Critique what I'm looking at building

Probably will, so I don't have to keep putting discs in. I have a 750 GB drive that I'm keeping from my PC that I have now. I'll upgrade to more storage later on. Forgot to list that :)
 
nsk 2480 $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129034&Tpk=nsk2480

Msi P55 $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130253

X3440 $240
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ubCategory=727&SortField=0&PageSize=10&page=1

Corsair 1600 $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145263

Gt 220 $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150446

This case has an included PSU that will work great for the HTPC. The Xeon and the Msi motherboard will work well to rip the Bluerays to the HD's. You don't need the GT240 unless you're gaming. Actually a ATI 4550 is the favorite for HDMI videocards.
 
I don' t see how anyone can critique that build or recommend anything without knowing what you plan on doing with the machine and what your requirements are?
 
Home Theater / Daily computing mostly.

I have my PC here in the living room. I rarely play games but when I do I'd like to have something that can handle it.
 
I don' t see how anyone can critique that build or recommend anything without knowing what you plan on doing with the machine and what your requirements are?

First line says a HTPC, so thats what I was going with.

Are you going to rip the BlueRays on this machine?

And really, this was the only question that came to mind.
 
First line says a HTPC, so thats what I was going with.

Yeah..that's like saying i'm buying car, what do you think about x?

We need to know what the poster wants to do with the HTPC, does he need it to be silent, etc ....there's a lot more to it than just knowing he wants to build a new HTPC. I know what I use my HTPC's for and I built them for the my needs...looking at his build and based on my needs I wouldn't even consider building that..so yes..we need to understand what they want to do with it, where it's going to be placed..etc.
 
If you are to look at the case suggested, you notice that it is designed to be quiet, has a 80%+ efficent PSU, and supports full sized cards. It has 2 -120mm rpm selectable fans to move a lot of air quietly. This is a known very good case for the htpc.
 
Vader, I dont know what is up with the hostile replies but if you don't like it, thats fine. But saying you wouldnt even consider it, is a pretty arrogant and conceited statement. BTW, its a HTPC. Of course silent is a requirement. Who makes their HTPC into a noisy setup?
 
I would definately get a ATI 5000 series card. They are the only video cards that can also bitstream the HD audio formats. And they perform quite well.

You said you will be ripping on this HTPC, will you also be re-encoding the video? If you are then I would look into an Intel Core i7. Re-encoding will max out a CPU and take hours to do. So the best CPU you can get makes it a faster process. If you aren't re-encoding then don't worry about it.

An HTPC itself doesn't need much power at all. But you mentioned gaming, what games do you plan on playing?
 
Good to know on the GPU. I was under the impression that the one I had listed did that as well.

I will not be re-encoding. Just ripping for later viewing.

I haven't played any games recently and honestly don't even know what the current games are outside of COD Modern Warfare as I got that for my brother for Christmas. In the past I've played Oblivion, Crysis and Bioshock but that was a few years ago when they all first came out.
 
Vader, I dont know what is up with the hostile replies but if you don't like it, thats fine. But saying you wouldnt even consider it, is a pretty arrogant and conceited statement. BTW, its a HTPC. Of course silent is a requirement. Who makes their HTPC into a noisy setup?

What the heck are you talking about...I said I wouldn't consider it based on my needs. You need to be more specific. Again...HTPC doesn't cut it. If you want better input provide more info.
 
Looks like that BlueRay drive just went on sale and has a $5 off promo code. Ordered :D
 
that cpu is total overkill for htpc. just get a athlon ii 240. also, are you going to be running audio into a receiver? If so, go for a 5xxx video card or a 8200/8300 chipset motherboard, so you can get 7.1.
 
that cpu is total overkill for htpc. just get a athlon ii 240. also, are you going to be running audio into a receiver? If so, go for a 5xxx video card or a 8200/8300 chipset motherboard, so you can get 7.1.

Nah, not overkill. The C3's I would imagine can be undervolted and underclocked quite well. If you did this, I'm sure you could run one (nearly) passively with the right heatsink. Either way, it's a good system. I think the OP should get a 5670, too. It's cheaper and has better performance and features.

