First time HTPC

J

Jaz709

n00b
Joined
Nov 28, 2009
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42
Almost bought a WD Live Hub and decided to recycle some old parts. They've been stored for some time and can't remember what model cpu was used:

- Gigabyte P35
- 4GB memory
- C2D (Either 2.4 or 2.5Ghz)
- Asus ENGT220/1GD2
- mMedia HTPC-200B
- I have various WD drivess from old Raptors to 2002FAEX.
- Win 7 Ultimate
- Sony 60" RP

Would I be able to get away with this for video streaming? Not a gamer so only being used for movie play back.

Also thought of going with something new if required. Thinking along the lines of a mATX board along with an i3 3225 using the onboard graphics. Any imput would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
 
that would work just fine, however it would be horribly inefficient and just because of the old C2D. If you don't want to spend any money that would be just fine, but in the long run you'd have less heat, noise, and less power consumption going with an i3 3225
 
Nothing wrong with that at all. In fact it is not much different than my main system which also does HTPC duty. Also nothing wrong with the CPU either, GPUs offload most decoding these days.

It should easily play anything you throw at it. Mine did even when I had a low end E2140 CPU in it.
 
Yep, that will handle anything you throw at it just fine. Also, my HTPC has a Q2Q and I have no heat issues and the fan is set to low.
 
Hey i used the have that nmedia case, pretty cool does it have the ir built in? If so you might look at getting a harmony remote and setting up xbmc or windows media center with a remote and embrace your inner couch potato :) Parts should be fine it might be worth getting a quiet cpu cooler if you dont already have one and maybe some quiet case fans, asuming you are hyper sensitive to ambient sound from the box, unless you have surround sound, then just crank up the volume :)
 
This looks pretty solid to me since you aren't doing anything too crazy. I am a huge fan of an SSD as the main OS drive especially if you do planing using WMC. Everything is just snappier. My one question would be why are you going with Win 7 Ultimate? Home Premium should work just fine, or Pro if you need more complex RDP stuff...

Like others have said fans are going to be your biggest noise area so if you can upgrade those a bit it will keep it nice a quiet.
 
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