Just reading some reviews on the Antec case i have chosen, there seems to be some annoyance with the LED light, so can anyione recomend an alternative in the same price bracket (£130 max)?
 
One thing I would add is that I have the same dvd/hd/bd drive. A few people have been having problems with audio syncing on hd dvds me included with the included powerdvd software. I had to go to using homemedia theatre to get hd dvs playing properly.
Just thought you should know.
Other than that nice spec....:D
 
The motherboard in your list won't fit the Antec case. ATX v uATX.

:thumbsup:

D.
 
One thing I would add is that I have the same dvd/hd/bd drive. A few people have been having problems with audio syncing on hd dvds me included with the included powerdvd software. I had to go to using homemedia theatre to get hd dvs playing properly.
Just thought you should know.
Other than that nice spec....:D

I have the LG drive and over 40 HD-DVDs....er not watched them all yet but the score or so I have all have been fine with PowerDVD 7 and the LG drive. I am using a ATI 3470 if that makes a difference though.
 
Thanks everyone for the replies.

Excellent spot deksawyer i was expecting an oversight on my part.

The hunt now begins for a suitable case.
 
I'd keep the case and change the motherboard.

There's no need for an ATX board inside an HTCP these days unless you're planning to fill all the slots.

D.
 
You can use the Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-DS2H instead. That is THE HTPC-mobo of the moment.
 
Just a quick thought... why don't you order it from SCAN? you will get 2nd day free next day shipping (for avforums members) + bit cheaper... you might get all items under £600... :thumbsup:

I order all items from them and compare to other site they are quite cheap,
"not doing marketing just a suggestion to save your money"

(MOD: sorry if this type of suggs not allowed :confused:)

Good luck with your system and also post some pictures if you can... love to see them!

Thanks
 
If you're using AMD cpu then the Nvidia 8200 chipset of the GA-M85M-US2H is a better option than the ATI 780. You can get it for under £60.

It'll give better results with live tv, will handle the hidef video formats with ease and should also give you multi channel LPCM.

D.
 
If you're using AMD cpu then the Nvidia 8200 chipset of the GA-M85M-US2H is a better option than the ATI 780. You can get it for under £60.

It'll give better results with live tv, will handle the hidef video formats with ease and should also give you multi channel LPCM.

D.

Thanks for the suggestion, i will get that board. I quite like the Antec case so will be a relief that i dont have to search for another one i like in my price range.

Just thinking about future requirements, will the Antec case have enough space for me to add an additional hard drive when the time comes?

p.s Kalababa- I will have a go at posting pictures when i get all the kit and detail the problems I will no doubt run into lol.

Again thanks to all
 

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