HTPC & Video Editing

[Dr. Zaus]

I've not built a computer for about 5 years but before that i was OCing my celerystick from 333 to 500, adding a gold finger device to my athlon and turning my athlonXP into an MP using a rear-window-defroster-repair-kit.

• I want to use my HTPC as a DVR vis a vis clear qam and i want to edit AVCHD files off of my canon HF-100

• $600 or so is my budget

• Building it right here in the US of A

• My best friend works for AMD and I want to keep him employed so I prefer ATI/AMD

• Using my 1080p 47" as a monitor

• I've read up on the state of the hardware and lurked in this forum

• I wouldn't mind overclocking if it still runs cool and stable without major voltage adjustments or fancy cooling

• I tried buying this computer on black friday but newegg screwed me on the deal because their shipping department couldn't figure out my zip-code

as a side note: I'm not sure if ultra-quite and ITX is the way to go or not, I just don't want to be distracted while watching house and heroes.


Here's where I'm at so far:
Ram: DDR2 8gb - $84
PSU: silencer 370W - $35 (AMR)
HDD: wd 640gb - $75
TV: DViCO Dual - $140
CPU: Wolfdale 2.53GHz - $120
MoBo: GIGABYTE GA-EP45 -$72
GPU: GeForce 9800 GT - $100
Case: Enermax w/ 250mm fan - $30 (AMR)

Total: ~656 w/ shipping

Also have and intend to use vista 64, what with having more than 4gb of ram.

 

[DSF]

The power draw of your system shouldn't be too large, but going with a cheap PSU is a mistake.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: DSF
The power draw of your system shouldn't be too large, but going with a cheap PSU is a mistake.

"Cheap" is fine as long as it's not "cheap"... Some thoughts on the LPK2-30 PS.

Don't buy that case just because it's got a 500W PS included.
If you're married to the Linkworld case, I'd at least get the PC Power & Cooling Silencer 370W (5 year warranty), $35 after rebate.

 

[Dr. Zaus]

Here's what i came up with:

Ram: DDR2 8gb - $84
PSU: silencer 370W - $35 (AMR)
HDD: wd 640gb - $75
TV: DViCO Dual - $140
CPU: Wolfdale 2.53GHz - $120
MoBo: GIGABYTE GA-EP45 -$72
GPU: GeForce 9800 GT - $100
Case: Enermax w/ 250mm fan - $30 (AMR)
Total: $656

 

[DSF]

Originally posted by: Blain

Originally posted by: DSF
The power draw of your system shouldn't be too large, but going with a cheap PSU is a mistake.

"Cheap" is fine as long as it's not "cheap"... Some thoughts on the LPK2-30 PS.

Fair enough. I'm just saying that if a company is able to sell the PSU and Case together for $40, the pair couldn't have cost them more than $20 to make. That's shady.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: DixyCrat
Here's what i came up with:

Ram: DDR2 8gb - $84
PSU: silencer 370W - $35 (AMR)
HDD: wd 640gb - $75
TV: DViCO Dual - $140
CPU: Wolfdale 2.53GHz - $120
MoBo: GIGABYTE GA-EP45 -$72
GPU: GeForce 9800 GT - $100
Case: Enermax w/ 250mm fan - $30 (AMR)
Total: $656

So much for keeping your AMD Bud in bidness ...

"" The pictures shown are from the NEW version of this item. If you purchase this Open box product you will receive an OEM BAREBONE, meaning it is just the item itself. Accessory items are NOT INCLUDED with Open box products. Accessories are shown in the pictures so that customers will know what is missing from the item. ""

If you go here and "log in to save" you may purchase that Fusion7 a bit cheaper ...

Athlon X2 4850e 2.5GHz 45W: $57
ASRock AOD790GX/128M Sideport AMD 790GX: $110

And for Big Fun on that 47-inch 1920x1080 flat panel (even though the IGP supports Full HD 1080p Blu-ray (BD) / HD-DVD playback) ...

SAPPHIRE 100242-1GL Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit: $180

You don't really need 8gb of ram (certainly to start - you can always add more) - 2 x 2Gb DDR2 800 GSkill is really cheap (especially if you use the promo code that came out today)

Put the cash you save toward a nice 500w PSU and you should be in around $650 (that is, unless you might want to purchase a Phenom II next year - if so, you might want to consider 2x2Gb DDR2 1066 and downclock to 800Mhz with the 4850e)

 

[ther00kie16]

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo

Athlon X2 4850e 2.5GHz 45W: $57
ASRock AOD790GX/128M Sideport AMD 790GX: $110

And for Big Fun on that 47-inch 1920x1080 flat panel (even though the IGP supports Full HD 1080p Blu-ray (BD) / HD-DVD playback) ...

