Custom built - Home Theatre PC advice for a newbie

theredindian

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hi

i'm thinking of getting a custom built Home Theatre PC but have no idea what spec i need. i want it to include a HDMI out port so i can hook it up to my TV and capable of outputting DD5.1 sound via my Amp.

Also i want it to include this LG GGWH20L Blu-Ray Disc Rewriter + HD DVD ROM and i already have a WD 750gb SataII Drive.

Any ideas on what i need and an average cost?

Your help is appreciated
 
bharatgi,

I'd take a look through the last week of this sub-forum, theres literally a build thread every other day.

Once you've decided on your spec, post it up, i'm sure they'll be some comments at that stage.

For starters, a core2duo around E4400, a couple of gigs of RAM and a 2400XT graphics card all plugged into a motherboard with spdif output should sort you out running either XP or Vista and PowerDVD for your hd-dvd and blu-ray playback.
 
mickwall,

thanks for your reply.

i'm not really a techie so i'm not sure what is best and whether it will fit, so any advice is greatly appreciated.
 
mickwall,

thanks for your reply.

i'm not really a techie so i'm not sure what is best and whether it will fit, so any advice is greatly appreciated.

no offense - but if you are not a techie are you sure you want to use a htpc..? they can be a lot of hassle
 
Isn't that half the "thrill" HSC? ;)

I would budget, from what I've read over the last 10 days or so, is circa 5-600quid to get going with a decent system.

It then depends on whether you're using mass storage (in the terrabytes) etc.

Also, I've found the Case is the most challanging factor - As it influences the budget quite considerably (i.e. 2 Drive bays, 5 Drive bays, Screen?, size, etc).

I'm by no means an expert and Mick / Anthony are very active on the boards. I do agree with Mick however, read through all of the "build" threads (I have) and you'll start to gleam a lot of information :)

Rgds
Matt
 
no offense - but if you are not a techie are you sure you want to use a htpc..? they can be a lot of hassle

Agree, playing standard hd-dvd and blu-ray via PowerDVD aint so bad, but getting your head around codecs and the such like for playing back video files can be a right pain. But don't let me put you off, theres plenty of help and i find it half the fun!! :smashin:

Building a PC aint that difficult these days either, thanks to the internet theres plenty of resource on the subject.
 
I'm by no means an expert and Mick / Anthony are very active on the boards.


If my boss knew only half the time i spend on here he'd be fuming!! :rotfl:
 
Here you go (use existing case, hard drive and monitor)
(although cases are only £15 if you fancy something new)

e2180 core 2 duo £53 (will work at 2.4GHz in this mobo as will the e2160 at £43)
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132064/show_product_reviews

Nice quiet fan £15 (the cpu comes with a fan bit it's too noisy)
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/105994

Asus p5b mobo £54 (2 IDE + 7 SATA connections + LAN + onboard sound)
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/113965/show_product_specifications

2600 graphics £47 (for the silent heatpipe version)
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132500

2GB memory £28
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/98708

HD reader+ Blu reader/writer £178
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/136317

PSu £15
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/106619

Total less than £390 ....... can you buy better?
This build is for a midi tower, I always feel it is a mistake to use specialist HTPC cases as they restrict the mobo choice, the hard drives and are much harder to cool silently. Just my opinion though.
 
Here you go (use existing case, hard drive and monitor)
(although cases are only £15 if you fancy something new)

e2180 core 2 duo £53 (will work at 2.4GHz in this mobo as will the e2160 at £43)
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132064/show_product_reviews

Nice quiet fan £15 (the cpu comes with a fan bit it's too noisy)
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/105994

Asus p5b mobo £54 (2 IDE + 7 SATA connections + LAN + onboard sound)
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/113965/show_product_specifications

2600 graphics £47 (for the silent heatpipe version)
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132500

2GB memory £28
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/98708

HD reader+ Blu reader/writer £178
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/136317

PSu £15
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/106619

Total less than £390 ....... can you buy better?
This build is for a midi tower, I always feel it is a mistake to use specialist HTPC cases as they restrict the mobo choice, the hard drives and are much harder to cool silently. Just my opinion though.

Thanks for your suggestion.

Would i get 5.1 sound via my amp?
 
I use analogue outputs from the back of my PC (mobo) into the 5:1 direct inputs on my amp. Trying to get digital is a whole other problem, mainly due to ATI ripping us off in the UK (by not including or selling their hdmi sound enabling dongle)

I could get 7:1 sound if I purchased another pair of speakers as my PC and mobo have the connection.
The advantage of analogue from the PC is the PC can decode all the various sound formats.
 
