HTPC Build First. Can someone check over?

Jboothy

Standard Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2008
Messages
36
Reaction score
0
Points
8
Hi Guys.

Been looking for ages now for kit to build a HTPC.. Can you guys look at what i have decided to go for and tell me where i can improve. Not wanting to spend too much more. So if i am building it with too much power please tell me..

MB - Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H 780G Socket AM2+ onboard VGA 8 channel audio
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H 780G Socket AM2+ onboard VGA 8 channel audio mATX Motherboard - Ebuyer

CPU - AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Socket AM2 2.7GHz Energy Efficient L2 1MB (2x512KB)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Socket AM2 2.7GHz Energy Efficient L2 1MB (2x512KB) Retail Boxed Processor - Ebuyer

CASE - Antec NSK2480 Silent Desktop Case - 380W PSU
Antec NSK2480 Silent Desktop Case - 380W PSU - £63.95 - AWD-IT.CO.UK

RAM - Corsair 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 533MHz/PC2-4300 Memory Non-ECC Unbuffered CL4
Corsair 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 533MHz/PC2-4300 Memory Non-ECC Unbuffered CL4 Lifetime Warranty - Ebuyer

CPU FAN - Scythe Mini Ninja Socket 478/775/754/939/940/AM2 Heatpipe Cooler
Scythe Mini Ninja Socket 478/775/754/939/940/AM2 Heatpipe Cooler - Ebuyer

Hard Drive - Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB SATA II 7200RPM 16MB Cache
Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB SATA II 7200RPM 16MB Cache - OEM - Ebuyer

Total = £293 give or take the odd pence as i rounded up.

Want it wired into my 42inch with HD cable. Is this possible with this setup?
Audio will just be standard into back of tv.

Will be running media portal at some stage on it once its all up and running..

Used to watch dvd's and possibly blu ray but can select that at a later date.

Just need to know if the above is a suitable fairly siletn reliable setup?

Cheers
 
Use the 4850e or 5050e AMD processor (45 watts power consumption), rest is OK
 
Cant provide a link could you.

Tried looking but all i see is 4800+ and 5000+

Maybe am just not looking correctly sorry
 
I guess everyone has different opinions but... In your shoe's I would opt for Samsung Spinpoints. I have the same case as you with Spinpoints fitted and I can honestly say they run silent.

The mini ninja is a good idea, will knock your temps down by 6-8. Although it's called a mini, you will find it 'just' about fits.

With your supplied case fans set at medium (high sounds like a harrier jumpjet :D ) You could even get away with leaving the case fans to deal with the cpu cooling.

They are cleverly located directly opposite the CPU and they move a lot of air, even on medium.

Any reason for the AMD preference over the Intel cpu's?
 
Last edited:
What about software? This is as important.
 
Thanking you kindly for the links for the CPU's went for the 4850e..

Had a look at the samsung on ebuyer but they only have 1 which is £77 at 1TB. Might be able to get away with buying it if not the hd i listed will do for the meantime.

Software will probably be Vista with MCE but looking to use media portal as ive had a play round on my normal rig and it works well once some tweaking has been done.



Also in regards to the case and MB. What cables do i need to buy. As i dont want it all to arrive and not have cables for anything.
 
Thanking you kindly for the links for the CPU's went for the 4850e..

Had a look at the samsung on ebuyer but they only have 1 which is £77 at 1TB. Might be able to get away with buying it if not the hd i listed will do for the meantime.

Software will probably be Vista with MCE but looking to use media portal as ive had a play round on my normal rig and it works well once some tweaking has been done.



Also in regards to the case and MB. What cables do i need to buy. As i dont want it all to arrive and not have cables for anything.

The case is supplied with the PSU and has lot's of different connections included (SATA and Molex) as well as all the necessary leads to power up your motherboard. I only had to buy a molex to sata cable, I seem to remember I had a length problem with one of the supplied leads. I got this from Maplin for around £2.

I would recommend buying some cable tie's for when the system is assembled, it's important in a matx case to get a good airflow. This really helps your temps.

Just looked at the board you are interested in. I guess you are hoping to connect to your screen via HDMI? As far as I can tell, this board is supplied with a DVI to HDMI connecter so whilst you will get a picture, it will not carry audio. Do you have a seperate amp?
 
Last edited:
Excellent so no need to get any cables..

Worked out all in all £305.99

I have an old dvd drive i can use till i can get a blu-ray drive.

So this setup is quite happy at running hi-def via a HDMI cable. I assume the motherboard has a DVI connection to which a cable to hdmi is supplied?
 
Excellent so no need to get any cables..

Worked out all in all £305.99

I have an old dvd drive i can use till i can get a blu-ray drive.

So this setup is quite happy at running hi-def via a HDMI cable. I assume the motherboard has a DVI connection to which a cable to hdmi is supplied?

