Your Very First HTPC? But Where do You Start?

Your Very First HTPC? But Where do You Start? - Printable Version

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- bluray - 2011-07-18 16:46

st graveyard Wrote:I personally don't really care if I spent 200$ more on a HTPC. I know from the examples that you can have one for 250$. I just would like to use it for the years to come.

Since you're willing to pay a little more, I would go with this setup:

1. MSI 880GM-E41 AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
2. AMD Phenom II X4 840 3.2GHz
3. SilverStone Aluminum/Steel Micro ATX Media Center/HTPC Case ML03B (Black)
4. Antec EA-380D Power Supply
5. Axle3D GeForce GT 520 2GB DDR3 PCI Express
6. Corsair Force CSSD-F40GB2-A
7. Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066

You'll be a happy camper!

- eskro - 2011-07-18 19:36

im just not sure of the GT520/GT430 if the OP wants to use a PS2 emu,,, :/

- st graveyard - 2011-07-18 21:28

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the input.

A few questions :

-The proposed motherboard (MSI 880GM ...) has a ATI Radeon HD 4250 video chipset on board. Doesn't this conflict with the GT520?
- What is todays most powerfull G-Force 3D card? The GT520 cost only about $70. Did 3D cards reduce so much in price compared to 10 years ago? (sorry, I'm a bit out of it). Where stands the GeForce 6800 compared to the GT520?
- I'm using USB HD's for all my data. This won't be a problem I guess?
- Do I need to solder/weld anything when building this HTPC?
- Will everything fit in the proposed casing?

Thanks already for all the help.

Grave

- eskro - 2011-07-18 21:38

you can disable onBoard graphix by going in the BIOS settings....

USB 2.0 is ok for 1080P playback,,,,
if your movies are ~15GB or less, you'll be fine...
1.1 Bluray Rips might stutter on USB 2.0 ,,,,

you dont need to solder anything,,,

everything will fit nicely in the case,,,

- poofyhairguy - 2011-07-18 21:40

eskro Wrote:im just not sure of the GT520/GT430 if the OP wants to use a PS2 emu,,, :/

Emus usually need the fastest CPU they can get more than anything else.

- poofyhairguy - 2011-07-18 21:43

st graveyard Wrote:- What is todays most powerfull G-Force 3D card?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130693

No HTPC needs that though.

Quote: The GT520 cost only about $70. Did 3D cards reduce so much in price compared to 10 years ago? (sorry, I'm a bit out of it). Where stands the GeForce 6800 compared to the GT520?

Hmm....I would say that a GT520 is at least twice as powerful.

- eskro - 2011-07-18 21:45

EVGA GTX 590 = Insane Power O.O

- bluray - 2011-07-18 22:05

st graveyard Wrote:I'm using USB HD's for all my data. This won't be a problem I guess?

Grave

You need enough internal SSD space to run Windows stuff only. You can store all the other stuff on USB, and it should work fine.

If you're interesting in eSata and USB 3.0 for faster read/write speed, you can pay a little more for these-

MSI 890GXM-G65 and AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3

- bluray - 2011-07-18 22:08

eskro Wrote:EVGA GTX 590 = Insane Power O.O

+1, and that little 380W psu is not going to cut it!

- poofyhairguy - 2011-07-18 22:23

eskro Wrote:EVGA GTX 590 = Insane Power O.O

Yep, more powerful than a XBox 360 (not just the GPU, but the CPU too) AND a PS3 (same thing) put together.

I would never put it in a HTPC though. This is the mightiest card I would put in a HTPC:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187129