Building a HTPC - Hardware list

[TechBill]

I been using my Tower Desktop Intel 2.4 Prescott 1 gig ram for my SageTV and now I want my desktop back (tired of using laptop ha!) and going to built a HTPC to move it over to.

I wanted to post my hardware list and share it with you all for feedbacks on it.

Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-MA69GM-S2H AM2 AMD 690G HDMI Micro ATX AMD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128056

CPU - AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103773

Ram - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231098

DVD R/W - SAMSUNG Black - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151153

Card Reader - LINKSKEY LKA-CR15BW 52-in-1 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820309001

Harddrive - Seagate ST3750640AS 750GB SATA/300 7200RPM 16MB - http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=ST3750640AS-R (Out of Stock but I got mine a couple week back)

Case - Antec New Solution NSK2480 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129034

I already have a PVR-500 which I am using and will move it to the HTPC and will need to find a 3.5 to 5.25 black bay adapter for the card reader too. Also will need to find some sort of PCI to serial card for the DirectTV serial control. I will be controlling 2 DirectTV ird and may add another PVR-500 and 2 more DirectTV irds to it. I think with this CPU size will allow me to have lots of headroom to run SA comskip while recording without a hiccup.

The PCIe to 4 serial something like this http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:StarTech...ard:1994331116 or USB to 4 Serial adapter. I am not really sure which path to take. I do know I need to keep both PCI slot freed for the PVR-500 card and one more for future.

I will probably have to cut a slot in the case somewhere on the rear for the second adapter from the PVR-500 tuner card since all slots will pretty much be taken if I add a second PVR-500.


I am not worrying about doing HDTV but I do have a HDTV card which I may or may not play with it. I just wanted to be able to record all my DirectTV shows.


Bill

[mayamaniac]

Originally Posted by TechBill

Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-MA69GM-S2H AM2 AMD 690G HDMI Micro ATX AMD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128056

CPU - AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103773

I would go with all intel processor and board. Nothing against AMD processors, they are very fast and competitive with intel's, it's just their motherboards aren't as reliable. But if you like AMD, then I suggest an nForce chipset rather than the new AMD 690G. The nForce has been around for a long time and probably more mature and stable technology. But definitely stay away from VIA chipsets.

Ram - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231098

DVD R/W - SAMSUNG Black - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151153

I bought both these memory and DVD drive, no problems with them so far.

[BFisher]

I have a giga Mobo - went with their ultra durable, better cooling boards. Been VERY happy with it.

[TechBill]

Originally Posted by mayamaniac

I would go with all intel processor and board. Nothing against AMD processors, they are very fast and competitive with intel's, it's just their motherboards aren't as reliable. But if you like AMD, then I suggest an nForce chipset rather than the new AMD 690G. The nForce has been around for a long time and probably more mature and stable technology. But definitely stay away from VIA chipsets.

I bought both these memory and DVD drive, no problems with them so far.

I did look at Intel processor boards and didn't find anything with hdmi and composite or s-video onboard in mirco-atx unless you get one with Intel Mobile processor which mean more $$$$$ just for the processor alone.

If you do know such board, I would like to know brand and model # so I can check it out.

Bill

[mayamaniac]

Originally Posted by TechBill

I did look at Intel processor boards and didn't find anything with hdmi and composite or s-video onboard in mirco-atx unless you get one with Intel Mobile processor which mean more $$$$$ just for the processor alone.

If you do know such board, I would like to know brand and model # so I can check it out.

Bill

You can always go with a PCI-E card from nVidia with HDMI/Component outputs, there are decent fanless silent card for less than $100.

A bit off topic, but what's the advantage of running HDMI from the PC? Why not use DVI or DVI to HDMI adapter? I know it's nice that HDMI has audio and video all-in-one, but from the PC, don't you need to run a separate audio cable anyway? Or does the AMD 690G's HDMI deliver audio also?

[TechBill]

Originally Posted by mayamaniac

You can always go with a PCI-E card from nVidia with HDMI/Component outputs, there are decent fanless silent card for less than $100.

A bit off topic, but what's the advantage of running HDMI from the PC? Why not use DVI or DVI to HDMI adapter? I know it's nice that HDMI has audio and video all-in-one, but from the PC, don't you need to run a separate audio cable anyway? Or does the AMD 690G's HDMI deliver audio also?

