Help me spec a new general use/HTPC

[devil1916]

Im looking for a bit of help with a new PC. My current PC is 5 or 6 years old and still does everything i need it to, however its getting a bit slow and i want to upgrade the connection to my TV to HDMI. My PC sits in my hall and i have put in place a 15m HDMI cable for connection to my amp and tv. I have no requirement for it to be silent or for the case too look particuarly good, the cheaper the better as my budget is only around £400 stretching to £500 at a push.

I only use my PC for surfing, storing photos, and playing music. No gaming at all, i have a pS3 for that. I use media portal for watching tv shows and movies that are on my hard drive and this is currently connected via an s-video to scart cable, which gives a watchable picure but not great, hence the upgrade to HDMI.

Been reading stacks of threads and put together a few components, but ive only ever upgraded a pc never built from scratch so compatibility might be way off

Case - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/127584 £24.60
PSU - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135453 £19.99
Motherboard - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/141600 £51.99
Processor - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143202 £86.85
Hard Drive -http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139739 £65.57
Graphics Card - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/141131 £48.38
Memory - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/116755 £29.99
OS - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/123052 £62.87

Total £390.24 with delivery £401.29

The parts im not sure about are 32 or 64 bit vista and do i need anything else to get audio through the HDMI.

Improvments and suggestions greatly appreciated, Thanks

 

[Daveybryce]

If you are sticking with the intel route then may i suggest either the G35 or newer G45 motherboards as they have HDCP compatibility and HD audio onboard.

However if you went the AMD/ATI route, you could

go for a dual core X2 or a quad core with the Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H board which has excellent onboard graphics but can also be put into crossfire mode with your chosen graphics card giving you more graphical power. Also this motherboard is capable of installing upto 16GB of DDR2 ram.

Points to note: max wattage for CPU is 95W
DDR2 ram must be 1.8 volts.

As for vista 32 bit or 64bit, if you are planning on installing more than 4gb you will need 64bit. I would suggest that you probably only need 32bit for what you want out of it.

May i suggest as an AMD route

Motherboard - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142347 £53.56
Processor - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/144637 £48.99
Memory - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/98710 £31.14

I have this almost this setup in my pc and i can upscale everything to 1920 x 1080 using FFDshow. Picture is fantastic and it copes with all MKV container files thrown at it. I also use mediaportal with it an it looks stunning through the HDMI.

Just some ideas for ya, but good luck

 

[devil1916]

Thanks for the suggestions, im liking the savings

 

[devil1916]

Case - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/127584 £24.60
PSU - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135453 £19.99
Motherboard - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142347 £53.56
Processor - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/144637 £48.99
Hard Drive - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139739 £65.57
Graphics Card - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/141131 £48.38
Memory - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/98710 £31.14
OS - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/123052 £62.87


Total £355.10

If i go with the suggestions above its about £40 cheaper, Which would allow me extra funds for a wireless/bluetooth keyboard and mouse or possibly more Ram. Can anyone confirm that everything i have chosen is compatible?? also any other recomendations?? and also do i need to add anything to get audio over HDMI. I did run a 15m optical cable in my skirting however had a major problem at the end of my living room upgrade and found the cable had been damaged right at the end so no longer works

 

[Member 328449]

Get a better PSU. In my opinion a saving there could cost you in the long run.

 

[devil1916]

What about this one Arctic Power 700W PSU - With PCI-E, 4x SATA, 20+4, ATX12V, 8pin +12V Connectors - Retail Boxed

 

[Grimley]

I'd get this one instead

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/131052

 

[EndlessWaves]

You can probably throw out the graphics card entirely if you're not gaming since the onboard graphics has the same video decoding - UVD - as the HD 3650.

 

[tinners]

What about this one Arctic Power 700W PSU - With PCI-E, 4x SATA, 20+4, ATX12V, 8pin +12V Connectors - Retail Boxed

erm what about
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135101
decent PSU too.

 

[Member 328449]

I'd get this one instead

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/131052

That is probably what I'd go for too, but if you can stretch a little more then this is the next one up and is modular- although it might be a little over the top it's an excellent psu.

 

[devil1916]

You can probably throw out the graphics card entirely if you're not gaming since the onboard graphics has the same video decoding - UVD - as the HD 3650.

