HTPC, noob, sorta... Wife says it must not look like a PC? Current IGP solutions?

T

turbominnow

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 18, 2005
Messages
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Wife bought a 52" sammy before football season started and we decided at the time to wait to build a HTPC. Yes you read that right, the wife wanted it for football season. Currently, I have a crappy little P4 hooked up to it for regular DVD playback, interwebz, and video skyping with the inlaws; however it blows goats for HD content. When we started our search about a year ago the AMD 780/790 was the IGP to have for an HTPC. Is this still the best IGP solution? Can you guys recomend a board YOU have experience with?

Ill look through the gallery for cases, my only requirments are that it fits a standard drive, no slim drives, and it has to look like something that would sit next to a TV. Any recomendations on cases would be appericated.

As always thanks for the help [H]!
 
Antec NSK2480 for a case

Motherboard: Nvidia 8200,8300,8400 for AMD cpu or an Nvidia 9200,9300,940 for Intel cpu

Check out the other threads here too, there's tons of similar builds.

The 780/790's are old and crappy compared to the new ones.
 
I like the NSK2480 as well and have the Fusion version. If I could go back in time, I'd get the NSK since the knob on the Fusion is pointless and the IMON remote software sucks.

I'm also bouncing around upgrading to a Lian Li PC-C39 (new), depending on how the built-in remote module works and reviews.

You can't go wrong with any of the Nvidia reference 9300/9400 boards. I use the Gigabyte GA-E7AUM-DS2H and, apart from some bios annoyances during install, I like it a lot. Plays blu-ray without a hitch. You can also get tons of support on this thread at avsforum http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1087407.

Great to hear you have the wife on-board. Have fun!
 
I just built one a few days ago. my wife said the same crap, didnt want it to look like a desktop. Well if you go mini-itx it wont but finding a mini-itx 8200 board gives you a very limited choice. i chose a microatx because there were so many choices then. If money is not an issue then this is a neat case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129038

I went cheap with this case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154087

The case is long and has a low wattage PSU so that may or may not be an issue depending on your other components. I put the case on its side and put my wii on top of it and its on a shelf under the TV so I think it looks pretty good. The case fan on the top however is far too loud and would need to be replaced (or unplugged).

I bought with it:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103298&Tpk=5050e

low wattage CPU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131318&Tpk=m3N78-VM

Asus mobo for video decoding. You should purchase core avc to decode HD content but DXVA should work too. Also be sure to hook this up with HDMI as getting the sound to work is horrible unless you use HDMI. Also win vista 32-bit makes life a ton easier with this mobo. WinXP and win 7 (64-bit)give headaches that I didnt care to try and figure out so i just dropped it to vista. I didnt try win 7 32-bit though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134797

Stuff I had:
Hard drive
Wireless mouse

That was it. Total price was $206 for a HTPC however I didnt need a lot of bells and whistles like DVD playback or tuner card. I just wanted it to play downloaded HD content. I already have a set top DVD player, directv hd-dvr and am not going blu-ray so I didnt need anything else.
 
Last edited:
sippm said:
I like the NSK2480 as well and have the Fusion version. If I could go back in time, I'd get the NSK since the knob on the Fusion is pointless and the IMON remote software sucks.

I'm also bouncing around upgrading to a Lian Li PC-C39 (new), depending on how the built-in remote module works and reviews.

You can't go wrong with any of the Nvidia reference 9300/9400 boards. I use the Gigabyte GA-E7AUM-DS2H and, apart from some bios annoyances during install, I like it a lot. Plays blu-ray without a hitch. You can also get tons of support on this thread at avsforum http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1087407.

Great to hear you have the wife on-board. Have fun!
Click to expand...

+1

I have the same exact setup.(check my sig). I am very happy with it. I got most of the ideas from the avs forum link. I have a cheap case but does the job well and fits right in the tv stand.
 
*ahem*

Zotac IONITX-A-U (Intel Atom N330 dual core + Nvidia ION + 90w integrated PSU) mini-ITX Motherboard
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002BA5IHC (in stock tomorrow 7/7/09 - $190 shipped)

PNY 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-800 Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820178154 ($26 shipped)

Western Digital 250GB 2.5'' Scorpio Blue HDD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136387 ($60 shipped)

AOpen S-120A mini-ITX Case
http://www.amazon.com/AOpen-91-97L2...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1246894944&sr=8-1 ($54.90 shipped)

Windows 7 RC - free until March 2010
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/download.aspx

Total: $330.90
 
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w1retap said:
*ahem*

Zotac IONITX-A-U (Intel Atom N330 dual core + Nvidia ION + 90w integrated PSU) mini-ITX Motherboard
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002BA5IHC (in stock tomorrow 7/7/09 - $190 shipped)
Click to expand...

I wanted to go this route on my last build, but I also wanted to be able to view hulu's content on my htpc. Atom n330 is too anemic.

Last build was:
AMD 9150e
Asus M3N78-em (Nvidia 8300)
4GB OCZ RAM
500GB HD
connected to a 50" panasonic plasma.
W7MC+BeyondTV link
 
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streaming flash = garbage... half of it doesn't even run smooth on my Intel i7.
 
Doesn't look good on a big screen either. Macroblocking is awful. It's pretty embarrassing.
 
I ended up going with Silverstone's LC16M because I wanted it to be similar size as my receiver, and didn't want any ports (USB, audio, etc) showing on the faceplate. It was/is an expensive case though. Like the case so far, but I am really tempted to go small with an ITX setup lately.. :)

As for IGP solution, I have used 780G IGP with an AMD setup, and it had no issue playing HD contents (had Gigabyte 780G with X2 5000 and 2GB of ram). Currently running E7300 with discrete HD4550 card, but I've heard the 9300/9400 IGP's are great for HD playback.
 
Question, see build below, What about the CPU cooler. I am sure a retail cooler will not fit in the case. Anything else I should consider?


Blu-ray
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106325
Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154087
WD Green HB 1TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136317
GIGABYTE GA-E7AUM-DS2H LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 9400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128363
Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E5200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231207

Total 507
 
I'm sure someone will disagree, but for what you'll be using it for and assuming you don't overclock (and you don't need to), I think the cooling fan/sink included with your CPU will suffice.

Also, I notice the PSU in your case only has one SATA power, but you have two SATA units: optical and HDD drive. Might want to check into that.
 
Last edited:
turbominnow said:
Question, see build below, What about the CPU cooler. I am sure a retail cooler will not fit in the case. Anything else I should consider?


Blu-ray
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106325
Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154087
WD Green HB 1TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136317
GIGABYTE GA-E7AUM-DS2H LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 9400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128363
Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E5200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231207

Total 507
Click to expand...

Retail cooler will be fit fine. Assuming you won't be oc'ing the chip, it'll also be one of the quieter choices you'll have.
 
valve1138 said:
Antec NSK2480 for a case

Motherboard: Nvidia 8200,8300 for AMD cpu or an Nvidia 9300,9400 for Intel cpu

Check out the other threads here too, there's tons of similar builds.

The 780/790's are old and crappy compared to the new ones.
Click to expand...

That sums it up nicely.
 
sippm said:
Also, I notice the PSU in your case only has one SATA power, but you have two SATA units: optical and HDD drive. Might want to check into that.
Click to expand...

Good catch Sippm,
I ordered a splitter, they are $10! I also ordered the ps3 keyboard. I should have this put together by this weekend. I'll post pics of the build here for those that are intrested.


Thanks again for all your help. I love [H]!!!
 
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