HTPC build help

U

UT-Jackal

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 2, 2004
Messages
373
Looks good.. although you might want to go with Corsair RAM.. after rebate it will be cheaper, plus you get the excellent proven customer service and well known quality memory.
 
needmorecarnitine said:
How about a 780G or 8200 based board? Bluray playback with onboard video
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i would concur, the 690 chipset you chose is a little weak for HD playback.... the new 780G or 8200 based boards are very good and do not need a PCIe GPU to have smooth 1080i playback.


I would go with a 780G motherboard


the RAM is fine....


the CPU is okay, i would/did buy a 5000+ BE (unlocked multi) most of them hit 3.0ghz on stock cooling np. the 4800/4200 are a little slow for vista and HDTV and such, but with the better motherboard you could get away with it.

if you stick with your original mobo you WILL need a more powerful CPU to view HD content without an issues
 
Ok all of this helps guys, thank you.
So here is what i've got on my plate atm:

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103194

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131273

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161229

Any recommendations for heat sinks? I don't care to overclock, I just want her quiet. If the stock one does just fine, then i'd stick with it. And is there going to be a noticeable difference from 2 gigs to 4. My current machine has 4, but i use it for a lot more than watching movies and TV.

Thanks again guys.
 
What I would suggest:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128090
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128340
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103257
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185063

The Gigabyte 780G is the best 780G board out there, why dick around with anything else if it costs the same?

You could also save $10 and try out a 8200 board, suppose to be a very capable chipset on par with the 780G boards when it comes to the IGP, it's also the only board that can output LCPM HD audio over HDMI (finally making HDMI on the PC worth considering).
 
I like the sound of the 8200 having hdmi that outputs audio as well. Anyone heard anything about this board? From what i read on newegg, there are some issues with the hdmi. If i could just run one cable from the pc to the tv i'd be in heaven, but if the 780G board out performs, guess i'll run more cables.

Speaking of which, how do most people run the sound from the pc to the tv. Right now i just have my computer going from a headphone jack to coax (i think that's what the red and white are called) cable. Surely there is a way to achieve better sound.
 
I would go with the original 4600+ cpu. Its 300MHz faster, doesn't use the .5 multiplier (ram at full speed with changing bus speeds), cheaper and uses at the most 10 watts more per hour (if you can keep it at peak for a full hour)

I have the Gigabyte board and I haven't had any problems with it. Don't know about that Asus board you first posted or anything about the 8200 based boards.
 
needmorecarnitine said:
doesn't use the .5 multiplier (ram at full speed with changing bus speeds)
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This doesn't make a difference in a system that is purely an HTPC. It's a nice bullet point, though.

Jackal, are you just using the TV's built-in speakers for audio right now? No matter what kind of connection you use - your current analog method, (regardless of the codec used on the motherboard), a digital spdif output (if that's available) or audio over HDMI - you're not going to get "great" sound out of a TV's speakers.
 
I'm sorry, i don't mean to sound dumb. I know that you can't get great sound out of the tv speakers, and i know a receiver is used. I'm currently just using a Denon AVR-1508.
 
Ah, well, in that case, as long as you're using a digital audio output you'll be getting pretty good sound.

If you're not watching blu-ray movies than the 8-channel PCM output capability that apparently works with some applications on the 8200 boards won't do anything for you; the 780G boards are limited to 2 channel PCM but they can also send Dolby Digital and DTS streams from movies as pass-through. Even if you were watching blu-ray films, they have DD and DTS audio tracks that can be used.

If nothing else I'd suggest a motherboard with an optical or coax digital output; even for stereo audio it would likely sound much better than using the analog connections as you currently are.
 
needmorecarnitine said:
I would go with the original 4600+ cpu. Its 300MHz faster, doesn't use the .5 multiplier (ram at full speed with changing bus speeds), cheaper and uses at the most 10 watts more per hour (if you can keep it at peak for a full hour)

I have the Gigabyte board and I haven't had any problems with it. Don't know about that Asus board you first posted or anything about the 8200 based boards.
Click to expand...

the 4600 is a 65w cpu. the 4050e is only 45w. peak or not it will use alot more power. ive done testes using meters and both cpu and vid card usually suck the most power. i have 2 identical machines for the kids and one uses a 65w 5200 chip and the other uses an 89w 5200 chip and guess what...21w difference on the measurements.

i put together an htpc last year with some gaming in mind, but you cant leave it on 24/7 as it will suck too much power. (ie 5200 89w,m2n-e,2 gb ram,9600gt will suck over 100w)
 
the 65W TDP is a rating, not how much power it uses. The 5400+ also has a 65W TDP rating and its the same Brisbane core, same voltage and runs 400MHz faster. They both don't use 65 watts.

Also the 4050e doesn't use 45W as you can see that the 200MHz faster 4850e also has the same rating. The difference in consumption between a 4050e and a 5400+, doing the same task on comparable setup should be about 10 watts (300MHz faster cpu using 0.21~0.225V more)
 
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