Episode Two: Trials
Physical Assembly
I've put together many PCs over the years, so in all this is probably about my 10th build or so. Everything was fairly straight-forward, as it often is when you're working with brand new components that have been carefully selected to work together. One minor issue I had was the fact that the
Biostar mobo came with a backplate that had some punch-outs I had to remove myself--for the audio ports & HDMI--and then didn't fit quite perfectly. In the end, I simply had to angle the board slightly while positioning it, lifting the "front" of the board while sliding the back through the audio ports, then lowering it to a horizontal position.
The
Rosewill case was fairly easy to work with, and the swivel & pull-out drive cage was a real finger saver. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite so kind to one of the power supply wires--after I had loaded my drives I had swiveled it to the vertical position to attach some of the plugs, moving the wires "out of the way" of where I was working, when I jostled the case the cage crashed down, pinching one of the wires. Fortunately, the insulation was only wounded, not severed, so I've resolved to check on it periodically.
I was kind of suprised at how "roomy" the interior of the case was. I had ample space for the
Samsung DVD-RW I originally used, and no issues when I switched to the longer
LG HD-DVD/Blu-Ray drive. Due to the lack of front-to-back airflow design, I found it quite simple--with my motherboard, anyways--to route excess wires under the un-used area of the drive cage. Clearance for my
video card and CPU cooler (both stock and
replacement) were also more than sufficient.
OS Installation
Things got interesting when I tried to install Windows XP. I grabbed an old, spare, USB keyboard & mouse I had sitting around and popped in my disk. Which worked fine up until the "Press any key" prompt didn't respond. I'll make a long story short and say that you should NOT try to use old, finicky, USB keyboards to install your OS. PS/2 is preferable, or at the very least get a USB keyboard that was made in the last 5 years.
XP installed, my torrent of Windows 7 finally finished, so I quickly installed that instead. I've been using it since, and have only minor complaints, most of which aren't relevant to the OS or HTPC use. I will say, the Realtek audio driver I found was somewhat of a hassle to configure, and still likes to complain that this isn't the OS it was designed for, but it is functional (at least, for my 5.1 analog, directly connected Z-5500s). I may be installing the Win 7 release candidate soon, simply for the longer license.
Component-by-component reviews
CASE: Rosewill R379-SM MicroATX {
manu} {
NewEgg}
Overall: 7/10
Pros:
* clever drive cage
* decent outward appearance
* low cost
* moderately powerful supply (to date... may be tested soon)
Cons:
* drive cage operation isn't fluid (sticks slightly each time)
* optical drive "eject" button is mostly obstructed when drive is ejected
* stock case fan was loud
* power supply only has 1 SATA power plug (somewhat offset by 2x 4-pin molex)
* lacks fit and finish: if pushed too far, reset button gets stuck & "side" panel sticks slightly
Summary: For some applications you may not be getting in and out of the case frequently, and you may not be removing optical discs on a daily basis. If so, and you're willing to compromise aesthetics for price, this is a great case for you. On the other hand, if you're intensely focused on making your HTPC a showcase, you aren't concerned with minimizing cost, you expect to frequently be changing components over the life of the computer, and/or you just don't plan on ripping your discs to your hard drive but do plan on playing a lot of them, this is probably not the case for you.
MOTHERBOARD: Biostar TA790GX-XE MicroATX AM2/AM2+ {
manu} {
NewEgg}
Overall: 9/10
Pros:
* works great
* myriad of bios settings, including option to run in Hybrid Crossfire with on-board as primary
* supports RAID-5 (which I hope to use soon)
Cons:
* no on-board firewire header (vanity issue, not like I currently have a practical use for this)
* backplate had punch-outs I had to do myself, and minor fittment issues
Summary: Great motherboard, would highly recommend to anyone planning to overclock or use RAID-5. For general HTPC use, though, you might save yourself $20~$30 and go with a 780G board.
PROCESSOR/CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 BE Kuma AM2+ {
manu} {
NewEgg}
Overall: 8/10
Pros:
* fairly powerful, loads Win 7 quickly & rips HD-DVD in reasonable time (yet to test Blu-Ray... will do that tonight)
Cons:
* runs moderately warm
* included CPU fan fairly noisy at speed
Summary: Good CPU, not really what I would use if I had to do it over again. I would either go with a
45W dual-core, or if I was going to go
95W I'd get 3 or 4 cores. As someone aptly described it elsewhere, the load we're putting on a HTPC is usually minimal & constant. You can either give that to a dual-core, which will have to open the throttle a bit more, or a quad-core, which will be put under about half the strain. Choosing a 95W dual-core was a bone-headed, noob, move. (Unless I ever do get around to using this as a gaming PC.)
