Which system to use for HTPC?

N

n64man120

2[H]4U
Joined
Jan 11, 2004
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I'm planning on creating an HTPC for home use. I'm just going to use it for basic tivo-like funtions and as a fileserver. Here's my predicament...

A) I can RMA an old Abit VH-6 mobo for free, and when I get it back put my 384MB of PC133 ram in it with a 733Mhz PIII and use that as my HTPC. This will essentially cost me nothing.

B) I can buy a Sempron 2200+ and mobo for 90$, and get some DDR ram on top of that. All of this will add up to 150$ I'd say?

I have an Asus 9200SE and PVR-150MCE waiting to go in either prospective rig. Will system A be too jerky and not comfortable for everyday use, or will the upgrades in system B be negligable for the simple funtions it has to perform. I also have to consider how long it would take to get the capacitors replaced on my board (no clue how long) and the price for rig B when I have an almost complete rig A right here.

What would you do in my situation?
 
I'd go with System B. I wouldn't bother with a PIII as an HTPC, it'll be too slow for what you want to do. IMO
 
valve1138 said:
I'd go with System B. I wouldn't bother with a PIII as an HTPC, it'll be too slow for what you want to do. IMO
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^^^^

And the sempron 2200+ w/kt600 mobo goes on sale for $60ish at outpost.com every other week ;)
 
Alright, sounds good. If anyone else has an oppinion please share

Also how much ram will I need since I gotta shell out cash for DDR
 
n64man120 said:
Alright, sounds good. If anyone else has an oppinion please share

Also how much ram will I need since I gotta shell out cash for DDR
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512 seems to be the current sweetspot.

256 probably won't cut it and 1 gig won't be used (i can testify to that)
 
Thanks for the suggestion, I have a feeling 512 will be needed. But I couldn't find anywhere that has a stick of 512, or 2x256 for much less than 60. And I found alot of 256 sticks for 30$. So I think I'll get the 256 and take it from there unless I come across a better deal.
 
Well I've never shopped from Frys but after hearing of the good deals I was gonna go with one of the combos. They said every socket A bundle is out of stock currently and they have no idea when they will be coming in :( Next idea?
 
n64man120 said:
Well I've never shopped from Frys but after hearing of the good deals I was gonna go with one of the combos. They said every socket A bundle is out of stock currently and they have no idea when they will be coming in :( Next idea?
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Hmm, thats a first time i've ever seen them not have an AMD combo available. I'd be very surprised if they haven't replenshed their stock by next week.

I forget when the start of their new sale week begins, either saturday or sunday i think.
 
SJetski71 said:
hehehehe

somebody hasn't been reading all the posts :p
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I have, I was jsut restating. He said his local fry's was out of stock, I was mearly saying that Outpost has simialir/same deals so check there.
 
Sorry if my wording was misleading, but I was referring to the website. I don't think theres any Fry's within 300 miles of me :(
 
yes, fry's is not outpost. Outpost is an online reseller for several stores. That is why the instore prices are different than the online ones sometimes. If you are serious and willling to pay the total up front, I'll check my local fry's for you. What's your $$ limit.
 
Thanks for the offer, I can get a combo for about 91$ shipped from Newegg. So I figure if Frys has it for 70 or under it would be worth it possibly. Only thing is I'm building a custom enclosure for this and idk if the Fry's deals are miniATX. It's not absolutly necessary but should help me alot in constraining the size of the case.

What would you estimate the price of a good deal at Fry's is generally for Sempron 2200 to 2400 with mobo?
 
I won't estimate, I'll go look. check back here tomorrow around 1pm. FYI - the bargain combo's are usually full atx.
 
Sounds good, thanks alot. If it's worth it i'll do the deal. You seem trusting enough :D
 
I don't know what everyone else is using but I have this as my HTPC:
[Media Rig]
PIII 933mhz
Asus P3V4X
All-In-Wonder Radeon 8500DV
PC133 640MB
Maxtor 40GB
Phillips Rhythmic Edge
48x24x48x16x CDRW-DVD
52x CD-ROM
Floppy
Remote Wonder
Logitech Cordless Keyboard
802.11b PCI Card
Generic Case w/ 300w
Win2K

I don't get stuttering, or any other real problems while recording shows. I record in DVD quality, I don't record in MPEG4, which might cause problems, but I can always convert the file to Divx later if I need something smaller.

Personally, I think a HTPC should be cheap. I made mine from a left over parts and hand-me-down upgrades. For something that sits turned on in a corner 24/7... it works and does what I need.
 