I think it's a fine build.
 
nvidia gpus are not up to par with ATI for HTPC use.

terrible audio over HDMI implementation

the new 5xxxx series card is the best GPU for a HTPC if you want a GPU otherwise go with the nvidia 8x00 or 9x00
 
Thanks for the advice on the card. I think Ive settled on a 5670 (I think thats the number - going from memory) for the GPU.

Again, this is not JUST a HTPC as I mentioned in the beginning of the thread, but will have significant HTPC usage.
 
Well, the first post said it was htpc without any other mention of what it does, then you also mention daily computing. Either way, why go quad? Some games take advantage of it, but most don't, and it will be totally unnoticeable for all daily computing tasks.

Are you gaming at all on this thing? If not, you should get a 8200 motherboard and an athlon ii dual core chip. The 8200 handles all htpc uses just fine, as will the cpu.

If you are doing some light gaming, I would suggest the same chip, but throwing in the 5670 or even a 5770. This will give you the graphical umph. The dual core will handle most games.
 
Well, the first post said it was htpc without any other mention of what it does, then you also mention daily computing. Either way, why go quad? Some games take advantage of it, but most don't, and it will be totally unnoticeable for all daily computing tasks.

Are you gaming at all on this thing? If not, you should get a 8200 motherboard and an athlon ii dual core chip. The 8200 handles all htpc uses just fine, as will the cpu.

If you are doing some light gaming, I would suggest the same chip, but throwing in the 5670 or even a 5770. This will give you the graphical umph. The dual core will handle most games.

Most new games want a quad now, and encoding, etc all benefits from quad cores. A quad will allow you to encode a DVD while watching a blu-ray, for instace HTPCs benefit immensely from quads.
 
Most new games want a quad now, and encoding, etc all benefits from quad cores. A quad will allow you to encode a DVD while watching a blu-ray, for instace HTPCs benefit immensely from quads.

1.) You don't game on a 220GT. Ever. :rolleyes:

2.) Why the hell are you ripping and encoding movies at all on the HTPC?!

The only reason an HTPC needs a Quad core is if you are serving four or more extender systems and if you are running four or more Cablecard tuners. Barring those reasons there is absolutely no reason to put a Quad in an HTPC. That's like dropping in a 5790 or a 285 GTX just for watching Blu rays: it's nothing but a waste of money, time, your electricy bill and cool air.
 
1.) You don't game on a 220GT. Ever. :rolleyes:

2.) Why the hell are you ripping and encoding movies at all on the HTPC?!

The only reason an HTPC needs a Quad core is if you are serving four or more extender systems and if you are running four or more Cablecard tuners. Barring those reasons there is absolutely no reason to put a Quad in an HTPC. That's like dropping in a 5790 or a 285 GTX just for watching Blu rays: it's nothing but a waste of money, time, your electricy bill and cool air.

Read all the OP's posts. Hes not building a dedicated HTPC, he's building a computer that will serve as an HTPC, as well as game. He's using a Radeon 5670, too. A quad would be fine, especially undervolted and underclocked. His needs will be best served by a little more processing muscle than a typical classic HTPC builder.

I rip and encode content on my computer while watching Netflix on Demand all the time. I queue something up to watch while I wait for a movie to rip/encode. I wouldn't want anything but a quad for that.
 
The build is fine... but I wouldn't use it as an HTPC. I'd take your current Athlon setup... use that as a media center, take your current build and use it as my main pc. Trust me... if you're ripping and encoding... and unless you have tons of disk space you'll want to encode, then you want a quad core. Than I would just copy over or stream the movies you want to watch on your HTPC. I don't know about you guys... but I try to run my both my HTPC sans mouse/kb, just my harmony and 7mc and just remote connect when I have to tinker with it from my main pc.

That's just my opinion. I guess it all depends on whichever computer you plan on using the most, but I use my media pc's just for that... playing back media... centralize my storage on WHS and use wireless or wired connections to stream all my media.
 
You rip/encode while you watch your home theater? I can't think of anything more annoying while I'm watching a movie, and I live within earshot of the L.

