HTPC Build Advice

[Gamingphreek]

So I was contemplating making the jump to 4 Gig of RAM or perhaps springing for a new Graphics card, but then it hit me. I'm in a College Dorm, so I can't get a Cable Box or HTPC that way, so, seeing as my Dad won't part from the one I built him, I set out to build the absolute cheapest (Keeping Price/Performance in mind though) HTPC I could.

Can anyone think of any way to cut costs on this HTPC:
Case w/ 300 Watt PSU - Wanted something as small as humanly possible. Definitely smaller than my Audio Receiver. 300 Watt should be plenty as you will see further down the list of components.

200 Gig HDD - I seriously doubt I will come near that 200 Gig max seeing as college cable doesn't have hundreds of channels. If anyone can find a cheaper very quiet HDD (~80 Gig perhaps) I would definitely look at it.

2 Gig A-Data DDR2-800 - The absolute cheapest set of 2 Gig that I feel comfortable purchasing. I need 2 Gig as I will probably be using Onboard Video and Onboard Audio.

G965 Intel Based Board - I went a little higher than I anticipated for the board in order to get an Intel Chipset with the newer X3000 Graphics Core. If anyone has any alternative suggestions, I am more than open to looking.

Celeron 420 - The cheapest processor on the retail market. Conroe based so it should do all I need for simple TV/DVD watching purposes.

I have a spare Optical Drive that I can use. I plan on dedicating 256MB to onboard Graphics and picking up a VGA->S-Video Cable (Seems to me to be the only way to hook a TV up to such a system). I will also be using the onboard Intel audio (Running stereo speakers so I figure an 1/8" -> RCA jack will do the job absolutely fine).

As for the TV Card, I already have an ATI HDTV Wonder (HDTV is OTA only).

I plan on installing Kubuntu and using Linux MCE on the system.

I am concerned about ATI's TV Card drivers as well as Intels drivers with Linux. Does anyone know if I will be ok given my current setup? (TV will be an old 36" Sony CRT).

Anyone have any ideas, suggestions, criticisms?

-Kevin

 

[Roguestar]

Your TV card should be fine with Kubuntu;
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/ind....10_.28Gusty_Gibbon.29

And you can probably save some more cash on that memory, get Corsair ValueSelect or Crucial ValueWhatever, you won't even need DDR2-800, you can go as low as DDR2-400 (PC2-3200) for that FSB, technically, but just find a cheap set at DDR2-533 to shave a couple more $ off it.

 

[Aikouka]

One thing to be a little wary over is how difficult it could be to play certain content. For example, I built a HTPC out of some extra parts I got awhile ago, but one thing I never tested on it was 720p H264 AC3 videos (as I never use the HTPC, it just sits around ). It used an on-board GeForce 6200 and I was surprised to find that with the Athlon 64 3200+ and that cheap IGP, it played the videos just fine. Although it didn't feel very fluid compared to my current HTPC setup for some reason.

So yeah, I don't know how good intel's integrated graphics are in that area or what media you're looking to play... but just something to watch out for.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: Roguestar
Your TV card should be fine with Kubuntu;
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/ind....10_.28Gusty_Gibbon.29

And you can probably save some more cash on that memory, get Corsair ValueSelect or Crucial ValueWhatever, you won't even need DDR2-800, you can go as low as DDR2-400 (PC2-3200) for that FSB, technically, but just find a cheap set at DDR2-533 to shave a couple more $ off it.

Well I can't find anything cheaper than $27. The cheapest without rebate that i can find is $35.

Thank you so much for the Linux info. I am SO relieved. Should the onboard Intel Video work fine (as in with H/W Acceleration). I know the latest Ubuntu supports it but I'm not sure how well given Intel's track record with drivers.

-Kevin

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: Aikouka
One thing to be a little wary over is how difficult it could be to play certain content. For example, I built a HTPC out of some extra parts I got awhile ago, but one thing I never tested on it was 720p H264 AC3 videos (as I never use the HTPC, it just sits around ). It used an on-board GeForce 6200 and I was surprised to find that with the Athlon 64 3200+ and that cheap IGP, it played the videos just fine. Although it didn't feel very fluid compared to my current HTPC setup for some reason.

So yeah, I don't know how good intel's integrated graphics are in that area or what media you're looking to play... but just something to watch out for.

