Hello,
Not sure if this is the best forum for this since it is HTPC but technically not SFF if you see the case choice. Anyway Heregoes
I have done a few regular / gaming pc builds but never built a HTPC. A friend of mine has asked for some help with building a HTPC and here is what he is thinking.
The PC will be for Gaming in the living room on an 40" - 50" LCD TV 1080i or 1080p. Additional HT functions he would like it to provide for is DVD (Standard for now), Reciever, and eventually TV Tuner / DVR.
His budget is roughly $1200.00 to include case, mobo, memory, cpu, psu, hdd, video card, wifi card. He will add on later a TVTuner or two and a sound card not part of initial budget.
I dont know if this is the typical set up for HTPC but here is what we are thinking.
Case - Origen OrigenAE S16V HTPC - This is big HTPC case! Check it out Here:
Video card would be 8800GT preferably EVGA.
I thinking of going with the E6850 CPU we wont be doing any OC and want something plenty fast. May wait for the affordable Penryns we will see.
Still need to decide on MB PSU HDDD Sound card etc.
Since I have never put one of these toghether here are my general HTPC questions:
1. Does anyone know if a 8800GT will fit in that case? I may neet to ask this on other forums, they say it supports full size video cards and PSUs.
2. This case will fit regular ATX boards what chipsets are reccomended its been a while since I have done any builds. Would like 1333 FSB and the ability to go to 1600. I would also like easy maintenenace for the user so infrequent chipset and bios updates would be preferable (shying away from Nvidia chipsets). I am leaning towards the intel P35 chipset, x38 seems a bit too pricey. Any P35 boards out there reccomended for HTPC use moreso than others? FYI I don't see SLI or crossfire happening at all.
3. Features, I see some boards have HDMI out on them. This is only for onboard video I assume? I think we just may have to use a DVI to HDMI adapter. Any other must have features out there for HTPC motherboards?
4. With a good sound card can this type of set up adequately replace an AV Reciever? What models do you reccomend?
5. Noise issues? Do you thik the 8800GT would be too loud in a case say 12 FT away from a couch, maybe behind the glass of a stereo cabinet? We could consider moding the card to accept 3rd party cooler (Zalman or ?)
6. Upconverting DVD players... We are familiar with the AV upconverting DVD player is there a HW equivalent for the PC. Since the HD format wars may not be over just yet and content is limited we were thinking we would go with plain old DVD/Burner. The question is on a HTPC is upconverting a function of the DVD playing software? If you just choose full screen viewing does upconverting just happen? Obvously upconvtering is not a deal breaker since the HT Players are < $100.00. But if you can keep unnecessary components out off your AV rack then it is easier to use.
7. Remote control soup: So the case comes with a remote, sound cards do too, a TV Tuner card will come with a remote and many speaker systems also come with one. So is this a drawback to to building your own HTPC? If I buy from a system builder you get one remote and with that I would hope an easy to use and operate HTPC. Do you just spring for one of those Logitec Harmony remotes to have a single remote. Or do you just throw away the remotes in favor of:
8. Wirelesss Keyboard and Mouse. I see various types out there. The one I Have on my office PC is a pretty standard Logitec model about 3 years old and it seems to have a good range long enough for couch to PC ~12 ft. I see there are also bluetooth ones advertised as well. Would a bluetooth keyboard and mouse be necessary necessary or can you get away with a standard wireless desktop setup.
9. Operating systems. It seems for Gaming XP is still king. I still use it and have no problem with it. So the question is does vista of some form or another have must have HT functionality? Should we consider XP MCE? Does MCE have the same compatibility level as XP Pro? Are all the popular games compatible?
I know its a lot of questions but I have been doing my homework on this I just don't want to botch the build on my friend.
Thanks,
Brian
Not sure if this is the best forum for this since it is HTPC but technically not SFF if you see the case choice. Anyway Heregoes
I have done a few regular / gaming pc builds but never built a HTPC. A friend of mine has asked for some help with building a HTPC and here is what he is thinking.
The PC will be for Gaming in the living room on an 40" - 50" LCD TV 1080i or 1080p. Additional HT functions he would like it to provide for is DVD (Standard for now), Reciever, and eventually TV Tuner / DVR.
His budget is roughly $1200.00 to include case, mobo, memory, cpu, psu, hdd, video card, wifi card. He will add on later a TVTuner or two and a sound card not part of initial budget.
I dont know if this is the typical set up for HTPC but here is what we are thinking.
Case - Origen OrigenAE S16V HTPC - This is big HTPC case! Check it out Here:
Video card would be 8800GT preferably EVGA.
I thinking of going with the E6850 CPU we wont be doing any OC and want something plenty fast. May wait for the affordable Penryns we will see.
Still need to decide on MB PSU HDDD Sound card etc.
Since I have never put one of these toghether here are my general HTPC questions:
1. Does anyone know if a 8800GT will fit in that case? I may neet to ask this on other forums, they say it supports full size video cards and PSUs.
2. This case will fit regular ATX boards what chipsets are reccomended its been a while since I have done any builds. Would like 1333 FSB and the ability to go to 1600. I would also like easy maintenenace for the user so infrequent chipset and bios updates would be preferable (shying away from Nvidia chipsets). I am leaning towards the intel P35 chipset, x38 seems a bit too pricey. Any P35 boards out there reccomended for HTPC use moreso than others? FYI I don't see SLI or crossfire happening at all.
3. Features, I see some boards have HDMI out on them. This is only for onboard video I assume? I think we just may have to use a DVI to HDMI adapter. Any other must have features out there for HTPC motherboards?
4. With a good sound card can this type of set up adequately replace an AV Reciever? What models do you reccomend?
5. Noise issues? Do you thik the 8800GT would be too loud in a case say 12 FT away from a couch, maybe behind the glass of a stereo cabinet? We could consider moding the card to accept 3rd party cooler (Zalman or ?)
6. Upconverting DVD players... We are familiar with the AV upconverting DVD player is there a HW equivalent for the PC. Since the HD format wars may not be over just yet and content is limited we were thinking we would go with plain old DVD/Burner. The question is on a HTPC is upconverting a function of the DVD playing software? If you just choose full screen viewing does upconverting just happen? Obvously upconvtering is not a deal breaker since the HT Players are < $100.00. But if you can keep unnecessary components out off your AV rack then it is easier to use.
7. Remote control soup: So the case comes with a remote, sound cards do too, a TV Tuner card will come with a remote and many speaker systems also come with one. So is this a drawback to to building your own HTPC? If I buy from a system builder you get one remote and with that I would hope an easy to use and operate HTPC. Do you just spring for one of those Logitec Harmony remotes to have a single remote. Or do you just throw away the remotes in favor of:
8. Wirelesss Keyboard and Mouse. I see various types out there. The one I Have on my office PC is a pretty standard Logitec model about 3 years old and it seems to have a good range long enough for couch to PC ~12 ft. I see there are also bluetooth ones advertised as well. Would a bluetooth keyboard and mouse be necessary necessary or can you get away with a standard wireless desktop setup.
9. Operating systems. It seems for Gaming XP is still king. I still use it and have no problem with it. So the question is does vista of some form or another have must have HT functionality? Should we consider XP MCE? Does MCE have the same compatibility level as XP Pro? Are all the popular games compatible?
I know its a lot of questions but I have been doing my homework on this I just don't want to botch the build on my friend.
Thanks,
Brian
Facebook
Twitter