Because it a micro-atx so I probably will need all the slots on it which is 2 tuners plus serial port cards to control the DirectTV serial. And I want to leave one open for possible OTA HDTV card. I want to steer away from USB devices if I can unless I really have to. And keeping it small size.


More about that motherboard can be read at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=924348 and also more reviews at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128056 .. Yes it supposely support both video and audio in hdmi. I never seen such a rating like this before on a micro-atx board from customers so it leaning me toward to this board unless I find an Intel based board that have onboard stuffs and does not use mobile processor.


Bill

[mayamaniac]

Originally Posted by TechBill

Because it a micro-atx so I probably will need all the slots on it which is 2 tuners plus serial port cards to control the DirectTV serial. And I want to leave one open for possible OTA HDTV card. I want to steer away from USB devices if I can unless I really have to. And keeping it small size.

There are plenty of micro-ATX intel chipset boards with 3 PCI plus PCI-E 16x.

Yes it supposely support both video and audio in hdmi. I never seen such a rating like this before on a micro-atx board from customers so it leaning me toward to this board unless I find an Intel based board that have onboard stuffs and does not use mobile processor.

It does have good ratings, go for it if you feel confident that it's the best buy, then let us know how it runs in your SageTV setup.

[jradi]

Let us know how it all turns out and any problems you had putting it together. I've got an ancient compaq desktop that I want to upgrade from, your shopping list looks like a great place to start! If you've got it up and running by the end of the month, please post a thorough review. If it works, I'll just order the same setup!

[jradi]

Also, anyone familiar with this case? What cpu fan would you recommend? They can be kind of large and the case looks to be on the small side...

[autoboy]

I have a few comments too. There is nothing wrong with going AMD. The boards are just as stable as the intel boards, and the individual board maker is much much much much more important than a generalization that intel is more stable than AMD. That kind of logic is left over from the Via and SiS days. The AMD 690 is recommended over the Nvidia motherboards for onboard video right now.

Why such a powerful CPU if all you are doing is SD from DirectTV? Here is a good guide to CPU. Even my Athlon 3200+ can handle HD with lots of room to spare. SD is even easier. Your CPU will never even ramp up past 1ghz.

You can get USB to serial adaptors so you do not need to waste a PCI slot. The Antec NSK 2480 is an excellent case and comes highly recommended no matter where you look. I love mine.

The Scythe Mini Ninja is the universally recomended heatsink for that case.

[TechBill]

Originally Posted by autoboy

I have a few comments too. There is nothing wrong with going AMD. The boards are just as stable as the intel boards, and the individual board maker is much much much much more important than a generalization that intel is more stable than AMD. That kind of logic is left over from the Via and SiS days. The AMD 690 is recommended over the Nvidia motherboards for onboard video right now.

Why such a powerful CPU if all you are doing is SD from DirectTV? Here is a good guide to CPU. Even my Athlon 3200+ can handle HD with lots of room to spare. SD is even easier. Your CPU will never even ramp up past 1ghz.

You can get USB to serial adaptors so you do not need to waste a PCI slot. The Antec NSK 2480 is an excellent case and comes highly recommended no matter where you look. I love mine.

The Scythe Mini Ninja is the universally recomended heatsink for that case.

I got a bigger CPU for several reason.

I will probably be doing OTA HDTV when I get my HDTV set this holiday season, I am just waiting to see if the price drop any. I even have HDTV tuner card I have yet to install.

Being deaf so I use showanalyzer and ccextractor for my commerical clipping and closed captioning extraction which take some cpu cycles so I wanted to give CPU some breathing room and it was cheap enough for me to spend alittle more for a bigger size CPU.

I am using stock CPU fan that came with the CPU.

I been running SageTV for several month on my Desktop computer with Nvidia GT6600 card before I built this HTPC and I think this ATI onboard video card kind of blow the GT6600 away in video wise.
Contract and Gamma seem much better on it.
My GT6600 was sort of a bit dark on in some area but it an 3-4 year old video card or so I couldn't tell you how it compare to the newer Nvidia cards.



You can see my HTPC being put together at http://www.billyjackzone.com/


Bill