Well I specifically spec'd out the G965 because I know the X3000 chipset was a complete revamp of Video Architecture on Intel's part. I know they went to a Unified Shader Architecture with DX9 support and Pixel and Vertex Shaders.

As for HD-- I plan on loading my movies from my Desktop computer onto the HTPC (I have a copy of Transformers in 720p on there). On my current system using VLC Media Player CPU usage is a mere 16%. I THINK it should be fine on this system (Though I don't know how much H/W Acceleration my Video Card does w/ VLC)

Other than that, I don't really plan on gaming on there. Only watching TV (Rewinding and stuff of course) and watching DVD's.

-Kevin

 

[Gamingphreek]

Well right now I am bidding on a cheaper HDD on Ebay. 2 hours left, but hopefully I win it.

 

[aigomorla]

hey op.

Just a little heads up.

1080p @ H.264 requires at least a 2ghz C2D /w 1gig ram to play smoothly without shutter issues.

That Cely is a 1.6ghz.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: aigomorla
hey op.

Just a little heads up.

1080p @ H.264 requires at least a 2ghz C2D /w 1gig ram to play smoothly without shutter issues.

That Cely is a 1.6ghz.

The files are in .mkv. I got it from a friend so I'm not sure what encoding this is or anything. I did some searching and it looks like he got it via torrent.

-Kevin

 

[pcsavvy]

I realize that Intel can outperform AMD but maybe you should consider this board and cpu combo:
Gigabyte mb http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128056
has the AMD 690G chipset which plays hd with no problem and only costs $79.

Couple with an AMD cpu http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103774 this only costs $57.99

This maybe a bit more than what you had listed but this is all new retail items and the motherboard is capable of full 1080p (H.264/VC-1/MPEG-2-encoded) HD DVD or Blu-ray playback with a faster processor (2.4GHz or higher) according to renethx in his motherboard article. Also according to renethx Intel chipsets are not the greatest for htpc type systems. You could overclock the cpu to 2.4Ghz quite easily and be able to not only enjoy watching tv but watch DVDs on your system.
Or you can get a cheaper dual core AMD and overclock it too.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: pcsavvy
I realize that Intel can outperform AMD but maybe you should consider this board and cpu combo:
Gigabyte mb http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128056
has the AMD 690G chipset which plays hd with no problem and only costs $79.

Couple with an AMD cpu http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103774 this only costs $57.99

This maybe a bit more than what you had listed but this is all new retail items and the motherboard is capable of full 1080p (H.264/VC-1/MPEG-2-encoded) HD DVD or Blu-ray playback with a faster processor (2.4GHz or higher) according to renethx in his motherboard article. Also according to renethx Intel chipsets are not the greatest for htpc type systems. You could overclock the cpu to 2.4Ghz quite easily and be able to not only enjoy watching tv but watch DVDs on your system.
Or you can get a cheaper dual core AMD and overclock it too.

The thing is-- the AMD processors price/performance wise are even more expensive. I would have to spend another $10 on a Dual Core AM2 processor. That in addition to $23 on the motherboard. My Intel Core Duo based laptop running a GMA 950 series Video Card on 1 Gig of DDR2-667 RAM has no problem running the HD content.

I would like to remind you, I am not running and HDTV. Also, I will not be running HD content outside of this because I won't torrent, and I only have 2 720P movies on the HDD.

-Kevin

 

[Gamingphreek]

I forgot-- The HDTV Wonder is a full Profile card not a Low Profile card. Is there anything I can do to convert the 2?

-Kevin

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
I forgot-- The HDTV Wonder is a full Profile card not a Low Profile card. Is there anything I can do to convert the 2?

-Kevin

You can buy a bracket to replace the mounting bracket, but this tends to be difficult because not all cards have them. Also, the card would have to be a certain height (the PCB itself). That's why it's best to look for low profile cards.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: Aikouka

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
I forgot-- The HDTV Wonder is a full Profile card not a Low Profile card. Is there anything I can do to convert the 2?

-Kevin

You can buy a bracket to replace the mounting bracket, but this tends to be difficult because not all cards have them. Also, the card would have to be a certain height (the PCB itself). That's why it's best to look for low profile cards.

Yea I don't think I can go with that slim of a case then because I can't afford to buy a whole new TV Tuner Card. Right now I am going to buy that Antec NSK2480 from Fry's with the rebate.

-Kevin