Personally, if you are ripping and encoding and trying to keyboard and mouse while keeping all your data in that case, you aren't running a htpc, you are just hooking your computer up to your television. At the risk of sounding pretentious, they are two very different things.

HTPCs are quiet and cool and sacrifice horsepower to get there. They should be barely seen and never heard. You don't want it to do ripping or encoding because that is loud and hot. You don't want the internal hard drives to have your movies because it's a PITA to get into the case.
 
CPU and 64bit are complete overkill IMHO. Also you can easily get by with only 2gigs of ram.
 
No offense, but just because you guys have your own snobby definition of an HTPC doesn't mean it's the be-all and end-all. Argue all you want over the definition of "HTPC." That's not the point. The OP will be perfectly happy with this build for what he wants to use it for. Give the guy some credit, he's come up with an HTPC-gaming PC hybrid, and it is a very high quality build.
 
I rip and encode content on my computer while watching Netflix on Demand all the time. I queue something up to watch while I wait for a movie to rip/encode. I wouldn't want anything but a quad for that.
Your computer? I'm sorry but I don't care, that's not an HTPC then so your point is completely irrelevant to the discussion.
 
So by your standards there must be ONE set of parts and only one set of parts that can define a HTPC. Great. We have established that. Now how about I change the title to Critique my PC that I'm hooking up to my TV and stereo. Cool? Now we can all agree that this is NOT a HTPC by your definition.

Anyone else have anything relevant and care to check their elitist complex at the door? I don't make all the money in the world and can't justify having two computers here at my house. One for gaming/daily activities and one for htpc is absurd for where I am in my position in life. So, please, do away with the snobbery. Were the title anything else but HTPC you guys would probably be responding in a totally different way.
 
Oh and since I am failing at creating a good setup, how about you share some of your wisdom on what would make a good build?
 
Like I stated earlier, you're build is fine, for me personally I wouldn't want it as my media player, noise/heat/chassis being the factors. I only use my media center to do that.. play media, I don't play games on it. If you do play games that's a completely different story, but serious gaming on wireless KB/mouse sucks IMHO. I'd rather play computer games at desk with a nice high res monitor in front of me.

As long as my htpcs can play blurays, and X264 content than I'm content.

Personally I don't you can beat this combo on the egg as an HTPC:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.328189

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The following is my idea of a great HTPC frontend with the backend being any other machine you have:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...28&cm_re=acer_revo_ion-_-83-103-228-_-Product

At least this is what I have my eyes on for my future HTPC fronted. For the last 6 years the backends have been my main desktop. I have 4 tuners in my quad core Q9550 with a little over 4TB of space at the moment on the main backend. The secondary backend is also a 4 core system 2 processor dual core Opteron with over 1TB of space but I don't turn that on as much anymore since the Q9550 does its job well and at 75W less than the older amd system.
 
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So by your standards there must be ONE set of parts and only one set of parts that can define a HTPC. Great. We have established that. Now how about I change the title to Critique my PC that I'm hooking up to my TV and stereo. Cool? Now we can all agree that this is NOT a HTPC by your definition.

Anyone else have anything relevant and care to check their elitist complex at the door? I don't make all the money in the world and can't justify having two computers here at my house. One for gaming/daily activities and one for htpc is absurd for where I am in my position in life. So, please, do away with the snobbery. Were the title anything else but HTPC you guys would probably be responding in a totally different way.

I'm sorry it comes off as elitist, that's not my intention. The reason you are getting so much push back is that you didn't describe what you want very well. You said "HTPC" + daily use. But what you built is a gaming PC that has power in the wrong places and is in a htpc case, which is kind of an odd duck.

We aren't saying that there is only one way to build a htpc, but we are saying that "HTPC" implies a certain mindset that makes specific hardware choices based on different variables than a normal gaming pc. You just didn't pick out very "HTPC" components, and we are trying to help.

More detail would be helpful, let us know the following:

What does the room that the machine is going into look like? (couches/desk/entertainment center/office chair)

What kind of monitor are you hooking this up to? (tv or monitor on desk)

What kind of sound system do you have? (size, speaker number, inputs)

Which, if any, games will you play/want to play on this machine?

Are you doing any photo/video editing?

What type of files do you plan on playing?