SAPPHIRE 100242-1GL Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit: $180

You don't really need 8gb of ram (certainly to start - you can always add more) - 2 x 2Gb DDR2 800 GSkill is really cheap (especially if you use the promo code that came out today)

Put the cash you save toward a nice 500w PSU and you should be in around $650 (that is, unless you might want to purchase a Phenom II next year - if so, you might want to consider 2x2Gb DDR2 1066 and downclock to 800Mhz with the 4850e)

x2 and amd igp are fine suggestions for htpc but if video editing is also a priority, you should really consider a quad.
i don't know why anyone's suggesting a 4850 (1gb on top of that) for htpc and video editing purposes. integrated should be just fine. or if you want dedicated, a 4650/70 would be plenty powerful enough at 1/3 of the cost of that 4850.
more ram is always great for video editing and ddr2 isn't going to get too much cheaper so might as well add it all now instead of wanting to add later and developing urges to add/upgrade other things when you do.
no need to upgrade to Phenom II or i7 anytime soon if you get a quad (especially from intel) now.

So my suggestion is get a retail p45 and a q9300 or higher (depending on if you want to overclock)

Don't get caught up in the small and quiet realm. With good choices, you can build a full sized computer in a tower that will be whisper quiet. You'll certainly want to avoid something like a high-end video card for that.

Oh and since you don't need a power-hungry video card, your choice of psu is plenty enough. I don't know about the noise levels though. I also question the tv card choice because I've never heard of it. Also sneaky how they never mention what choices you have for dual recording/watching (my guess is that it's 1 analog + 1 digital like most others, so analog would become somewhat useless next year)
I like this site for info on tuners.

 

[Dr. Zaus]

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo

Originally posted by: DixyCrat
Here's what i came up with:

Ram: DDR2 8gb - $84
PSU: silencer 370W - $35 (AMR)
HDD: wd 640gb - $75
TV: DViCO Dual - $140
CPU: Wolfdale 2.53GHz - $120
MoBo: GIGABYTE GA-EP45 -$72
GPU: GeForce 9800 GT - $100
Case: Enermax w/ 250mm fan - $30 (AMR)
Total: $656

So much for keeping your AMD Bud in bidness ...

Good point, I love AMD and all, but they are behind the curve... my friend said something about being part of the shanghai project and therefore not on the chopping block but that the other team, working on what i guess is istanbul(not constantinople), is woefully behind.

Put the cash you save toward a nice 500w PSU and you should be in around $650 (that is, unless you might want to purchase a Phenom II next year - if so, you might want to consider 2x2Gb DDR2 1066 and downclock to 800Mhz with the 4850e)

Nice 500w, will this pay off in stability? Or are you thinking that sense i used to be a tech-head once I get a taste of it I'll have no choice but to make this my hobby again so I'd be better off with an 'upgrade path' for the ram?

more ram is always great for video editing and ddr2 isn't going to get too much cheaper so might as well add it all now

This is what I was thinking... that and if an hour of recording takes 8gb I want to have 8gb or ram to move the files around in.

no need to upgrade to Phenom II or i7 anytime soon if you get a quad (especially from intel) now.

So my suggestion is get a retail p45 and a q9300 or higher (depending on if you want to overclock)

I'm not entirely sold on the power of quad, though it is utilized by my editing encoders I feel like i can get a good deal off of OCing the wolfdale cpu.

I also question the tv card choice because I've never heard of it. Also sneaky how they never mention what choices you have for dual recording/watching (my guess is that it's 1 analog + 1 digital like most others, so analog would become somewhat useless next year)
I like this site for info on tuners.

I can't find anything on it either but it is made by the same people as that page's top-recommended encoder.

 

[DSF]

I don't know that I'd run the 9800GT on a 370W. It's one of those things that's most likely fine, but it wouldn't hurt to have more breathing room, something in the 450W range.

That said, if you're not gaming my inclination would be to keep the good price on a good PSU and drop the unnecessarily powerful video card.