PJ - Surely you can just buy the dongle online from somewhere and ship it?
 
For the money, and allowing for the "cheap plastic case" it's ok i spose. I reckon with a bit of work, you could build a similar / better spec with a nice shiny case imo. Personally wouldn't spend 600 quid on it however.
 
i'm thinking of buying the Asus P5E-VM HDMI Motherboard Intel G35 Socket 775 ATX LAN RAID SATA.

if i buy this will i need the NVIDIA 8600 graphics card?
 
So far i have come up with the following spec:

Asus P5E-VM HDMI Motherboard Intel G35 Socket 775 ATX LAN RAID SATA
ASUS EN8600GT SILENT 512MB GDDR3 HTDP Dual DVI HDCP HDTV out PCI-E Graphics Card
Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Music OEM Soundcard
LG GGWH20L Blu-Ray Disc Rewriter + HD DVD ROM
Corsair 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory x2
Western Digital WD1600AAJS 160GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 8MB Cache - OEM
Netgear RangeMax Wireless PCI Adaptor 108Mbps

i have only gone for 160gb hd as i already got a 750gb hd which can be transferred from other PC.

So far Total cost is around £582 but i need your advice on case and fan please as i have no idea what to choose.

:lease:
 
So far i have come up with the following spec:

Asus P5E-VM HDMI Motherboard Intel G35 Socket 775 ATX LAN RAID SATA
ASUS EN8600GT SILENT 512MB GDDR3 HTDP Dual DVI HDCP HDTV out PCI-E Graphics Card
Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Music OEM Soundcard
LG GGWH20L Blu-Ray Disc Rewriter + HD DVD ROM
Corsair 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory x2
Western Digital WD1600AAJS 160GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 8MB Cache - OEM
Netgear RangeMax Wireless PCI Adaptor 108Mbps

i have only gone for 160gb hd as i already got a 750gb hd which can be transferred from other PC.

So far Total cost is around £582 but i need your advice on case and fan please as i have no idea what to choose.

:lease:

Why are you getting a motherboard with onboard HD graphics and audio and then buying seperate cards as well?

Also, you have noted that the P5E is ATX, but i believe this board is mATX. This has a massive impact on your case selection.

Personally, i've got an Antec Fusion and i think it looks great. See my build thread around page 4 or 5 for pics.

Why are you getting 4gb for a HTPC? 1gb for XP and 2gb for Vista will be fine.

Where is your CPU?

There is a seperate thread here about the P5E highlighting its postivies and negatives: http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=685171&highlight=build
 
Why are you getting a motherboard with onboard HD graphics and audio and then buying seperate cards as well?

Also, you have noted that the P5E is ATX, but i believe this board is mATX. This has a massive impact on your case selection.

Personally, i've got an Antec Fusion and i think it looks great. See my build thread around page 4 or 5 for pics.

Why are you getting 4gb for a HTPC? 1gb for XP and 2gb for Vista will be fine.

Where is your CPU?

There is a seperate thread here about the P5E highlighting its postivies and negatives: http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=685171&highlight=build

ok so i got rid of the graphics card seen as you rightly pointed out i wont need it as my motheboard has HDMI-Out capabilities. reduced the RAM to 2gb as i'm planning to run vista.

the revised spec is as follows:

Asus P5E-VM HDMI Motherboard Intel G35 Socket 775 ATX LAN RAID SATA
Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Music OEM Soundcard
LG GGWH20L Blu-Ray Disc Rewriter + HD DVD ROM
Corsair 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory
Western Digital WD1600AAJS 160GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 8MB Cache - OEM
Netgear RangeMax Wireless PCI Adaptor 108Mbps
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Energy Efficient 95W edition Socket 775 (2.40GHz) G0 Stepping L2 8MB Cache OEM Processor
Antec Fusion V2 MATX MediaCenter Case - Aluminium Front Bezel with 430W PSU
Logitech Cordless Bluetooth Laser Desktop MX5000 - Includes MX1000 Mouse With MX5000 Keyboard
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium x64Bit OEM 1PK DVD

Total cost around £870

will all the diferent chips work/fit together?
 
I didn't notice you want to use 64bit Vista, you might want to put the memory back to 4gb. I'm sure some else could advise better on that though.

If this is just a general use PC and HTPC, why are you going 64 bit Vista?

And also, the quad core processor is an overkill for video playback imho

Why do you still need the soundblaster soundcard? The motherboard has onboard audio (granted, not truehd, but fine for dts and lower) What input does you AMP have? Coax or Spdif/toslink? I take it your can is capable of DTS etc? You'll need either P5E-V or P5E-VM depending if your AMP needs spdif or coax.