Did you read my edit regarding the board and the DVI/HDMI connection? You would get picture but no audio with that arrangement. As far as I can tell from your board specs it has a DVI/HDMI adapter.

If however you have an amp, you can connect to the amp via toslink and this would give you the best sound.
 
Ah just spotted your edit.

I do not have an amp and will currently be running the sound through my tv so i can just plug in audio connecter into the back of the tv still.

I have a wee baby so "loud noises" doesnt really work lol.
 
Ah ok, if you have the applicable input in the back of your TV then that should be fine.

Did you spec up with an Intel solution also? How did that price up?
 
MMm though thinking now dont know what the tv accepts as audio input for HDMI as i currently run a 3.5mm jack from pc to tv as i use vga... Am sure it will be ok.
 
I use this exact mobo with the 4450e and 2GB of Kingston RAM and I have absolutely no problems with .mkv playback in Media Portal. I don't have a Blu-Ray player as I have a PS3 for that, but the 1080p files I've tried have been flawless.

I connect my HTPC to the amp but the mobo has both a DVI and a HDMI connection on it, along with the standard VGA. You have to specify whether you wish to use the DVI/VGA combo or the HDMI/VGA combo within the BIOS, so it's handy to setup the system with a VGA monitor initially.

For this reason, you should have no problem sending audio over the HDMI cable - additionally without any need for a DVI->HDMI adaptor (which does come in the box anyway). I believe there are multiple audio settings in the Realtek HD software, and one does allow you to transfer the audio over the HDMI cable.

Again, I haven't actually attempted this, but you should be completely fine.
 
Excellent, Cant wait to start getting all this kit on monday and hopefully have it up and running by the weekend depending on deliverys.

Thats also great how it comes with a dedicated port for HDMI. Would also be great if i could get audio through it too. That way i can get a hdmi splitter and have it connected in the bedroom too for use.

So in regards to software and OS what do people reckon Vista? or XP?

Do all vista versions come with MCE?
 
So in regards to software and OS what do people reckon Vista? or XP?

Do all vista versions come with MCE?

Use Vista Home Premium 32bit :smashin:. Vista Ultimate also has VMC. Home and Business do not.
 
COol i will go with Vista then. And then get Media Portal and try to customize to my hearts content. I did try to get tv show plug in working to get info of the web but had no luck.. Shall try once pc up and running me thinks.

Also, i currently have the wireless keysonic keyboard. Anyone else find unless the dongle is in front of the keyboard it can become very jittery.. I have mine to the left of my sofa and i have to keep pointing it towards it to get smooth action.

Luckily when i build this setup it will be under my tv so it should affect it.
 
That's an excellent motherboard, by some sellers descriptions, they make it sound like an HDMI/DVI type converter. If they reworded some of the descriptions, they would sell like hot cakes.
 
Yeah i spotted that earlier.

Does anybody know what the fan that comes with that cpu like though. Obviously it will be sufficient to cool it but does it sound like an airplane?

I dont wanna have to buy a fan if it is going to make very little difference?
 
Decided to go with the cpu fan that comes with it.If its noisy then i can change it at a later date.

Will be ordering all the kit tomorrow. Already ordered the DVD Writer which was a sony one from Ebuyer.. Comes with Silver facia so will hopefully go with the case.

I shall post pics as and when i build and then will get onto the software side of things... Which am sure will be fun.

So my final build i am going for is below.

CPU - AMD Athlon 64 X2 4850e 2.5GHz Socket AM2 Energy Efficient 1MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor - Ebuyer

MOTHERBOARD - Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H 780G Socket AM2+ onboard VGA 8 channel audio mATX Motherboard - Ebuyer

MEMORY - Corsair 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 533MHz/PC2-4300 Memory Non-ECC Unbuffered CL4 Lifetime Warranty


HARD DRIVE - Seagate ST3500320AS 500GB Hard Drive SATA II 7200rpm *32MB Cache* - OEM - Ebuyer


CASE - Antec NSK 2480 MATX Desktop Case Black & Silver - With 380W EarthWatts PSU - Ebuyer


I already purchased this dvd drive - Sony DRU-V200S 20X DVD±RW DL & DVD-RAM Serial ATA - Retail Black & Silver Bezel & Nero - Ebuyer

I noticed on ebuyer someone commented in regards to the case and not having correct adapter for amd MB for the USB connectors on the case??? Any Ideas.


So i am hoping once all this arrives i have everything i need to get it running. I already have a HD cable so its all systems go when it arrives.

I got a copy of Vista Home premium which i have been told has MCE on it so cant wait to get going..

Once i play around with it and get sound through HD cable it will rock. As right now i have 10 metres of vga/network/audio cable running to a shoddy laptop which dies every hour or so..

Any words of advice for when building this all?
 
Hi mate,
Ive just bought the same case/motherboard/cpu combo and all the connections are fine.
Only thing you might need to know is that the psu only has one sata cable (with two connectors on it). If you do need more you can always use a molex to sata adapter.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom