oO RusH Oo
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- Jun 30, 2009
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Hey everyone!
I know it's probibly the last thing you guys want to do, but i could really do with some help choosing the right components for an HTPC i'm building..
In return, i'll catalogue the build with all the problems/nuances and take loads of pictures
Righto, well... before i get started on what i want, i should first say what i want it for.
I recently bought myself a nice 5.1 speaker set-up (Mordaunt Short Mezzo collection), and i've been listening to some of my music through it.
Currently i've been listening to mp3's over phono, because the only other input avalible on my AMP is HDMI (and i have nothing which will output audio through HDMI) .. and to be honest it's terrible. Just... just rubbish.
What i want to be able to do is rip my CD's in high-quality and play them over the HDMI, as the AMP understands all the various digital standards.
So i want to have on my media center all my albums, all in lossless :]
The second thing i want this HTPC to do it play high-def videos, such as blue-ray movies, as well as be always-on (to download TV shows i usually watch in high-def, as soon as they come out in America)
So to summerize:
Must have HDMI out and support high quality audio/video (1080p movies with high-quality 5.1 audio)
Must have a large hard drive
Must be able to take never being turned off ever (well, maybe once a month)
Must be reaaaally quite.
Other than that, i'm flexible haha
To acheive this, i did a bit of research, and came up with this spec:
Case:
Moneual 312
I freaking LOVE this case.
Liturally, i would have its babies if i had the correct corresponding genitalia.
Having said that, it's around £200... which... makes me cry a little inside.
Motherboard:
DFI Lanparty LPJR790GX-M2RS Socket AM2+ DVI HDMI 8 Channel Audio MATX blah blah blah Motherboard
[ No decent picture.. sorry ]
DFI Lanparty LPJR790GX-M2RS Socket AM2+ DVI HDMI 8 Channel Audio MATX Motherboard - Ebuyer
It's a Lanparty mobo so i imagine it should be pretty good - plus it has HDMI out which i assume can do 1080p and high-quality audio with it's in-built GPU.
Optical Media Player:
LG GGW-H20L Blu-Ray Disc Re-Writer & HD DVD-Rom
It plays & writes Blueray, DVD, CD - as well as being able to play HD discs.
Only problem is.. i'm not sure if it fits in this tiny Chassis :/
Hard Drive:
I could save a bit by using an old HDD from another computer, or i could shell out £55 for this Hitachi DeskStar 1TB drive:
Hitachi DeskStar 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 16MB Cache - OEM - Ebuyer
Whatelse whatelse.... Oh yeah!
PSU:
Coolermaster Silent Pro 500W Modular PSU
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/147112
Why modular?
Well, i hear that as there's so little room in this case, the less cables you have clogging up the airflow, the better.
As for the CPU and the RAM - not a clue.
It won't be doing anything too intensive. Just playing movies and downloading the odd YouTube video.
OS:
I will probibly put BSD/Linux on it, to really keep it as stable and low-power as possible, so it helps if everything has BSD/Linux drivers. It's not a deal-breaker.
I'm thinking of running Boxee on it as well, because it looks like a really nice GUI for flicking through my music albums and videos.
What do you guys think about this set up?
It'll probibly cost around £500 all in, maybe up to £600 if i buy a new/good processor and ram and hard drive (and don't use the previous-generation stuff that i have)
What do you guys think?
Any feedback is REALLY appreciated :3
- John
[ Mods - All images now link to my Photobucket. I hope this is acceptable ]
I know it's probibly the last thing you guys want to do, but i could really do with some help choosing the right components for an HTPC i'm building..
In return, i'll catalogue the build with all the problems/nuances and take loads of pictures
Righto, well... before i get started on what i want, i should first say what i want it for.
I recently bought myself a nice 5.1 speaker set-up (Mordaunt Short Mezzo collection), and i've been listening to some of my music through it.
Currently i've been listening to mp3's over phono, because the only other input avalible on my AMP is HDMI (and i have nothing which will output audio through HDMI) .. and to be honest it's terrible. Just... just rubbish.
What i want to be able to do is rip my CD's in high-quality and play them over the HDMI, as the AMP understands all the various digital standards.
So i want to have on my media center all my albums, all in lossless :]
The second thing i want this HTPC to do it play high-def videos, such as blue-ray movies, as well as be always-on (to download TV shows i usually watch in high-def, as soon as they come out in America)
So to summerize:
Must have HDMI out and support high quality audio/video (1080p movies with high-quality 5.1 audio)
Must have a large hard drive
Must be able to take never being turned off ever (well, maybe once a month)
Must be reaaaally quite.
Other than that, i'm flexible haha
To acheive this, i did a bit of research, and came up with this spec:
Case:
Moneual 312
I freaking LOVE this case.
Liturally, i would have its babies if i had the correct corresponding genitalia.
Having said that, it's around £200... which... makes me cry a little inside.
Motherboard:
DFI Lanparty LPJR790GX-M2RS Socket AM2+ DVI HDMI 8 Channel Audio MATX blah blah blah Motherboard
[ No decent picture.. sorry ]
DFI Lanparty LPJR790GX-M2RS Socket AM2+ DVI HDMI 8 Channel Audio MATX Motherboard - Ebuyer
It's a Lanparty mobo so i imagine it should be pretty good - plus it has HDMI out which i assume can do 1080p and high-quality audio with it's in-built GPU.
Optical Media Player:
LG GGW-H20L Blu-Ray Disc Re-Writer & HD DVD-Rom
It plays & writes Blueray, DVD, CD - as well as being able to play HD discs.
Only problem is.. i'm not sure if it fits in this tiny Chassis :/
Hard Drive:
I could save a bit by using an old HDD from another computer, or i could shell out £55 for this Hitachi DeskStar 1TB drive:
Hitachi DeskStar 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 16MB Cache - OEM - Ebuyer
Whatelse whatelse.... Oh yeah!
PSU:
Coolermaster Silent Pro 500W Modular PSU
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/147112
Why modular?
Well, i hear that as there's so little room in this case, the less cables you have clogging up the airflow, the better.
As for the CPU and the RAM - not a clue.
It won't be doing anything too intensive. Just playing movies and downloading the odd YouTube video.
OS:
I will probibly put BSD/Linux on it, to really keep it as stable and low-power as possible, so it helps if everything has BSD/Linux drivers. It's not a deal-breaker.
I'm thinking of running Boxee on it as well, because it looks like a really nice GUI for flicking through my music albums and videos.
What do you guys think about this set up?
It'll probibly cost around £500 all in, maybe up to £600 if i buy a new/good processor and ram and hard drive (and don't use the previous-generation stuff that i have)
What do you guys think?
Any feedback is REALLY appreciated :3
- John
[ Mods - All images now link to my Photobucket. I hope this is acceptable ]
Last edited: