CrimandEvil
Dick with a heart of gold
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2003
- Messages
- 19,670
Version 1.4
How low is too low?
While it's possible to build an HTPC out of random spare parts (Frankenstein style), like all PC builds, there are things you need to keep in mind. For one thing, an HTPC is going to be 'on' most of the time in order to be accessible to everyone, especially if it's going to be used to record TV shows (it can't record if it's shutdown). Using 'sleep mode' is the suggested method, but some motherboards still have issues when it comes to 'S3 sleep mode'.
Second, heat and noise are another consideration. While we all can build fast and hot gaming PCs without being bothered by the noise levels, you have to think about everyone else. How do you think they would react to hearing a video card's heatsink fan ramp up while watching a simple DVD in the living room? Or while watching live TV? We've all heard of the complaints about the Xbox 360's noise levels, and a 360 doesn't even get as loud as a PC can.
Third, sometimes old is just too old. When it comes to getting an AGP system up to date, enough to be used for things like Blu Ray playback (and it could be done with the right hardware), you must weigh out how much it's worth it for you to do so. For a good video card for an HTPC, you need to spend around $50 to get satisfactory results. For the same video card in AGP trim, you'll spend nearly twice that... for the same card. Now, for me, it makes more sense if you need to spend $100 or more to get your system up to date, to just spend a little extra and get new (newish at least) hardware. For a new CPU, motherboard, and memory from our budget HTPC system, it's only $182, and cheaper if you sell your old hardware for a time sum. Shop around and get parts that are slightly used. The cheapest HTPC capable video card on Newegg is $82. An extra $100 would go a long way in making sure that you're HTPC is 'upgrade friendly' later on down the road.
When looking at hardware for an HTPC, it's good to keep a few things in mind. You want to cut down on as much 'add in cards' as you possibly can. That means picking a motherboard with decent onboard sound (only really needed when having to use 'analog out', 'digital out' is preferred) and solid onboard video. You want this because it removes sources of heat from your system and will allow air to flow more easily through it. It also allows for more space for things that might be more important to you, like tuner cards.
But What About Me?!?
Finally, these are all just hardware suggestions. They are meant to be used as a guideline in finding similar parts. I live in the US and have extensive knowledge of US oriented standards. Europe uses DVB for tuning TV, and even then, it's not easy sorting through all the different DVB implementations when you don't work with them on a daily basis. Also, I link to Newegg, simply because it's one of the more popular hardware vendors here in the States. That doesn't mean you have to buy from them, and I highly suggest shopping around. If you live in another country, then you should be looking at your "Newegg" sites. Again, I live in the US and can't be expected to know every single retail outlet in the world, just because you refuse to apply this knowledge to your situation. These are suggestions. Find similar parts that are available to you.
The Budget Box ($400 - $500)
Ion - $413.48
Zotac MAG HD-ND01 - $308.49
Windows 7 Home Premium x64 - $104.99
If you just need something barebones and don't care about a disc drive, since you'll be streaming all your media to it, then this makes for a pretty decent system. Beware though, that since it's an Atom based system it tends to choke a little on large media libraries. Don't expect too much from it though, since it is rather limited, but it may be just what you need for some situations. Two other alternatives would be to get a cheap Xbox 360 or an Aspire Revo (using the dual 330 Atom, single core Atoms are way, way too slow). It's not perfect but you can use the 360 and stream your media to it. Format support isn't as comprehensive as an HTPC and there are issues with getting DVDs streamed to it, so you'll need to look into a transcoding program. I would consider the REVO to be the "standard" when it comes to Atom based boxes but, for the most part, they're all nearly identical.
AMD - $495.46
Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz -$58.99
Asus M3N78-VM - $82.55
Apex DM-387 - $60.98
Wintec Ampx 2GB (1gig x2) DDR2 800 - $39.99
WD Caviar Green 1TB WD10EARS HDD - $79.99
Lite On iHOS104-06 Blu Ray Drive - $68.97
Windows 7 Home Premium - $104.99
If you're looking to spend the lesser amount of money for an HTPC, then this is it. The 8000 series chipset handles 1080p playback like a champ, for an entry level system. It also supports 7.1 LPCM HD audio output over the HDMI port, which is important for Blu Ray playback if you want to hear the HD audio track (otherwise, it will only do 5.1 DTS/DD audio).
Intel - $512.90
Pentium E5300 Wolfdale 2.6GHz - $67.99
XFX MI93007 GeForce 9300 - $89.99
Apex DM-387 - $60.98
Wintec Ampx 2GB (1gig x2) DDR2 800 - $39.99
WD Caviar Green 1TB WD10EARS HDD - $79.99
Lite On iHOS104-06 Blu Ray Drive - $68.97
Windows 7 Home Premium - $104.99
Feature identical to the AMD build, the only main difference is that it is an Intel build.
Midrange HTPC ($550 - $650)
AMD - $640.77
Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz - $58.99
Asus M4A78LT-M LE - $67.98
Kingston Value 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR3 1333 - $55.98
Antec NSK2480 - $113.88
Sapphire Radeon 5670 - $89.99
WD Caviar Green 1TB WD10EARS HDD - $79.99
Lite On iHOS104-06 Blu Ray Drive - $68.97
Windows 7 Home Premium - $104.99
A slight step up from the budget system, the addition of the 5670 allows for some light gaming, but more importantly, support for TrueHD and DTS-MA HD audio from Blu Ray movies. If you find a cheaper 5570 series card, I would suggest that for a step down (only lose out on the gaming). Since we're using a video card, the motherboard becomes less important. We're not looking towards it for graphics support, so just make sure to pick one out that has the features you want (USB3.0, SATA ports out the butt, etc).
Intel - $656.80
Core i3-530 2.93GHz - $124.99
Asrock H55M Pro - $92.98
Kingston Value 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR3 1333 - $55.98
WD Caviar Green 1TB WD10EARS HDD - $79.99
Antec NSK1480 - $128.90
Lite On iHOS104-06 Blu Ray Drive - $68.97
Windows 7 Home Premium - $104.99
At this price range, the difference between AMD and Intel is nearly zero, but for the AMD to be feature comparable to an Intel H55 based system, it needs to have a video card, like a 5570/5670. The H55 with a supported Clarksdale CPU supports 1080p Blu ray playback, along with support for TrueHD and DTS-MA audio, which is a nice upgrade over the budget's 9300 chipset (which only supported 7.1 HD LPCM audio). Since we don't need a video card for this build, we can go with a smaller case, the 1480 based on the 2480, but made low profile while maintaining the excellent cooling abilities.
Gamer/Highend HTPC ($800-$1100)
AMD - $1017.76
Athlon II X4 630 2.8GHz - $99.99
Gigabyte GA-MA785GT-UD3H - $97.86
Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 - $104.99
XFX Radeon 5830 - $267.55
Lian-Li PC-C32 - $198.42
WD Caviar Caviar Black WD6401AALS HDD - $74.99
Lite On iHOS104-06 Blu Ray Drive - $68.97
Windows 7 Home Premium - $104.99
Nice, sleek, and powerful, all wrapped in a decent sized package with all the same upgrades as the midrange HTPCs, but with more power. The NSK2480 is one of the best HTPC cases out there, due to it's superb cooling (dual, quiet 120mm fans), but it can be a little difficult to use. The motherboard area is rather small (a little larger then the motherboard itself), so it's kind of hard to find video cards that fit into the case. You'll want a card that is nine inches or less to fit, otherwise it's going to run right into the HDD cage. With that in mind, I picked the Powercolor 5770. It uses a shorter PCB while running at a higher clock speed for a little extra boost (875mhz compared to the stock 850mhz). I've also gone with a smaller hard drive, but it is much faster then the 1TB Green drive for game installs. If a faster and larger drive is needed, then WD does make a 1TB Black drive.
Intel - $1069.89
Core i3-530 2.93GHz - $124.99
Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 P55 - $124.99
Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 - $104.99
XFX Radeon 5830 - $267.55
Lian-Li PC-C32 - $198.42
WD Caviar Caviar Black WD6401AALS HDD - $74.99
Lite On iHOS104-06 Blu Ray Drive - $68.97
Windows 7 Home Premium - $104.99
Much faster CPU then the AMD system. One thing to keep in mind is that, at this price range, you can pretty much drop anything into these configurations, from an SSD to another video card. It all depends on what you want out of the system, but as a "high-end" gaming HTPC, these are pretty good.
First, a note on hard drives. In several builds I list the Western Digital 1TB drive, I've got one with zero issues but some seem to have issues with them in several similar configurations.
If I may offer my suggestion as well.
1. The WD EARS model use the 4kb sectors and that may have a problem with WHS.
2. I would reccomend Hitachi Drives over the WD Greens/Seagate LPs, because they are 7200 RPM and can provide higher IOPS needed for multi-streaming environments, or those who use their WHS for other tasks as well. Also the Hitachis fully support APM so they spin down to use less electricity just like the Greens/LPs do
How low is too low?
While it's possible to build an HTPC out of random spare parts (Frankenstein style), like all PC builds, there are things you need to keep in mind. For one thing, an HTPC is going to be 'on' most of the time in order to be accessible to everyone, especially if it's going to be used to record TV shows (it can't record if it's shutdown). Using 'sleep mode' is the suggested method, but some motherboards still have issues when it comes to 'S3 sleep mode'.
Second, heat and noise are another consideration. While we all can build fast and hot gaming PCs without being bothered by the noise levels, you have to think about everyone else. How do you think they would react to hearing a video card's heatsink fan ramp up while watching a simple DVD in the living room? Or while watching live TV? We've all heard of the complaints about the Xbox 360's noise levels, and a 360 doesn't even get as loud as a PC can.
Third, sometimes old is just too old. When it comes to getting an AGP system up to date, enough to be used for things like Blu Ray playback (and it could be done with the right hardware), you must weigh out how much it's worth it for you to do so. For a good video card for an HTPC, you need to spend around $50 to get satisfactory results. For the same video card in AGP trim, you'll spend nearly twice that... for the same card. Now, for me, it makes more sense if you need to spend $100 or more to get your system up to date, to just spend a little extra and get new (newish at least) hardware. For a new CPU, motherboard, and memory from our budget HTPC system, it's only $182, and cheaper if you sell your old hardware for a time sum. Shop around and get parts that are slightly used. The cheapest HTPC capable video card on Newegg is $82. An extra $100 would go a long way in making sure that you're HTPC is 'upgrade friendly' later on down the road.
When looking at hardware for an HTPC, it's good to keep a few things in mind. You want to cut down on as much 'add in cards' as you possibly can. That means picking a motherboard with decent onboard sound (only really needed when having to use 'analog out', 'digital out' is preferred) and solid onboard video. You want this because it removes sources of heat from your system and will allow air to flow more easily through it. It also allows for more space for things that might be more important to you, like tuner cards.
But What About Me?!?
Finally, these are all just hardware suggestions. They are meant to be used as a guideline in finding similar parts. I live in the US and have extensive knowledge of US oriented standards. Europe uses DVB for tuning TV, and even then, it's not easy sorting through all the different DVB implementations when you don't work with them on a daily basis. Also, I link to Newegg, simply because it's one of the more popular hardware vendors here in the States. That doesn't mean you have to buy from them, and I highly suggest shopping around. If you live in another country, then you should be looking at your "Newegg" sites. Again, I live in the US and can't be expected to know every single retail outlet in the world, just because you refuse to apply this knowledge to your situation. These are suggestions. Find similar parts that are available to you.
The Budget Box ($400 - $500)
Ion - $413.48
Zotac MAG HD-ND01 - $308.49
Windows 7 Home Premium x64 - $104.99
If you just need something barebones and don't care about a disc drive, since you'll be streaming all your media to it, then this makes for a pretty decent system. Beware though, that since it's an Atom based system it tends to choke a little on large media libraries. Don't expect too much from it though, since it is rather limited, but it may be just what you need for some situations. Two other alternatives would be to get a cheap Xbox 360 or an Aspire Revo (using the dual 330 Atom, single core Atoms are way, way too slow). It's not perfect but you can use the 360 and stream your media to it. Format support isn't as comprehensive as an HTPC and there are issues with getting DVDs streamed to it, so you'll need to look into a transcoding program. I would consider the REVO to be the "standard" when it comes to Atom based boxes but, for the most part, they're all nearly identical.
AMD - $495.46
Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz -$58.99
Asus M3N78-VM - $82.55
Apex DM-387 - $60.98
Wintec Ampx 2GB (1gig x2) DDR2 800 - $39.99
WD Caviar Green 1TB WD10EARS HDD - $79.99
Lite On iHOS104-06 Blu Ray Drive - $68.97
Windows 7 Home Premium - $104.99
If you're looking to spend the lesser amount of money for an HTPC, then this is it. The 8000 series chipset handles 1080p playback like a champ, for an entry level system. It also supports 7.1 LPCM HD audio output over the HDMI port, which is important for Blu Ray playback if you want to hear the HD audio track (otherwise, it will only do 5.1 DTS/DD audio).
Intel - $512.90
Pentium E5300 Wolfdale 2.6GHz - $67.99
XFX MI93007 GeForce 9300 - $89.99
Apex DM-387 - $60.98
Wintec Ampx 2GB (1gig x2) DDR2 800 - $39.99
WD Caviar Green 1TB WD10EARS HDD - $79.99
Lite On iHOS104-06 Blu Ray Drive - $68.97
Windows 7 Home Premium - $104.99
Feature identical to the AMD build, the only main difference is that it is an Intel build.
Midrange HTPC ($550 - $650)
AMD - $640.77
Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz - $58.99
Asus M4A78LT-M LE - $67.98
Kingston Value 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR3 1333 - $55.98
Antec NSK2480 - $113.88
Sapphire Radeon 5670 - $89.99
WD Caviar Green 1TB WD10EARS HDD - $79.99
Lite On iHOS104-06 Blu Ray Drive - $68.97
Windows 7 Home Premium - $104.99
A slight step up from the budget system, the addition of the 5670 allows for some light gaming, but more importantly, support for TrueHD and DTS-MA HD audio from Blu Ray movies. If you find a cheaper 5570 series card, I would suggest that for a step down (only lose out on the gaming). Since we're using a video card, the motherboard becomes less important. We're not looking towards it for graphics support, so just make sure to pick one out that has the features you want (USB3.0, SATA ports out the butt, etc).
Intel - $656.80
Core i3-530 2.93GHz - $124.99
Asrock H55M Pro - $92.98
Kingston Value 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR3 1333 - $55.98
WD Caviar Green 1TB WD10EARS HDD - $79.99
Antec NSK1480 - $128.90
Lite On iHOS104-06 Blu Ray Drive - $68.97
Windows 7 Home Premium - $104.99
At this price range, the difference between AMD and Intel is nearly zero, but for the AMD to be feature comparable to an Intel H55 based system, it needs to have a video card, like a 5570/5670. The H55 with a supported Clarksdale CPU supports 1080p Blu ray playback, along with support for TrueHD and DTS-MA audio, which is a nice upgrade over the budget's 9300 chipset (which only supported 7.1 HD LPCM audio). Since we don't need a video card for this build, we can go with a smaller case, the 1480 based on the 2480, but made low profile while maintaining the excellent cooling abilities.
Gamer/Highend HTPC ($800-$1100)
AMD - $1017.76
Athlon II X4 630 2.8GHz - $99.99
Gigabyte GA-MA785GT-UD3H - $97.86
Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 - $104.99
XFX Radeon 5830 - $267.55
Lian-Li PC-C32 - $198.42
WD Caviar Caviar Black WD6401AALS HDD - $74.99
Lite On iHOS104-06 Blu Ray Drive - $68.97
Windows 7 Home Premium - $104.99
Nice, sleek, and powerful, all wrapped in a decent sized package with all the same upgrades as the midrange HTPCs, but with more power. The NSK2480 is one of the best HTPC cases out there, due to it's superb cooling (dual, quiet 120mm fans), but it can be a little difficult to use. The motherboard area is rather small (a little larger then the motherboard itself), so it's kind of hard to find video cards that fit into the case. You'll want a card that is nine inches or less to fit, otherwise it's going to run right into the HDD cage. With that in mind, I picked the Powercolor 5770. It uses a shorter PCB while running at a higher clock speed for a little extra boost (875mhz compared to the stock 850mhz). I've also gone with a smaller hard drive, but it is much faster then the 1TB Green drive for game installs. If a faster and larger drive is needed, then WD does make a 1TB Black drive.
Intel - $1069.89
Core i3-530 2.93GHz - $124.99
Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 P55 - $124.99
Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 - $104.99
XFX Radeon 5830 - $267.55
Lian-Li PC-C32 - $198.42
WD Caviar Caviar Black WD6401AALS HDD - $74.99
Lite On iHOS104-06 Blu Ray Drive - $68.97
Windows 7 Home Premium - $104.99
Much faster CPU then the AMD system. One thing to keep in mind is that, at this price range, you can pretty much drop anything into these configurations, from an SSD to another video card. It all depends on what you want out of the system, but as a "high-end" gaming HTPC, these are pretty good.
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