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akashi's HTPC Project

A

akashi

n00b
Joined
Jan 8, 2008
Messages
22
Hi to all.

I am in the process of ordering and building a HTPC. This PC will be used for general usages as well as playing HD-DVD and other 1080p movies on a 40" Samsung LE46F86BD. The PC needs to connect to the LCD via HDMI.

Below is a list of components that I have already chosen:

CPU: Intel Q6600 Quad Core 2.40GHz + Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
Motherboard: Asus P5E-VM HDMI Intel G35
Memory: Please help me pick.
Hard Drive: Seagate 7200.10 7200RPM 16MB Cache SATAII
PSU: Coolermaster eXtreme Power 460W
Case: PLEASE HELP!

It is important that the PC is quite as possible. Please share and recommendations that you may have and also if I should change any of the components that I have already chosen.

Thanks.
 
Case:

if your not really planning on using a video card (HDMI or otherwise) then most decent cases will fit the bill of being quiet and cool

if you would like a really sharp looking case with a piano black shiny finish you might take a look at the thermaltake lanboxes they come in both windowed and windowless

as far as the ram goes, well that depends on your operating system and if you want any overclocking capabilities, i'm using a 2x2gig kit of OCZ's on the same board but you might find cheaper.

I'm also not quite sure why you want the quad cores, unless you plan on doing some video editing etc, however having xtra overhead on the cpu is never a bad idea.
 
As for the memory I came across 2 that caught my interest:

Crucial Ballistix DDR2 PC2-6400 4-4-4-12 (2x1GB)

&

GeIL DDR2 PC2-6400 800MHz 4-4-4-12 (2x1GB)

The Ballistix cost £54.00 and the GeIL cost £30.00, almost half price!

As I was reading up on memory I found that the GeIL memory does not boot up with 1.8V However, the Ballistix came up as compatible of the crucial's website.

Anyone have any experience with GeIL memory on a Asus P5E-VM HDMI? I am not too interested in overclocking, I am aware that the chip used on Crucial are good with overclocking.
 
not sure throwing money at a quad core and skimping 25$ on memory is the best plan

but i've had zero experience with GeiL, maby they are pretty good
 
Thank you soulfoot for your reply.

I am using Windows Vista 32Bit at the moment, but might go to the 64Bit version soon.

I am getting the Quad Core as I believe the built in X3500 will not be able to cope with 1080p decoding. The codec that I use, CoreAVC supports multithreading.

The Lanbox Lite looks interesting, but are there more that look like a Media Center?
 
from what i understand if you want a media center look you may consider some form of a bare bones

or just head over to new egg and have a look but i have no experience with the smaller profile matx's

i highly recommend 4gig ram if you switch to vista 64

and just in case you are not aware, there are a few video cards that output hdmi but i'm not sure if they go as high as 1080p, some reasearch is needed

a link to media center cases on newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...=&Subcategory=7&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc=
 
I'd stick to the Crucial Ballistix modules vs OCZ. They seem to have fewer compatability problems than OCZ with mobos these days and it is on the CVL list so its best to go with something proven and accepted. Geil modules are good too but I wouldnt use it if its not on the CVL list.

The quadcores are nice but just remember that they naturally run hotter than the dualcores so make sure you use a good hsf and the case has adequate cooling. Most mATX mobos dont have a problem fitting the many hsf units out there but the case size is often the determining factor of how big (tall) of a hsf you can use.
 
and on that note, most of the media center cases in that new egg link are not the type to keep hot things cool
 
I was wondering if the Arctic Freezer 7 will fit onto the ASUS P5E-VM HDMI inside the Lanbox Lite?

Also if anyone has similar setup as above, can you please say what are your idle and load temperatures are using an Intel Q6600 G0 Stepping?

Thanks.
 
the x3500 will not decode h.264 or vc1 unless the program/codec you are using directly supports it and currently ffdshow and coreavc do no have specific GPU support. CoreAVC is so efficient, there's almost no point trying to do GPU acceleration with a nice CPU - requires less cpu utilization than other decoders that DO use GPU acceleration with similar image quality.

