Building a near perfect HTPC !

[manniraj]

Was inspired with HTPC and tried to make one myself. Below is the list of items i used..

Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-880GM-USB3 16GB DDR3 - USB 3.0 AMD Motherboard - Rs.6825
CPU - AMD Athlon II X2 250 (ADX250OCGQBOX) - Rs.3125
PSU - Silverstone 500W Power Supply (SST-ST50F) - Rs.2950
Case - Silverstone GD04-B-HTPC Media Center Cabinets - Rs.5525
Memory - Strontium 2 X 2GB DDR3 Desktop RAM Memory - Rs.1600
HDD - Kingston SSD V series - Rs.3350

Most of the items were bought online from the theitdepot.com site and the SSD from the Primeabgb.com. Will be assembling this weekend..

 

[sam9s]

Few points....

1. why such a high end mobo with Athlon X2
2. Which brand is Strontium ????? ....... what happened to Corsair or G.Skill. I'd say go for a atleast Corsair.
3. Where is the GPU..????
4. SSD is good but that would only do your OS and XBMC. Its just 30GB. I hope you are planning to have couple of 1TBs as well. I''s suggest WD Caviar Green.

 

[manniraj]

I wanted to upgrade for a gaming PC later on thats the reason for the motherboard. Regarding the GPU i think its built into the motherboard. I quote from the reviews of the gigabyte motherboard "integrated ATI Radeon HD 4250 (DX10.1) graphics engine".

 

[baijuxavior]

I wanted to upgrade for a gaming PC later on thats the reason for the motherboard. Regarding the GPU i think its built into the motherboard. I quote from the reviews of the gigabyte motherboard "integrated ATI Radeon HD 4250 (DX10.1) graphics engine".

The integrated gpu is not much powerful. For gaming you will need a dedicated graphics card.

 

[sam9s]

I wanted to upgrade for a gaming PC later on thats the reason for the motherboard. Regarding the GPU i think its built into the motherboard. I quote from the reviews of the gigabyte motherboard "integrated ATI Radeon HD 4250 (DX10.1) graphics engine".

Ok first if you even thinking of decent gaming you got to have a dedicated GPU. Second if at all we take the integrated one, does it support HD bit streaming, (AFA I can tell HD4250 does not support HD Bitstreaming) I could not make out the chipset for this mobo as per the specifications. Doesnt look like H67 though.

If you are inclined towards a onboard GPU thing then Core i3 with ASUS H67 is the way to go as then you aill have intel HD graphics and bitstreaming and it does works like a charm. Best part under the same budget.

 

[manniraj]

I am not sure whether this integrated GPU supports hd bit streaming. No other way as i have already made the purchase and assembled it yesterday. The video/audio looks very good better than my LG Bd550 player. Not able to verify whether it supports dts-hd and dolby truhd as i do not have a AV reviever and planning to get it by the end of this year.

 

[manniraj]

Hi Sam..
After you pointed out regarding the support for hd bit streaming i read few more reviews and disappointed that it does not support lossless dts-hd and dolby truehd. Now that i have already did the purchase/assembling what do you think is the best option now to get these things. Getting a dedicated graphics card will solve the issue like "MSI R5450-MD1GH ATI Radeon 1GB DDR3". This does support as per the specs but does it support the motherboard that i have "Gigabyte 880GM". Please confirm or else suggest some other option..

 

[buxx]

though i have already ordered the Kingston SSD 30GB from Prime- could anyone let me know whether I would get the desktop bracket ( to fix to 3.5" HDDcage) to install this in my full sized cabinet?

Urgent !

 

[manniraj]

I have the same SSD installed in my Silverstone GD04 cabinet. This item from Prime does not come with any brackets or even screws or cables for power/sata. But my cabinet had the provision for installing the 2.5" SSD perfectly and also it did had the required screws and the sata cable with the Gigabyte mobo. So i am not sure howz your cabinet provisions for 2.5" drives

 

[buxx]

Hmmm... if nothing else , i will just keep it on the floor of my (tower-type) case..! Thanks for replying though!

 

[manniraj]

How is this media center IR "http://www.dealextreme.com/p/super-compact-media-center-ir-remote-controller-with-usb-receiver-9877" on the deal extreme site for $10.55 with worldwide free shipping.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Hmmm... if nothing else , i will just keep it on the floor of my (tower-type) case..! Thanks for replying though!

A piece of double-sided tape might put it where you want it?

 

[buxx]

or a strip of velcro or cloth ? ( if I can get it from some place...hmmm )

tape may leave that gooeey stuff later on...

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Yes, velcro would be a much neater arrangement, at least in theory. In practice, you probably won't want to remove it, and hopefully won't need to replace it and, if you do, would probably be using the same location, so any stickiness won't matter.

If you can find self-adhesive velcro, though, it is always nicer to go for the more elegant solution

 

[buxx]

in that case, why dont I completely relax & just put it there on the floor of the cabinet?! heh heh.. ( I know, I know... I AM lazy. )

 

[sam9s]

Hi Sam..
After you pointed out regarding the support for hd bit streaming i read few more reviews and disappointed that it does not support lossless dts-hd and dolby truehd. Now that i have already did the purchase/assembling what do you think is the best option now to get these things. Getting a dedicated graphics card will solve the issue like "MSI R5450-MD1GH ATI Radeon 1GB DDR3". This does support as per the specs but does it support the motherboard that i have "Gigabyte 880GM". Please confirm or else suggest some other option..

