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Help me spec up an HTPC

S

Sheninat0r

Senior member
I'm planning to build me a new HTPC for watching/recording 1080p stuff, no gaming. My budget is about $1000-1500, and it needs to have everything - case, mobo, CPU, vid card, sound card [if it's necessary], TV tuner, etc etc, and MAYBE a nice set of 5.1 or 7.1 speakers. If possible, I'd like to reuse my 7600GT and get a new video card for my main desktop for gaming. Any ideas?
 
Pick and choose from the following components to fit your HTPC needs:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core Processor 2.4GHz, 1066FSB, LGA775, 8MB cache Retail ($275.90)

MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R Intel Core 2 Duo (Desktop) Socket 775 1333MHz FSB DDR3 1066MHz ATX Motherboard Retail ($165.99)

HSF: Thermalright Ultima-90 heatsink ($46) and Scythe S-Flex SFF21F 120mm fan ($14) and Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM ($6)

MEM: 2x Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT12864AA804 - Retail ($110 each)

VID: EVGA 640P2N825AR e-GeForce 8800 GTS Superclocked 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express Video Card Retail ($399.99)

HDD: 2x Hitachi Deskstar T7K500 500GB 7200RPM Serial ATA II Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer ($104.99 each)

SOUND: AuzenTech Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1 Sound Card Retail ($199)

PSU: Corsair HX Series CMPSU-620HX 620W Power Supply Retail ($146.90)

CASE: ANTEC Performance One P182 SE Mid Tower Case Retail ($189.99)

DVD: SAMSUNG SH-S203B SATA DVD Burner Black DVD±RW OEM ($32)

FLOPPY: SAMSUNG Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Windows 98SE/ ME/ 2000/ XP - OEM ($7)

TV TUNER: VisionTek TV Wonder 650 Combo PCIe HDTV Tuner PVR w/Remote 900192 PCI-Express x1 Interface - Retail ($110)

KEYBOARD: Microsoft A13-00002S White USB + PS/2 Ergonomics Natural Keyboard Elite - OEM ($27)

MOUSE: Logitech G3 Laser Gaming Mouse Retail ($46.99)

OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Single-Pack DVD OEM ($109)

SPEAKERS: Logitech Z-5500 505 Watts 5.1 Computer Speaker System ($305)

MINI DRIVE: CORSAIR Flash Voyager GT 2GB Flash Drive (USB2.0 Portable) 256bit AES Encryption Model CMFUSB2.0-2GBGT - Retail ($34)

DISPLAY: Dell 3007WFP-HC 30" Widescreen LCD ($1274)
 
Heh, he's been copy/pasting that build into threads hither and thither [lol] whenever people ask for computer advice.

Thanks for the link!
 
Originally posted by: Sheninat0r
I'm planning to build me a new HTPC for watching/recording 1080p stuff, no gaming. My budget is about $1000-1500, and it needs to have everything - case, mobo, CPU, vid card, sound card [if it's necessary], TV tuner, etc etc, and MAYBE a nice set of 5.1 or 7.1 speakers. If possible, I'd like to reuse my 7600GT and get a new video card for my main desktop for gaming. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

HD Over-the-air or HD cable?

Your 7600gt will work fine for OTA but will not work will HD cable - which will require 'hdcp' from a pre-built box (probably either HP or Dell) with cablecard tuner(s).

I heard an 'internets' rumor that Sony is selling a $300 cablecard tuner separate from a pre-built - but I think that's just FUD . . .

A quad cpu? LOL

An AMD 690g chipset/cpu/ram will cost less than the quad. From what I've seen on AVS the IGP - ATI Radeon Xpress 1250- and onboard sound on the Gigabyte board is sweet. The Gigabyte Intel with IGP GMA 3100 is about $30 more than the AMD 690g and roughly the same if not a touch slower.

I think I'm gonna pull the trigger on the Gigabyte AMD 690g this week - the little woman will probably leave me for building another htpc 😀

btw - AFAIK 1080p is only available with HDDVD and BluRay. OTA and cable HD is either 720p or 1080i with AC3 (5.1) audio . . . .
 
I was patient, got a bunch of deals, and ended up with:

E2180 @ 3.2
EVGA 650i mobo
Silverstone LC 17
Auzentech x-plosion (for DTS connect)
2600xt
1x1TB WD greenpower
2x500GB drives
2x1GB of DDR2 800 crucial ballistix sticks
Xbox 360 HD DVD drive
clear QAM tuner

I reused my PSU and now I output everything over DTS, and it handles all 1080p decoding as well. I popped the LG combo drive from my main in there and it handles all encoding at 1080p on every Bd and HD DVD disc I could try without a hiccup as well. This was all for around the low end of your budget.
 
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