Jeriko_Cherry said:
I don't know what everyone else is using but I have this as my HTPC:
[Media Rig]
PIII 933mhz
Asus P3V4X
All-In-Wonder Radeon 8500DV
PC133 640MB
Maxtor 40GB
Phillips Rhythmic Edge
48x24x48x16x CDRW-DVD
52x CD-ROM
Floppy
Remote Wonder
Logitech Cordless Keyboard
802.11b PCI Card
Generic Case w/ 300w
Win2K

I don't get stuttering, or any other real problems while recording shows. I record in DVD quality, I don't record in MPEG4, which might cause problems, but I can always convert the file to Divx later if I need something smaller.
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Keyser0804 said:
have you thought about the antec aria?
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^^^^ IDversusEgo, i take back what i said before about reading all the posts :D LoL
 
LOL alot of talkin goin on here

I'd idealy like to make it for as cheap as possible, the left over parts sound good to me but I need to get this damn mobo fixed first :mad:

Spending 120$ wouldn't be too painfull though if I had to do that instead.
 
n64man120 said:
LOL alot of talkin goin on here

I'd idealy like to make it for as cheap as possible, the left over parts sound good to me but I need to get this damn mobo fixed first :mad:

Spending 120$ wouldn't be too painfull though if I had to do that instead.
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If it was me, I'd RMA your board, and get another 256mb ram (at least). You should be able to find someone in the Buy/Sell/Trade section of this forum that is parting out cheap PC133. If not than you could very easily get a mobo combo and some PC2700/3200 (though the RAM would be more expensive since you need a minimum of 512mb). For stuff like simple video recording and file serving,I don't know what a faster processor could do that your current couldn't. The only thing I would suggest a faster proc for would be if you plan on processing video with it. (but, since it's just a file server/tivo you can process video at night with the slow proc, which is what I usually do.)
 
OK, local Fry's didn't have much in stock either. a Sempron 2400 and an unamed mobo for $75. by the time we did paypal fee compensation and shipping, it wouldn't save you much.
 
IDversusEGO said:
OK, local Fry's didn't have much in stock either. a Sempron 2400 and an unamed mobo for $75. by the time we did paypal fee compensation and shipping, it wouldn't save you much.
Click to expand...

Alright, thanks alot for checking though
 
Well since I was impatient and came into a large sum of money, I purchased some new parts for an HTPC. Sempron 2200+ OEM, Gigabyte MOBO, 256MB Rosewill Ram, Some "Quiet" HSF... all for 150$ shipped + tax. I realize 512 ram is recomended but buying in bulk had no price decrease so if I'm feeling the hit, I'll bump up to 512.

Hopefully these parts combo'd with my 9200SE, Antec 300W, PVR-150MCE, Custom Wooden HTPC Case, and ATI Remote Wonder will make my system fly.
 
What "quiet" heatsink? You might have to spend alittle more depending one the answer. ;)
 
It was just called Whisper something and several newegg reviews said it was slient, and it was highly rated. I know it's far from the best I could get but for 10$ i'll deal with it.
 
Oh crap, I had one of those. I guess it's cooling performance is good for the price but it was annoyingly loud. For reference I'm currently using only four fans- one 120mm for exhaust, one 80mm on the CPU (soon to be a 92mm Panaflo L) one incrediably quiet 120mm fan in the PSU and the fan on my BFG 5700U.

Both the 120mm fans are virtually silent or atleast I can't hear them unless I actually *strain* to hear them and my CPU fan is running at 5000 rpm (Speedfan setting of 70%) and it's pretty silent as well with just a hint of a fan whine, the single loudest fan in all of this is the one on my 5700U which I hope to replace soon with a better cooler. The GPUs fan gives off a slightly high pitched whine and can drive me nuts when I'm trying to go to sleep but it's really nothing.

Out of all that the fan that came with my Whisper heatsink actually could keep me up at night from time to time. Eventually I started to treat it as white noise or put on headphones and listened to music just to fall asleep.

Keep in mind that I am told by friends and family that I have incredibly odd hearing and/or just plain crazy so your mileage will vary but I wish I had spent alittle more and got something like these.
 
samurai is nice, but I like my zalman better. cheaper too since I can get it locally. Crim, what 120mm fans are you using? My desktop is fairly quiet, but it could be quiter. Oh, and I swapped the fans on my 6800 with the Artic Coolin NV silencer and it is quiter. not silent, but quiter for sure. good spend for $30.
 
Yeah I'm thinking of getting an NV1 for mine but I'm not totally sure if it'll fit an Ultra (although it looks like the mounts line up.. I think). I know the difference in price between an NV1 and an NV2 is like $5 but I don't really like how ugly the NV2 is with that big brace (LOL) and I think the current sinks on the memory are fine.

The 120mm is one from Antec but I can't tell you which since I've "borrowed" this one from a friends and it came with her case (SLK2650-BQE) although it look like it's undervolted to run at 7v. I am going to have to pick up another one for my Rad later on so I'm looking to get a few and test them out.

So far I think I might like one of these two:
http://www.jab-tech.com/customer/product.php?productid=2686&cat=81&page=1
http://www.jab-tech.com/customer/product.php?productid=1497&cat=81&page=1

Maybe undervolt one of these:
http://www.jab-tech.com/customer/product.php?productid=1499&cat=81&page=1
http://www.jab-tech.com/customer/product.php?productid=2687&cat=81&page=1

I've had one of those Aluminum ones before (90mm) and thought they were pretty good but they have a tendacy to whine alittle and two of the blades on mine "shattered" due to complications with cold weather. I've heard that Coolermaster has some new fans and was interested in seeing how they perform but the specs look terrible IMO.
 
well, my stock fans with Antec LANboy are pretty decent. I think i might just get a fan controller for them and be one with it.

PS - sorry for the total thread-jack.
 
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