Looking for input

K

Kroz

2[H]4U
Joined
Jul 13, 2002
Messages
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Hello;

So I am building a new HTPC as my old one has out lasted what I thought it would do when I first built it. When I say "building a new' I don't mean new parts, here is what I have laying around not in use right now and am thinking of using:

CPU = P4 3.0G Northwood @ 200MHz FSB
MoBo = Abit IC7-G
RAM = 2 * 1 Gig Kingston HyperX chips
Video Card = ATI Radeon X1650, 8x AGP with 512 Megs DDR2 Ram
Storage = 160 GB SATA Samsung SpinPoint M 5400 RPM Drive
Network = Intel PRO 1000 GT gigabit network card
Sound = Sound blaster Audigy
O/S = Vista Home Premium

Here is what I am planning to add too the system:

Dics Player = LG GGC-H20L BLU-RAY & HD-DVD disc player.

Last but not least, my TV:

Sony Grand Wega KDF 55E2000

So I am not planning on using the system as a PVR as my satelite receiver has PVR built into it, this will simply be a content delivery HTPC. I know that it will do light gaming, i'm a Civ 4 fan, not a Call of Duty fan, and I can do a little web browsing but the main purpose of the system will be HD content from the Web and from bluray or HD DVD. As for a case I have an old Yamaha solid state amp circa 1979 that has been dead for years that I can gut and build this HTPC into. I have a 500 Watt Antec EarthWatts PSU to power the whole thing. But I have questions:

The CPU / Video Card / Motherboard / Ram is a good combo as the video card does the video processing, the CPU has some pull and I have sufficient RAM. If I decide to upgrade one thing I will have to upgrade the whole thing. Is this a balanced setup for what I am looking for?

Should I opt for a different PSU?

If I drop the FSB to 166 or 133 I would save heat but would performance suffer noticeably?

Bottom line is that I can get new parts and start from scratch but what would I gain? If my video card is doing the bulk of the decoding then I don't need a dual core CPU. Why not do something with these parts that are just sitting around...

Overall I am looking for some input from the guru's here at the OCP, what am I over looking if anything?

Kroz
 
I don't know why you think that your X1650 and 3Ghz Northwood can handle BR/HD DVD; it can't.

You're going to need a decent dual core CPU with either a 2600 or 8600 series (lowest I would suggest going would be a 8500GT) in order to play back HD/BR content; theres no getting around that.

Even if you threw in an AGP 2600 series card it still wouldn't work because the video post processer (UVD) is broken on the AGP version.

You need a new system.
 
CrimandEvil said:
I don't know why you think that your X1650 and 3Ghz Northwood can handle BR/HD DVD; it can't.
Click to expand...

I didn't know whether it could or could not, hence the asking of a question.

Thanks for the response, at least I know where to start. Any response on the rest of the system?
 
Kroz said:
I didn't know whether it could or could not, hence the asking of a question.

Thanks for the response, at least I know where to start. Any response on the rest of the system?
Click to expand...
What do you mean the rest? You need to start from scratch; I'm not talking about just replacing the video card when you need all different parts for what you want to do.

The only good those parts are worth is for an SD/ATSC tuning HTPC. None of it is able to do BR/HD DVD. The only parts worth reusing are Vista, the PSU and the HDD.
 
Mine works awesomely... http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1221340

At least you can keep your RAM if you go S.939. Or sell those RAM and get DDR2s since you still have to upgrade anyway, and you may likely get some money back from selling the DDR1s and then buying DDR2s. Just like Crim says you are going to need to upgrade almost everything.......
 
I would go

Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 to E4500
Gigabyte 8500GT passive
a pair of generic 1GB DDR2 memory
Corsair 400W PSU
a G31 mATX motherboard

Just built one for a friend, totalled 460. Withouth the HD/BR drives yet.

If AMD for lower power consumption and cheaper
Athlon X2 BE-2400, most likely be able to handle things
Asrock Alive NF7G HDready motherboard
Gigabyte 8500GT passive
a pair of generic 1GB DDR2 memory
Corsair 400W PSU

Well it's something that can get you started with your planning.... cheers !
 
Thanks for the reply, guess I didn't do enough research to start with. I checked the min specs for the dvd drive and it calls for a lot more than what I have in excess hardware. I guess that the old northwood will have to find a different job now that I am going to be building from scratch, maybe put it in a 2U case, stick it in the rack and fold with it.

Kroz
 
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