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HTPC Upgrade

Z

Zetro

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 2, 2005
Messages
296
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Primarily streaming video content on a wired gigabit connection from my server. Also used for video conferencing, youtube watching, and my DJ for parties at my place.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Hoping to spend less than $300
3) Where do you live?
Vancouver Canada
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
-CPU
-Hard Drive
-Video Card
-Fans
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
-Antec NSK3400
-Antec 380W PSU (I believe its an Earthwatts, it came with the above case)
-Gigabyte MA78GM-US2H (flashed to newest Bios with x6 Support)
-2 x 2GB GSkill PC8000 Memory
-Scythe Katana III CPU Cooler (extremely quiet)
6) Will you be overclocking?
No
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
55" Philips 1080P 240Hz Television over HDMI
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
This Weekend
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
N/A
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Legit Windows 7 Pro 64-Bit OEM

So the processor is unstable/buggered in this machine (7750BE) and with this I felt it would be an awesome time to refresh this machine to finish out its wonderful life. Also this machine is annoyingly loud with 2 x 92mm Antec Tricools (on low) in the front and the stock Antec tricool in the rear. Plus the 7400.4 Seagate 2.5" hard drive is very loud during seeks which when I watched the Sixth Sense today was driving me insane.

So to pep this thing up this is what I was thinking of changing:

Processor: Athlon II X3 450 (PM'd to $73)
http://www.++++.com/products/?sku=55074&vpn=ADX450WFGMBOX&manufacture=AMD

MSI Geforce GT 210 (With the X3 is this required for 1080p video offloading or should the processor be fine?)
http://www.++++.com/products/index....D3H/LP&manufacture=MSI/MicroStar&promoid=1302

OCZ Vertex 2 50GB Sandforce (I know nothing about SSD drives, what do I need to do to get TRIM working on my SB700 SATA 2 controller if anything as I am running Windows 7
http://www.++++.com/products/index....TX50G&manufacture=OCZ Technology&promoid=1302

Fans: Inexpensive 120mm and 92mm fans that I can pick up from either ++++ or MemoryExpress

Thanks you as always :D
 
Avoid any OCZ SSD or any Sandforce SF1200 based SSD for the time being as their performance is significantly lower than stated. In addition, OCZ's recently did a change where their Sandforce based SSDs were now even slower than before. So I recommend going with the Crucial C300 or C400 64GB SSD. For TRIM, as long as you have enabled AHCI in the BIOs and it's a fresh install of Windows 7, TRIM will be enabled.

Unless you're watching high level HD content, as long as you've setup playback correctly, no need for that GT 210 card and you'll be fine with the onboard video.
 
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