Also, with HTPC cases and mAtx motherboards the number of PCI sockets is usually at a premium, so having a seperate PCI soundcard and wireless card might use up all your slots, which is something to think about and bear in mind.

You could contemplate a USB dongle for your wireless instead if needs be as an alternative approach. (but hd over wireless is unlikely, will be fine for browsing though)

Oh, and you'll need PowerDVD Ultra for hd-dvd and blu-ray playback if its not included with your drive. So thats another cost. :-(
 
What Mickwall says

1) Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Music OEM Soundcard
2) Netgear RangeMax Wireless PCI Adaptor 108Mbps
3) Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Energy Efficient 95W edition Socket 775 (2.40GHz) G0 Stepping L2 8MB Cache OEM Processor
4) Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium x64Bit OEM 1PK DVD

1) You don't need this, the onboard sound will work just as well
2) You would be extremely unlikely to stream HD over wireless (wireless often gives 1/4 the rated speed)
3) You don't need this an e2160 for £50 will do just as well in a media PC
4) 1/2 the media software doesn't work on Vista 64 (eg. Arcsoft Totalmedia Extreme free instead of PDVD)
 
What Mickwall says

3) You don't need this an e2160 for £50 will do just as well in a media PC

My only worry about going this low PJ is that Woozy says the P5E motherboard doesnt provide full hardware accerelation (only partial on hd-dvd/blu-ray) where the likes of an ATI 2600 Pro would take on full acceleration on that media. So you'd need a bit of CPU to make up for the missing processing from the graphics hardware.

Although for mkv, wmv file based video it should be fine.
 
I didn't notice you want to use 64bit Vista, you might want to put the memory back to 4gb. I'm sure some else could advise better on that though.

If this is just a general use PC and HTPC, why are you going 64 bit Vista?

And also, the quad core processor is an overkill for video playback imho

Why do you still need the soundblaster soundcard? The motherboard has onboard audio (granted, not truehd, but fine for dts and lower) What input does you AMP have? Coax or Spdif/toslink? I take it your can is capable of DTS etc? You'll need either P5E-V or P5E-VM depending if your AMP needs spdif or coax.

Also, with HTPC cases and mAtx motherboards the number of PCI sockets is usually at a premium, so having a seperate PCI soundcard and wireless card might use up all your slots, which is something to think about and bear in mind.

You could contemplate a USB dongle for your wireless instead if needs be as an alternative approach. (but hd over wireless is unlikely, will be fine for browsing though)

Oh, and you'll need PowerDVD Ultra for hd-dvd and blu-ray playback if its not included with your drive. So thats another cost. :-(

ok so i dont need 64bit vista as my main usage will be watching DVDs and surfing the net. my amp has co-ax inputs so i can get rid of soundcard. i will change the processor.


revised spec:

Asus P5E-VM HDMI Motherboard Intel G35 Socket 775 ATX LAN RAID SATA
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Energy Efficient 95W edition Socket 775 (2.40GHz) G0 Stepping L2 8MB Cache OEM Processor
LG GGWH20L Blu-Ray Disc Rewriter + HD DVD ROM
Corsair 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory
Western Digital WD1600AAJS 160GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 8MB Cache - OEM
Netgear RangeMax Wireless PCI Adaptor 108Mbps
Antec Fusion V2 MATX MediaCenter Case - Aluminium Front Bezel with 430W PSU
Logitech Cordless Bluetooth Laser Desktop MX5000 - Includes MX1000 Mouse With MX5000 Keyboard
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium x64Bit OEM 1PK DVD
CyberLink PowerDVD Ultra

Total cost £876.75

will this all work and together?
 
i think the fusion case (which I will be getting in the next couple of days) only takes micro ATX motherboards but the one youve got listed is just ATX?

why dont you start off with the basics. case, motherboard, dvd or blu-ray drive, processor and memory. get a good motherboard with onboard audio and video and see how that works, then upgrade if need be.

I have spec'ed out a media PC for myself including the fusion case for around £330, you dont need to spend £900 (although you can if you want)

if you are new to build PCs maybe consider buying a prebuid one, or at least look at the kit used in the pre-built ones and order the components seperately. For example, this is a pre-build using the Fusion 430 Black http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-013-OK&groupid=43&catid=968&subcat=
 
Have to agree with ditching the wireless if you have any intention of streaming anything but audio.
With the keyboard, have you thought about the MS MCE keyboard? It works with the MCE remote receiver so you need that as well but I guess you'd need a remote for a HTPC anyway.

They are both about <£20 each @scan.
 

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