If i ditch the graphics card, should i spend the extra money on extra ram or a better processor??? The only other possible factor is a might get a camcorder in the next 6 months so would possibly be doing a small amount of video editing

And the one question i cant seem to find an answer on anywhere, will i get audio and video through the HDMI from the motherboard

 

[reggs]

You need a CPU cooler as well. I'm following this thread as I'm rebuilding a HTPC myself and this one seems extremely cheap with some good writeups.

CPU Cooler - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/105995 - £6.14
Arctic Cooling (AC-ALP-64) Alpine 64 CPU Cooler

Any one recommend it ??

 

[devil1916]

You need a CPU cooler as well. I'm following this thread as I'm rebuilding a HTPC myself and this one seems extremely cheap with some good writeups.

CPU Cooler - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/105995 - £6.14
Arctic Cooling (AC-ALP-64) Alpine 64 CPU Cooler

Any one recommend it ??

It certainly gets good reviews.

Case - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/127584 £24.60
PSU - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/131052 £19.99
Motherboard - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142347 £53.56
Processor - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/144637 £48.99
Hard Drive - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139739 £65.57
Graphics Card - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/141131 £48.38
Memory - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/98710 £31.14
OS - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/123052 £62.87
CPU Cooler - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/105995 - £6.14

Total without the graphics card would be £312.86

Is there anything i have missed?? If i ditch the graphics card, should i spend the extra money on extra ram or a better processor??? The only other possible factor is a might get a camcorder in the next 6 months so would possibly be doing a small amount of video editing

And the one question i cant seem to find an answer to anywhere, will i get audio and video through the HDMI from the motherboard ??

 

[Daveybryce]

You don't need a cooler as the processor comes as Retail. which means you get processor/heatsink and fan. Also AMD heatsinks and fans have a pre application of Thermal compound so you don't need any of that either. it's literally a plug and play. The mobo will control your fan speed keeping it as quiet as possible under the various cpu loads.

 

[reggs]

You don't need a cooler as the processor comes as Retail. which means you get processor/heatsink and fan. Also AMD heatsinks and fans have a pre application of Thermal compound so you don't need any of that either. it's literally a plug and play. The mobo will control your fan speed keeping it as quiet as possible under the various cpu loads.

Thats correct but I've always found the included coolers to be really noisey...

 

[Daveybryce]

The fact that these processors are only 45w and have 2 cores and for what devil wants to use it for, it will be at a whisper anyway with the stock cooler. I bought a 2350e and the stock cooler is fine. The case fans are generally more noisey than the cpu fan and GPU fans can be very loud.

Spend your money on some silent case fans that have adjustable speeds for them as you can keep your fans very quiet or at a level lower than an AV receiver or DVD player.

 

[devil1916]

Coolermaster Elite 330 Black Mid Tower Case - No PSU 127584 102 in stock £24.60
Samsung HD753LJ 750GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm *32MB Cache* - OEM 139739 £67.99
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium -SP1- Licence and media - 1 PC - OEM - DVD - 32-bit - English 123052 £62.87
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H 780G Socket AM2+ onboard VGA 8 channel audio mATX Motherboard 142347 £53.56
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4450e 2.3GHz Socket AM2 Energy Efficient 1MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor 144637 £49.18
Corsair 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Non-ECC Unbuffered CL5(5-5-5-12) Heat Spreader Lifetime Warranty 098710 £31.14
Corsair VX450WUK 450W PSU 131052 £43.99
Hiper 120mm Case Fan - Clear HiperFlow Frame & Blades - 3pin with Adaptor/Screws Included 105137 £5.99
Optiarc AD-7200S 20X DVD±RW/DL/RAM Internal SATA Bare Black Drive - OEM 139414 £16.20
Cart total inc vat: £355.52

Im going to order the above hopefully today, If some kind person could check it over and make sure it all will go together and there is nothing i have missed that would be great.

 

[Daveybryce]

Devil... me ole china, that looks smashing!!

Now go hit the buy button, and i should expect a Devils build thread starting soon hehe

 

[Zarch]

Now go hit the buy button, and i should expect a Devils build thread starting soon hehe

With pictures obviously!!

 

[devil1916]

Cheers, thats it been ordered, Im working the next 4 days so probably wont get it started till monday or tuesday. but i still coulnd resist going for next day delivery as im too impatient. Im sure there will be a deluge of where does this bloody wire go

 

[Sprewell]

Ive ordered the exact same system but ive got an antec fusion instead. So Ill keep you updated on how i get on aswell.