You should always be slow and do a complete research, before placing and order. You didnt even ask here on your own thread that you are making this purchase. I told you ASUS H67 with Core i3 is the best combination and VFM as well. Anyway no issues. Now a dedicated GPU would be the only solution. I would (as I always have) suggest GT440 over ATI cards when it comes to A/V playback and its pretty decent for gaming as well. And yes your mobo supports the card.

How is this media center IR "http://www.dealextreme.com/p/super-compact-media-center-ir-remote-controller-with-usb-receiver-9877" on the deal extreme site for $10.55 with worldwide free shipping.

Looks like a very basic remote, not sure how would it perform, I would always suggest and prefer the official application remote for ANDROID or iOS
if you have a phone based on one of these ....

 

[gobble]

Was inspired with HTPC and tried to make one myself. Below is the list of items i used..

Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-880GM-USB3 - Rs.6825


Most of the items were bought online from the theitdepot.com site and the SSD from the Primeabgb.com. Will be assembling this weekend..

Tsk! Tsk! I just purchased the same mobo today for less than 5000/-

You paid way too much!

HTH

 

[argho]

Vinayaga and Others,

Am very interested in building a HTPC.

Was planning on buying an Acer Revo or similar, but building yr own seems to work out much cheaper (and also more fun I guess).

Have never built a PC before, so some questions.

Can someone give me a complete list of parts (ie SATA cables, power cables, connectors etc). From the thread have added the following to my purchase list :

1. AMD Fusion E350 motherboard + CPU
2. DDR3 RAM - 4 GB
3. CFI Cube cabinet incl PSU
4. SSD
5. Media Remote - any reccomendations ?

What else do I need ?

Also want to check :
- will I need to load a bios (I have no idea how to do it) ?
- do I need to set jumpers/switches on the motherboard ?
- do I need to buy fans/heatsink and glue onto the CPU
- do I need to buy fans for the case ?
- do I need any tools other than a screwdriver ?

Any help / suggestions most welcome.

My current setup is a WDTV Live, connected by Lan cable to my router. All my movie and music files are on a NAS (Buffalo Linkstation Quad) which is on my network.

 

[sam9s]

Vinayaga and Others,

Am very interested in building a HTPC.

Was planning on buying an Acer Revo or similar, but building yr own seems to work out much cheaper (and also more fun I guess).

Have never built a PC before, so some questions.

Can someone give me a complete list of parts (ie SATA cables, power cables, connectors etc). From the thread have added the following to my purchase list :

1. AMD Fusion E350 motherboard + CPU
2. DDR3 RAM - 4 GB
3. CFI Cube cabinet incl PSU
4. SSD
5. Media Remote - any reccomendations ?

What else do I need ?

Also want to check :
- will I need to load a bios (I have no idea how to do it) ?
- do I need to set jumpers/switches on the motherboard ?
- do I need to buy fans/heatsink and glue onto the CPU
- do I need to buy fans for the case ?
- do I need any tools other than a screwdriver ?

Any help / suggestions most welcome.

My current setup is a WDTV Live, connected by Lan cable to my router. All my movie and music files are on a NAS (Buffalo Linkstation Quad) which is on my network.

I think you should start a new thread for your HTPC. Checkout my thread for some more information ....
http://www.hifivision.com/home-theater-pc-htpc-media-pc/18571-sam9s-htpc-project-powered-xbmc.html

Coming to your queries ....

1. what is you budget..??
2. I dont know why people are going for an SSD, for HTPC when all it would load is the Media Center Application. Save money and invest on better mobo,CPU and GPU.
3. 4GB mem ....... again if you can, do save money. DDR2 is enough, infact 2GB is enough.
4. Media center remote, I would say, if you have a ANDROID or iOS based phones get the official media player remote, thats the best, else there are options that we can discuses.

Coming to your other queries ....

- will I need to load a bios (I have no idea how to do it) ?

I am not sure what you mean "load a bios" ... but you dont need to do anything except load normal windows (or linux if you choose it) and then any media center.

- do I need to set jumpers/switches on the motherboard ?

NOPE

- do I need to buy fans/heatsink and glue onto the CPU

If you are assembling a PC right from scratch yes, but you dont glue it, you just put some thermal past (included) on the cpu (processor to be precise) and attach the heatsink,fan on it, thats it.

- do I need to buy fans for the case ?

Usually a good case comes couple of fans and even more as you go towards high end cases. Depending on that you can add more. Thumb rule is, there should be an intake and an exhaust in the case. So if you have 2 fans for intake, you should have 2 for exhaust.

- do I need any tools other than a screwdriver ?

A Torch maybe ...

Start a new thread ...

 

[hydra]

...

Can someone give me a complete list of parts (ie SATA cables, power cables, connectors etc). From the thread have added the following to my purchase list :

1. AMD Fusion E350 motherboard + CPU

...
- do I need to buy fans/heatsink and glue onto the CPU
...

You will get all the connectors, screws etc. with the motherboard and the cabinet.

With the motherboard you've chosen, you don't need to worry about heatsink/glue etc., as the processor and its cooling system comes integrated.

All you'll need to put the machine together is a regular screwdriver and a philips screwdriver (the kind with a 'plus' shaped tip).