Gemini77

Hey guys, I have gotten some great info and input from this broad in the past and thought this would be a great place to start for my new build, a HTPC

With this system I would like to play all DVD movies, Blue Ray Movies, surf the web from the comfort of my living room, play streaming video via the web and maybe a little gaming (not sure what games, I dont play any now but would like to have the option if I want to). I will be using a 37 inch HD 1080 LCD tv as the monitor.

Ok, now for the questions.....what should I be looking for when it comes to processor and the mother board?

Here is one motherboard that a friend suggested
ASUS M4A785-M AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131595

Should I have a on-board video card or something a little better?

I have Dish Network and am wondering how I will be able to run the satellite through the computer? will I need a tuner card in the system or just connect the Dish Network box to the tv via HDMI?

Thanks in advance your your reply's....im sure I will have more questions as I get started.

DuckieHo

Well you need to define what games you want to run first.

Do you plan to use digital audio?

If you want to use your HTPC as a PVR, you will need a TV tuner. The STB will go into the tuner but you will be restricted to SD only.

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Manyak

I used that same motherboard you picked too, and I'm very happy with it. Except if you don't have the RAM already, you should go with DDR3 because it's the same price now and future upgrades will be easier and cheaper with it.

There are just a few questions I have, to make things a bit clearer:

1: What's the budget? And it is strict or do you have some wiggle room?
2: Do you have a good stereo/surround system or is the sound only from your TV?
3: Are you going to be listening to music on it?
4: Are you going to be ripping blurays on it?
5: Wireless or wired network?
6: Are you going to have a server store all the recorded stuff, or do you want it all local on the HTPC?
7: How far away from where the HTPC will be placed is the closest seat?

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Gemini77

Im not sure on what games.....like I said, Im not a gamer but would like the option to play some if the need hits me.

As for the audio, I dont have any speakers yet but I would like to get some......any suggestions? something kinda on the small side with a sub that could be plugged in to the computer.

The budget im thinking of is $400-500 with a little wiggle room.

There wont be any receiver, I would like to get some speakers that will plug into the computer.....these are not calculated in the current budget.

Yes I will be listening to music, satellite music from Dish Network and some MP3's

Currently there will be no burning of Blue Ray, Just playing but that might be an option in the future.

Im thinking this system wull be plugged into the network via wires, im going to run the CAT5 under the house and poke a hole in the floor to get it into the room.....shouldn't be hard to do, I have to do it to get the cables for the satellite.

I currently have a 1TB hard drive and plan on storing all the data on the machine.

The closest seat will be 8-12 feet away from the machine.....why?

Manyak

Because you don't want it to be audible from where you're sitting or it'll ruin everything!


CPU: AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition

You can downclock and undervolt it to save power and reduce heat output, and hopefully you'll also be able to unlock the extra two cores in case you start ripping blurays.


Motherboard: ASUS M4A785TD-M

Supports DDR3, and supports unlocking Phenom II cores. Has a firewire port in case your satellite's STB supports it for remote control (check or ask at thegreenbutton.com), and an eSATA port just in case. For only $10 more than the DDR2 model, it's definitely a better pick.


RAM: 2x2GB Gskill

You don't need anything faster, and running at 1.5V keeps heat to a minimum.


BD Rom: LITE-ON Black 4X BD-ROM 8X DVD-ROM 32X CD-ROM SATA

Just because it's the cheapest.


Sound Card: Xonar D1

Since you're looking to get a decent sound system you'll find that the onboard audio is really lacking in dynamics. Explosions and stuff in movies sound really...flat...and don't quite jump out at you. It will also make your music sound a ton better. It has an internal S/PDIF connector to connect to a video card to send the sound through HDMI if you so choose.


PSU: Antec Earthwatts 380W

Very efficient and quiet PSU. Without a video card you can expect your system to use less than 100W power at all times (if you downclock the CPU you can expect around 50W-60W idle), and going any bigger will reduce efficiency by a lot. It's also got enough headroom for a decent video card if you find that you need one.


TV Tuner: Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250

Pretty much the best you can get short of an HD-PVR ($200 by itself). Also comes with a remote and IR blaster which you will need.



That comes out to $600 even, so you might have to downgrade a little bit to fit your budget (start with the CPU and GPU). I didn't include a video card because the onboard video very well may handle the games you want to play, and IMO you should try it out before jumping the gun on one. But if you find that you need a GPU, get an nVidia one for two reasons. First, CUDA assisted video encoding has better quality than Stream assisted. Second, nVidia cards have an internal connector for S/PDIF passthrough from the sound card, so the sound quality will end up better than ATI's if you use HDMI (ATI uses their own sound driver instead).

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Gemini77

Can you explain what you mean by unlocking the 2 additional cores.......its a Dual-Core Processor

Ben the OCer

Check out this thread:
http://www.overclock.net/amd-cpus/53...ing-guide.html

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Manyak

Yeah, what that thread says.

There aren't any guarantees that you can unlock it and make it a quad core, but there's still a pretty good chance with that chip because of it's high demand (not as much with the 545).

This is where the whole 'ripping blu rays' question comes in. Since you plan on doing it later, the Phenom II will give you a decent speed boost over an Athlon II, and with this specific chip you get to gamble at getting two extra cores for free. If you don't care how long blu ray ripping takes and just want to save cash then switch it out for an Athlon II instead.

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Gemini77

does that board have a good history of being able to over clock the processor or is there another board I should be looking at?

Manyak

Yup, it's a pretty good board for overclocking. You won't have any trouble with it. The only quirk that it might have, since I have it with that DDR2 board you asked about first, is that you'll need to disable the onboard sound through BIOS to get it as stable as possible.

You won't notice the difference between stock and overclocked on an HTPC though, not until you play demanding games or rip blu rays. Most people actually downclock and undervolt their HTPC to reduce heat and power cost.

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