Ive thought about building a new HTPC machine for quite some time - but now have renewed interest and now about to take the plunge. I've been looking at various case options and configurations - taking into account price - and now think I'm ready. But before I do - I have several questions which I'm hoping to get help with!
Components:
Case: Antec Fusion HTPC Case - 430HE Watt PSU
Motherboard: Abit Fatal1ty F-I90HD ATI Micro ATX (Socket 775) PCI-Express(Socket 775)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz
RAM: GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel
Hard drives: 2x Samsung SpinPoint T HD501LJ 500GB SATA-II
I will also add a DVB-T and DVDR - but less important for the purpose on this post.
Firstly, I will be using the machine primarily for DVD and HD (downloads) on my Panasonic TH42PX60B - a little bit of gaming - but nothing too taxing and general light multi-tasking PC work.
Note this motherboard has a decent onboard graphics chipset (and I havent added a PCI-E card) with HDMI - and from what I have read, it will be capable of decoding H.264 from HD broadcast - and the HDCP is also covered for BR and HD-DVD. Hopefully the CPU is man enough to decode! One thing I dont like about this board is the fact it only has 1 PCI slot. I was toying with DVB-T and DVB-S2 tuners!
Anyone have any knowledge of this Motherboard and confirm what it really is capable of?
I'm not 100% sure if the ram is correct for this MB or if there are better (but not too expensive) alternatives? Is PC5300 correct or PC5400? I cant work out what the difference is!
I've gone for Samsung spinpoint - purely because of what I have read about noise figures. A wise choice?
Lastly, the Case and PSU. Ive read some very encouraging reports on it. I was looking at alternatives - but the PSU supplied always seemed too low. At least being Antec, it should be quite! Good choice? Would I need extra cooling for the CPU or what the intel supplied one be sufficient? Is that quite? If not - can someone recommend a not too expensive cooler for the E6600?
I'm now in my final couple of days before I part with my cash - and Im hoping the research Ive done is fruitfull in giving me good components capable of what I wish to use it for. So hopefully someone can stop me in my tracks if the above is not good enough - or better options available?
Many thanks
Components:
Case: Antec Fusion HTPC Case - 430HE Watt PSU
Motherboard: Abit Fatal1ty F-I90HD ATI Micro ATX (Socket 775) PCI-Express(Socket 775)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz
RAM: GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel
Hard drives: 2x Samsung SpinPoint T HD501LJ 500GB SATA-II
I will also add a DVB-T and DVDR - but less important for the purpose on this post.
Firstly, I will be using the machine primarily for DVD and HD (downloads) on my Panasonic TH42PX60B - a little bit of gaming - but nothing too taxing and general light multi-tasking PC work.
Note this motherboard has a decent onboard graphics chipset (and I havent added a PCI-E card) with HDMI - and from what I have read, it will be capable of decoding H.264 from HD broadcast - and the HDCP is also covered for BR and HD-DVD. Hopefully the CPU is man enough to decode! One thing I dont like about this board is the fact it only has 1 PCI slot. I was toying with DVB-T and DVB-S2 tuners!
Anyone have any knowledge of this Motherboard and confirm what it really is capable of?
I'm not 100% sure if the ram is correct for this MB or if there are better (but not too expensive) alternatives? Is PC5300 correct or PC5400? I cant work out what the difference is!
I've gone for Samsung spinpoint - purely because of what I have read about noise figures. A wise choice?
Lastly, the Case and PSU. Ive read some very encouraging reports on it. I was looking at alternatives - but the PSU supplied always seemed too low. At least being Antec, it should be quite! Good choice? Would I need extra cooling for the CPU or what the intel supplied one be sufficient? Is that quite? If not - can someone recommend a not too expensive cooler for the E6600?
I'm now in my final couple of days before I part with my cash - and Im hoping the research Ive done is fruitfull in giving me good components capable of what I wish to use it for. So hopefully someone can stop me in my tracks if the above is not good enough - or better options available?
Many thanks