HTPC for friend,

G

GlobalFear

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Nov 22, 2003
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My friend is redoing his livingroom, they moved in maybe a year ago and the living room was on the todo list for a while, well it's done and they need an entertainment system.

So heres what I picked out when he asked me to give him a hand. Opinions ;)

Case & PS: SilverStone Lascala SST-LC11
Motherboard: ASUS A7N8X-VM/400
CPU: AMD Sempron 2500+
Memory: Corsair CMX512-3200XL
HardDrive: Western Digital 200GB WD2000JB
Optical: Lite-On SOHW-1633S
Video Card: PowerColor RADEON 9550
SoundCard: ChainTech AV-710
TV Card: PVR-150MCE
KeyBoard/Mouse: Logitech MX duo
Remote: Streamzap PC Remote

SoftWare:
Sage TV 2.1
Nvidia DVD Decoder

Comes to about $900.
Also, Other than upgrading what does the extra 200 get over a dvdrecording tivo with lifetime service? And, He needs a TV (rear projection) and surround sound system.

Person isn't very tech savy, so keeping it simple is good.
 
One thing, that case is low profile so you won't be able to fit both a sound card and a tuner in it as well as a vid card.

Don't bother with WD hard drives, you're just setting yourself up for failure.

Your going to need a much better video card for an RPTV although it really varies from need to need. Some can get by with a 9600XT while others need to use a 9800Pro.

Memory: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-145-477&depa=1

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-499&depa=0

HSF: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-185-108&depa=1

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-123-222&depa=0

Case: http://www.pcalchemy.com/product_info.php/cPath/23/products_id/156

Tuner and software: http://www.pcalchemy.com/product_info.php/cPath/54/products_id/147

Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-148-033&depa=1

DVD Drive: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=27-106-960&depa=1

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-104-962&depa=1
OR:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-104-970&depa=1


As I said the video card is different and needs alittle more consideration depending on his TV although this is a good start: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-122-206&depa=1
 
Look up the case, uses risers to fit 1x agp and 2x pci.

More details on rptv?
Not going to be used for gaming at all, btw.
Still looking for a tv, thinking around 50"
 
Did anyone say anything about gaming? ;) :rolleyes:

Thats a common misconception BTW, video can be just as demanding as gaming.

Thats right, I totally for got about that. Was sort of in a hurry with another thing, for an XP setup you'd want something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-138-234&depa=0
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-440&depa=0

It's a much cooler chip and thats the only MATX board that supports Mobiles. You might want to check out this tuner instead: http://www.pcalchemy.com/product_info.php/cPath/21/products_id/161

For TV look for one that supports DVI or HDMI and then that would help in selecting a vid card.
 
Thanks, A question on tvs, who makes good tvs without the overly inflated price? (Like anything, some companies you pay for that name more than the product.) I have a copy of pcworld that had a tv article in it, going to look for it.
 
I'd take a look around some HTPC galleries (theres one here BTW ;) ) and see what other people have, I hear alot of good things about Samsungs.
 
I like the samsung, pioneer and panasonic products out now.
surround sound system, I like Pioneer recievers right now. For budget speakers, Athena stuff is really good. the only thing I have heard that makes me want to spend more than I did on my Athenas is Paradigm.

Crim, the comment about WD is a little harsh. Ihave several WD drives that have lasted me years. WD has more dirve failures because they sell more drives than anyone else. they also sell them to PC noobs through places like Best Buy and Circuit City, so the users are less educated and more liable to carry the bare drives in the bottom of their briefcase for 3 days. I do prefer seagates lately, but WD drives are good drives, at least in my experience.

let's see, as far as the hardware, there is a proven formula. HTPC's aren't so much about cutting edge performance in hardware like Gaming PC's but they do need some basics. Meet or exceed the specs and you'll be fine. To find the minimums, youneed to find out which type of HTPC you are building. Standard/Progressive scan quality or HD quality

Standard/progressive scan playback
CPU - not too much. 1ghz or better
motherboard - something stable. Intel 865 cjipset from a majot brand or Nvidia chipset from a major brand
RAM - I will not ever recommend anyone run XP with less than 512
Video - good svideo output. ATI or newer mx400 cards will do.
Heatsink - less noise the better. Zalman or Scythe that Crim linked to are the best
Sound - AV-710 is all I will ever recomend unless you are running a $8K or better audio system.
Power supply - Fortron or Enermax Noisetaker series.

HD (FFDshow post processing
CPU - 2ghz+ of AMD64 or P$. No celeron, no sempron, no duron. Crim recommends the mobile for temps, but I have no first hand experience.
Motherboard - same as above
RAM - 512 is still plenty
Video - directX 9 is a must. 9600 is the bare minimum. ATI cards have the cheapest way to use component video.
heatsink - same as above
sound - same
power supply - same
 
Wasn't talking about drive failure but instead an horrible HD for an HTPC since WD makes some of the noisious drives out there. I've got WD drives too but there pretty loud and really echo in a case. So I'm not saying they make terrible drives, far from that, it's just a noise (also heat- noticed mine can get pretty warm to the touch) thing.
 
Even the WD with the liquid bearings? I thought those were supposed to be super quiet?

I have a Maxtor, and a Seagate that are both very quiet, and I haven't bought a WD in a year so don't know how they are these days. I do know they tend to run hotter than the other two.
 
I am still laying the groundwork for a diskless system. network booting or some kind of flas card or ram booting system.
 
Lots of RAM and use a ramdisk, boot from a usb stick to start up, since I don't know that a bios can initialize the ramdisk during post. That would be pretty slick. Hard to use flash because it will fail, that stuff is really great, but the lifetime of the chips just aren't what they should be if it is being written and re-written to a lot.

Of course, with the ramdisk, you'd want to make sure you were never without power, as you'd have to reinstall windows if your UPS failed, since there would be no save state.

Let us know!

I do have a spare laptop drive that I am thinking of putting in a small wooden box, with my epia and leaving it in the living room, those little drives make almost no noise to start with, and I could just run all the files from the server....

And whoa, off topic. Sorry all, I tend to do that.....
 
Mok said:
Even the WD with the liquid bearings? I thought those were supposed to be super quiet?

I have a Maxtor, and a Seagate that are both very quiet, and I haven't bought a WD in a year so don't know how they are these days. I do know they tend to run hotter than the other two.
Click to expand...
Don't know myself since mine are pre-fuild bearing but I heard that they aren't as quiet as the other FB drives.
 
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