You do not need a Q6600 to do 1080p even with zero GPU acceleration but if it's in your budget, of course it's a great chip. I'm running a BE-2300, an e2180, and an e4500 in three of my htpc's and they can all handle 1080p with CoreAVC with the 2300 struggling the most by far. Even the 2300 can handle it with CoreAVC if I'm not trying to run multiple other tasks tho, and the Q6600 has probably 4X the decoding power of the 2300. On my Q6600 1080p doesn't even break 20% cpu utilization (averaged out over cores) on the biggest action sequences, so it's overkill but will definitely work. If you want a cooler, lower power, cheaper, and in the end quiter system I'd downgrade the CPU to a dual core and use 1.8V cheaper RAM. You're not gaming on this thing so what's the point?
 
And regarding the Lanbox Lite, I'm also using that in one of my htpc's. I'd have to take it apart to confirm an arctic freezer would fit, but if i remember correctly I wasn't happy about using the stock hsf with my lanbox and I had some Hyper TX2's laying around when I built it. The hyper's are almost identical size as the arctic freezers so i'm thinking the answer is no. In addition, the arctic freezers are NOT quiet when the fan is on full speed on a hot quad.

I'm not sure what your aiming for but the goals don't seem to match the parts. You're picking out the hot, high wattage, high voltage options for a non-gaming machine which is the only time you'd notice the difference. I have two high end quad systems and a ton of mid-grade duals and unless I'm encoding video or some other rare intense tasks, there is no visible difference. Mid-grade parts that are low wattage, quiet, and cool are the way to go for HTPC and general use IMO ($110 for E4x00 series CPU, efficient 80-cert PSU like an earthwatts, CAS5 1.8V RAM - going CAS5 to CAS4 again gives no visible differences but requires usually ~2.1V and produces more heat).
 
for the lanbox you might look at lower profile heatsink, i can barely fit an xp-120 plust a 120 fan with very little clearance between the fan and the power supply (which is turned upside down so that the psu fan takes air from the cpu fan.

do some research though, the heatsink you are considering might fit but i wouldnt try it.
 
akashi said:
Hi to all.

I am in the process of ordering and building a HTPC. This PC will be used for general usages as well as playing HD-DVD and other 1080p movies on a 40" Samsung LE46F86BD. The PC needs to connect to the LCD via HDMI.

Below is a list of components that I have already chosen:

CPU: Intel Q6600 Quad Core 2.40GHz + Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
Motherboard: Asus P5E-VM HDMI Intel G35
Memory: Please help me pick.
Hard Drive: Seagate 7200.10 7200RPM 16MB Cache SATAII
PSU: Coolermaster eXtreme Power 460W
Case: PLEASE HELP!

It is important that the PC is quite as possible. Please share and recommendations that you may have and also if I should change any of the components that I have already chosen.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Man another one...

First of all, you don't need a quad. There's just no reason to do it. Go get an E4x00 or E21x0. They'll run cooler and will do everything you need them to do. Get a good cooler (i'd recommend the Zalman 7700 if you're going to go with the Lanbox Lite) and push it to 3ghz or so and you're set. And no, the AC Freezer 7 Pro won't fit in a Lanbox.

Mobo is good.

Harddrive is good, although I don't see a capacity listed there. For what it's worth, I have a 7200.10 750GB Seagate and I believe it's Vista, but this thing is loud. Vista is always grinding away at my harddrive (and I can't figure out why), and it's kinda noisy. On the other hand, I have a 320GB Western Digital in the same box and it's barely audible at all, even when I was running Vista on it. I think the reason the seagate might be loud is the perpendicular recording, but I'm not sure. I've yet to install XP (waiting till my P5E-HDMI comes in :-D ) and see if it's any quieter, but overall, I've found my Seagate drive to loud.

PSU: So you picked out a good processor, good mobo, but then skimp on the PSU? Why? Sure the Cooler Master will run your rig, but I wouldn't ever buy a CM PSU. They don't sound like a very reliable brand for PSU's. More importantly, I don't think the one you selected is modular, meaning you'll have a mess of cables in your case. I'd highly recommend you pick a modular PSU such as the Corsair 520HX or Antec NeoHE 500.

I like the Lanbox series myself. However, depending on the look of your living room and home audio equipment, and the place where the HTPC would be placed, I would consider looking at a horizontal case instead of a cube case. A horizontal case would fit in better with your other equipment than a cube case might. I know Zalman makes some, but they're expensive. There's an Antec one that looked good, but I can't remember the model number. Good luck with your build.
 
as far as modular power supplies go, i love my silverstone modular in the lanbox, specially since you can buy an optional short cable kit, however it is a bit on the long side (fullsized) but it is very livable if you can get used to the idea of removing the power supply cage almost anytime you need to get inside (but that may be the case with any psu and the lanbox.
 
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