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Hi! I built my computer several years ago for HTPC use, but now it's since been moved to general desktop usage. Now with the release of Diablo 3 I'm considering upgrading the computer to try gaming again. I know that my integrated graphics is not up to par, but otherwise I'm not sure. The cpu...

Some random internet forum. Something about needing new software updates constantly to be able play the latest releases. Glad to hear that those fears are misplaced.

Hi! I've had a custom built HTPC for a while. An Athlon 5050e with 2 GB of RAM with GeForce 6150 motherboard inside a nice Antec NSK2480 case. I've used it more or less as a normal computer, so what's HTPC about it is mostly that the TV is its only monitor. Main media usage is streaming...

All broadcasts are regular SD for the undetermined future, so no fear of having to downscale HD content. This is for a Linux box-- I am not sure if there is support for hardware decoding of video.

I am planning to use the following hardware: AMD Sempron LE1100 Corsair CM2X512-6400C4 * 2 = 1GByte of 800Mhz DDR2 Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H (integrated sound, video, LAN, etc.) Western Digital Caviar GP 750GB Antec NSK-2480 Satelco EasyWatch PCI DVB-C * 2 (I'm located in Finland in a cable...

Ok. In that case I'll go for the Biostar board, as I too have heard at least of someone who got the component out working. It's pretty much as cheap as anything without integrated, so if I end up having to buy an external card then I'm not losing anything. Thanks.

GP drives are NOT variable speed. Their rotation speed is static.

What matters? I've gathered that HTPC use tends to be low intensive memory-wise--512mb is sufficient, 1gb great. But what about speed? Is there a difference between DDR2 400 and DDR2 800? What about dual-channel vs single channel? Does the picture change when using an integrated video card?

Silent PC Review is the site to go to for these ratings. But in a nutshell, the best choices are Western Digital Caviar GP-editions (500gb-1tb) and Western Digital SE16 500gb. In that order. A laptop drive is also a good option for an os drive. edit: The Western Digital GP is marked as...

The Asus M2A-VM HDMI has this--why not something else? ASUS M2NPV-VM did as well. Some s-video outs have component integrated (those 7-pin things). Bioforce tforce 7050 is currently my leading candidate, but I've heard conflicting reports about it's component out. If you don't have any...

I've been thinking about buying Asus M2A-VM HDMI for an HTPC, but I've realized that this specific board and it's ATI display adapter have problems with Linux. This is a problem for me, since I'm planning on using MythTV or some other Linux solution for software. My TV doesn't have DVI or...

Western Digital Caviar GP are the silent choice right now. They are available in sizes 500gb-1tb. They are 5400rpm drives, which is great for noise and power consumption.

At least in the past the Hauppage software was absolute garbage. There are various third party solutions, all of which are better.

I'd recommend some other backup format rather than DVD. Specifically, hard drive. Burning that many DVDs is a pain in the ass, and burned media isn't terribly long-lasting. You could just keep them on the hard drive and burn when you need to. And this allows for easier access with an HTPC or...

You'd need to set up equipment at both ends to get this done.

The 500gb Western Digital drive is apparently the quietest of the bunch, I would suggest to go for that one: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article617-page1.html You do realize that 32bit operating systems won't be able to use more than (roughly) 3gb of memory? Then again, Vista 64 will, and...

This is way overkill for grandma computer. Cheapest Sempron and budget motherboard will be fine. Not only is this a waste of money, but it also unnecessarily kills the environment. Integrated video is more than sufficient for grandma computers, and actually even for very light gaming. Here you...

A 500GB hard drive is actually a 465GB harddrive, because hard drive makers define a gigabyte as 10^9 bytes, everyone else defines it as 2^30. This is confusing and stupid, but this is how things are done. For some reason I fail to understand the industry still hasn't decided whether to use...

How should the SMART data be interpreted? At what point should I assume the hard drive is as good as unusable?