How big is your current media library?

How big do you see your media library being in 2 years?

Do you want a TV tuner?

What is your total budget?

This will help us build you a cost effective rig that serves all your purposes. Most people here also can't just afford a ton of computer stuff. I know I have been building and planning all my rigs slowly over time. That being said, with a little knowledge and forethought, you will be much much happier down the road.
 
I'm sorry it comes off as elitist, that's not my intention. The reason you are getting so much push back is that you didn't describe what you want very well. You said "HTPC" + daily use. But what you built is a gaming PC that has power in the wrong places and is in a htpc case, which is kind of an odd duck.

We aren't saying that there is only one way to build a htpc, but we are saying that "HTPC" implies a certain mindset that makes specific hardware choices based on different variables than a normal gaming pc. You just didn't pick out very "HTPC" components, and we are trying to help.

*snip but all very good points*
Exactly spot on.

OP, you stated in your first post (you know, that thing people read when they first click on your thread) that you wanted to build an HTPC. None of your first selected parts had anything to do with an HTPC, all wrong. And then it's not until eight posts in that you finally mention that you want to do some gaming on it and mention that you'll be using this as a daily PC too.

So yes, you failed at describe what you wanted this system to be.

A HTPC is one thing, a gaming rig is another. You use different parts for each system cause those parts are most suited towards that application. For Christ sake. You don't drop a 285 GTX into a PC that's aimed at internet usage. You don't drop a 220GT into a PC aimed at gaming. You don't throw a hot and power hungry Quad into a system that's aimed at word processing. This is all just common fucking sense.

If you actually want some advice on your build then please start over and actually tell us what you want of this system, your budget, etc (Ryken's list is a good start).
So by your standards there must be ONE set of parts and only one set of parts that can define a HTPC. Great. We have established that. Now how about I change the title to Critique my PC that I'm hooking up to my TV and stereo. Cool? Now we can all agree that this is NOT a HTPC by your definition.
An HTPC is a system aimed at media playback. It's about the ease of use of having a device that can access all your media. If someone wants to game on theirs then that's fine.

What you're building is a PC, plain and simple yet that isn't something to mentioned in your first post. Nothing about how you said (finally) about how you want to use it screams "HTPC" which is what caused confusion and yet you say "snobbery" and all that BS when you couldn't even tell us what you wanted this system to do.
 
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You never asked what I wanted this system to do. All you posted was this response in post number 18, which was 10 posts after I stated that it was a dual purpose rig I was planning.

Wow. Such a terrible setup. That is suppose to be an HTPC?

Then in post 22, before you said anything relevant, I further explained that this wouldn't be JUST a HTPC.

Oh, and I never mentioned a 220 card. Someone else did. I mentioned a 240 card.

You are right one one count however, in my first post I did not clearly define what I was going after. But, again, had you spent some time reading and thinking, you probably could have used the context clues to land on the conclusion that this was more than just a HTPC.

Lastly, I get the fact that you wouldnt use those parts. Super. Move on to the next thread. Maybe you can offer some constructive feedback instead of just tearing into people.

I am done arguing with you about this. Your going on my block list if you keep this crap up.
 
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You never asked what I wanted this system to do. All you posted was this response in post number 18, which was 10 posts after I stated that it was a dual purpose rig I was planning.



Then in post 22, before you said anything relevant, I further explained that this wouldn't be JUST a HTPC.

Oh, and I never mentioned a 220 card. Someone else did. I mentioned a 240 card.

You are right one one count however, in my first post I did not clearly define what I was going after. But, again, had you spent some time reading and thinking, you probably could have used the context clues to land on the conclusion that this was more than just a HTPC.

Lastly, I get the fact that you wouldnt use those parts. Super. Move on to the next thread. Maybe you can offer some constructive feedback instead of just tearing into people.

I am done arguing with you about this. Your going on my block list if you keep this crap up.

+1 This. I fail to see how a quiet, yet powerful Phenom II system with Radeon 5670 (where this 220 shit came from I have no idea) in a compact case could be anything less than brilliant for you. It's a PC that will serve as a media hub and gaming center. I guess you could call it a "Home Entertainment PC."
 
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