MEMORY/RAM: Corsair XMS DDR2 800 (PC-6400) 2x2GB {
manu} {
NewEgg}
Overall: 10/10
Pros:
* Corsair XMS relaiblity, quality, warranty and fit & finish
Cons:
* had to pay money
Summary: Corsair XMS RAM has yet to dissapoint me, and I've been using it on various systems for over 5 years. In fact, I have some sticks which are themselves over 5 years old.
OPTICAL DRIVE: LG Blu-Ray/HD-DVD/DVD±RW GGC-H20L {
manu} {
NewEgg}
Overall: 9/10
Pros:
* plays Blu-Rays
* plays HD-DVD
* burns CD-R, CD-RW, DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW (incl. DL)
* includes HD-DVD/Blu-Ray playback software
Cons:
* bundled software doesn't alow for analong 5.1 audio signal without upgrade
Summary: If you are looking for a Blu-Ray playback drive, this should be your first option. The few $$ you will save with cheaper options means you will lose one or more of the following: HD-DVD playback, DVD-burning, bundled software. The only reasons to do this would be: 1) You'll never rip movies to your hard drive, so you'll never consider purchasing HD-DVDs for bargain basement (cheaper than USED standard def DVD) prices; 2) You never ever want to back up your data or transfer it with a cheap/disposable optical disc; 3) You already have Blu-Ray/HD-DVD playback software, so you're buying the OEM version of this drive instead. Another valid excuse is that you found a Blu-Ray burner for $50-$120 more and you can't wait to start burning $30 discs.
VIDEO CARD: ATI Radeon HD3470 256MB GDDR3 PCI-e x16 {
manu} {
eBay}
Overall: 5/10
Pros:
* works
* cheap
* fastest Hybrid Crossfire capable (currently) GPU
Cons:
* noisy
* model delivered didn't have low-profile hanger as picture indicated, full-height instead
* funky dual Display Port output (came with adapters which are heavy & incompatible with DVI-VGA adapters)
Summary: Even at $27 (incl S&H) this wasn't really a good buy, and I wouldn't get one again. When I finally purchase a HDTV or large LCD monitor to use, and I try to do some gaming, I may appreciate this card more, but currently it's just another source of heat and noise.
CPU COOLER: Cooler Master RR-CCH-P912-GP {
manu} {
NewEgg}
Overall: 9/10
Pros:
* fairly well constructed
* as advertised, fits in slim case (approx. same height as retail OEM cooler)
Cons:
* not entirely quiet
* didn't have free shipping when I bought mine!
Summary: Good product, moves a fair bit of air and keep things cool. Not quite as silent as they would like you to believe, but probably the best possible cooler for a slim case.
CASE FAN (REPLACEMENT): Arctic Cooling ACF8PWM 80mm {
manu} {
NewEgg}
Overall: 9/10
Pros:
* neat pass-through PWM feature
* pretty quiet
Cons:
* pricey for an 80mm fan that can only be mounted one way
* didn't have free shipping when I bought mine!
Summary: Good fan, neat (if unneccesarily complex) mounting set-up. Like the PWM pass through. Would have been 5/5 if only had been cheaper... $5.00 maybe.
VGA TO S-VIDEO CONVERTER: KWorld PlusTV PCTOTV Converter {
manu} {
NewEgg}
Overall: 6/10
Pros:
* relatively low cost for product of this type
* power from USB is convenient
Cons:
* only works with 1 resolution on my current TV
* loses settings (brightness, vertical size, etc.) whenever it loses signal or power (have to disable power-saving feature in OS)
Summary: Could have purchased an HD 2400 Pro (passively cooled, S-Video, DVI & VGA out, Hybrid Crossfire compatible) for the same amount of money. NewEgg has since stopped carrying them.
Still, this product does what I need for now, and is hopefully only a short-term solution that I will be able to sell to someone on CraigsList for $30 when I upgrade to something that supports HDMI.
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