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First HTPC build..please criticize!

F

Fragster

Weaksauce
Joined
Jul 21, 2006
Messages
88
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersio...istNumber=5724945&WishListTitle=My+First+HTPC

Usage will be mainly watching ripped movies+OTA TV, pictures, home videos off my camcorder, as well as Netflix movie streaming. Display will be at 720p native to my Marantz DLP projector via HDMI-DVI and the audio will be routed off to my Onkyo receiver via optical.

My budget was $1k so after some research, I found these from comparing to other system builders.

Does it look okay so far and do I need to switch anything out?

Appreciated
Frag
 
most of it looks pretty good, I'd go for the Scythe Ninja mini and Arctic Cooling MX-2 thermal paste instead. I use both in my HTPC and it cut my temps down a lot from the Zalman 92mm copper and AS5.
 
Wow, You don;t need that setup. It is kind of high end for HTPC.

My recomendation would be.

X23600 or BE2100 (Intel) = $50 each even X2 is cheaper.
AMD690G(HDMI) or INTEL 7050 (HDMI) Motherboard = $70 shipped
2GB RAM = $30 the most HOT DEALS
400GB SATA or 500GB SATA = $70 or $90 HOT DEALS


Case your Choice most of them comes with PSU, i would recomend 80% plus certified PSU, saves you alot on Electric.
 
valve1138 said:
How so?

Looks pretty good to me, for HD even.
Click to expand...

Agreed. You can't run HD content smoothly on an X2-3600 without GPU offloading, which the 690/7050 don't properly do. It's always safer to overshoot the CPU requirement because GPU offloading is highly variable and is dependent on codec, software player, and drivers as well. On a low end X2 or Celeron system, I would at least get an 8500 nvidia or 3650 ati GPU as well. When you start messing around post-processing abilities it'll keep adding more and more processing load as well.
 
lawrence131 said:
Agreed. You can't run HD content smoothly on an X2-3600 without GPU offloading, which the 690/7050 don't properly do. It's always safer to overshoot the CPU requirement because GPU offloading is highly variable and is dependent on codec, software player, and drivers as well. On a low end X2 or Celeron system, I would at least get an 8500 nvidia or 3650 ati GPU as well. When you start messing around post-processing abilities it'll keep adding more and more processing load as well.
Click to expand...

Indeed. And given that the OP is watching OTA TV he'll need something that can do HD smoothly once the digital change over happens next year.
 
Do those Nvidia boards with built in HDMI handle 720p content?
 
lol, guys the reason i gave that suggestion because i am using one. Even a celeron can play HD content with proper chipset like 690G or 8500GT. X2 3600 is powerfull enough to do that just find, i will post screen shot later from my setup.


The most i would recomend is ATI HD 3650 128bit video card. It is well under $100 around $70 at most places.

MY Setup:

X2 3600
2GB RAM
Foxconn AMD 690G Chipset Motherboard
ATI HDTV 650 PCI Tunner
EarthWatt 380watts psus + Case.

Life is good cost me $200 for whole setup a while back, and it awesome.
 
valve1138 said:
Indeed. And given that the OP is watching OTA TV he'll need something that can do HD smoothly once the digital change over happens next year.
Click to expand...

Which is why he should go with a 3xx0 series card or an 8500GT/8600GT. Simply put: the 2x00 HD series sucks for MPEG2 playback which is what OTA HD is broadcasted in. Yeah, the CPU is fast enough to handle it but, honestly, you're buying a card that costs $100+ that sucks at decoding MPEG2 which is something that has been well supported since the GF4 MX.

The 3xx0 HD series is supposed to have corrected this issue (haven't tried one yet) so they seem like a good choice but skip the 2xx0 series cards.
 
CrimandEvil said:
Which is why he should go with a 3xx0 series card or an 8500GT/8600GT. Simply put: the 2x00 HD series sucks for MPEG2 playback which is what OTA HD is broadcasted in. Yeah, the CPU is fast enough to handle it but, honestly, you're buying a card that costs $100+ that sucks at decoding MPEG2 which is something that has been well supported since the GF4 MX.

The 3xx0 HD series is supposed to have corrected this issue (haven't tried one yet) so they seem like a good choice but skip the 2xx0 series cards.
Click to expand...

Thats good to know. I didn't know that about the 2x00 series. I've been buying nVidia forever. :D
 
If you're interested in playing hidef dvds then best buy and kmart both have the xbox360 hd-dvd addon for $50. Would be a nice addition to a nice HTPC.
 
SC385 said:
If you're interested in playing hidef dvds then best buy and kmart both have the xbox360 hd-dvd addon for $50. Would be a nice addition to a nice HTPC.
Click to expand...

Except HD-DVD is dead - but Newegg is carrying the LG combo drive for $229 which is what I recommend - watch for cheap HD-DVDs on eBay!!!
 
hd-dvd may be dead but they aren't gone. $50 for high def and A LOT of good HD movies that are out now isn't a bad deal.
 
SC385 said:
hd-dvd may be dead but they aren't gone. $50 for high def and A LOT of good HD movies that are out now isn't a bad deal.
Click to expand...

Well, you can always convert them to BR.

Thinking of picking one up but then again I'm also thinking of just getting a BR drive soon, at $50 with some HD DVD movies (that you can, possibly, convert to BR) it's not that bad of a deal IMO. Also, HD DVD movies will be hitting the bargain bin soon and should be pretty damn cheap.

Sort of feels like grave robbing....
 
CrimandEvil said:
Well, you can always convert them to BR.

Thinking of picking one up but then again I'm also thinking of just getting a BR drive soon, at $50 with some HD DVD movies (that you can, possibly, convert to BR) it's not that bad of a deal IMO. Also, HD DVD movies will be hitting the bargain bin soon and should be pretty damn cheap.

Sort of feels like grave robbing....
Click to expand...


Hehehehehe.
 
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