Has anyone used this? How reliable is it's estimate of the health of the drive? It determined that the hard drive of a notebook is at 28% health and performance. Should I take this to mean that the drive is actually as good as dead?

A simple USB tuner is the easiest option. Plenty are available. A PCI card is sometimes more convinient. Those exist as well. Both are easy to use with software usually included on the CD. Your nVidia doesn't have an effect. There are fancier cards with hardware encoding or decoding, but you...

Without knowing what you are using the computer for, I'd guess they are all overkill. So get the cheapest one.

Well he is rocking a 37" Westy, whatever that means.

There are jobs in electrical engineering. That information should suffice. You don't know what you want to do specifically until much later, so don't even bother thinking about that. And the specifics of pay, vacations, work per week, responsibilities, etc obviously differ greatly from person to...

I have an older Fujitsu Amilo A laptop that feels sluggish. It has a Athlon XP-M 2000+ cpu, 384mb RAM (40mb used by on board video), a 5400rpm 20gb hard drive and other components which are of little interest. It's loaded with Windows XP Home and used mostly (almost exclusively) for internet...

Pay at least as much as you owe them. They will refund the difference, I'm sure. That's what I did with my credit card bill last time I lost it. Worked out great.

For most people onboard sound is plenty good. If you do have problems with it then buy a dedicated card, but don't do so right away unless the motherboard reviews you read tell you to do so. Not knowing anything about that board, it is definately overkill if you are not planning on...

Is laughing permitted in the [H]? This aggressive and completely unnecessary defense of overclocking prowess is hilarious. :D As to the OP, Extreme chips are indeed a waste of money. Almost regardless of usage, they are a bad investment. There certainly are applications in which the extra...

You want the HTPC to be quiet. If anything, I'd think about underclockin/volting it.

Good to hear, I'm going with the low-power Sempron once/if it comes available.

Sounds good. I'll get that and the 7050 once they become available. Thanks for all the help! :)

I found a Sempron LE-1200, which will apparently become available on 29.7.2007, which is soon enough for me. It's a 45w version of Sempron, running at 2100mhz and 512kb cache. It's 26€ cheaper than the 45w athlon. Any reason not to go with it? Is the performance difference meaningful (ie...

Thanks for all the help. I'll change the memory to 800mhz (+10€), the motherboard to Biostar (+10€), and the cpu to the 45w Athlon (+29€). It's all of a sudden 50€ more expensive. 30€ for heat/energy use reduction, which probably worthwhile, and a 20€ performance increase. Well, during the...

I'm building an HTPC for mostly video playback purposes for a standard definition tv (currently connected via svideo). Due to shitty tv programming I'm not bothering with a tv tuner yet, but I'd like the computer to be capable of normal HTPC functions with a tuner if I do get one in the future...

No. It's meant for "blow dryers, travel irons, coffee makers, toasters, lamps, and more". All items which aren't very picky about the power they get. Basically heating appliances, which would probably work just fine with any sort of current. The second one looks reasonable. Especially...

High wattage converters are expensive, and there is always an efficiency loss. So use them sparingly. Check your electrical items, surpisingly many are rated for 100-240v / 50-60hz, so they run fine with just an adapter or a different powercord. Running everything through the battery backup is...

My old 400Mhz K6-2 played back DVDs. With sound. But still, 233mhz is insufficient for any reasonable usage. It would probably play some videos fine, but probably with reduced quality and even then not most.

ASUS M2NPV-VM is the only one of these with two ATA133 ports, which is somewhat appealing, since I still have a few older hard drives I'd like to use. But apparently it's svideo is no good, or does someone else have positive experience with it?

I've been trying to find one with integrated s-video output, but had very little luck thus far. Do these things even exist for modern motherboards, or have manufacturers assumed that everyone has TVs with digital inputs? Since my tv doesn't support HDTV, performance is of low concern to me...

Why do you even bother running stability tests if you don't care about the result?