Review my budget HTPC, please.

[Todd33]

Feel free to offer other suggestions, as long as they don't cost too mush more. I'm really unsure of the video card at this point, I was looking at a 9200 for $54 too, but the point was made the the newer ATI GPUs decode with less atifacts. Most of it's from Newegg.com, except the TV card and HD.

ANTEC Glossy Piano Black ATX Desktop Case with TruePower 380 Watt
$95.00

ABIT nForce2 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU, Model "NF7-S"
$101.99

SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9600SE Video Card, 128MB DDR, 64-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP -OEM
$69.25

or my old PNY Ti4400 128MB w/DVI

AMD Mobile Athlon XP 2200+, 266MHz FSB, 256K L2 Cache Processor - OEM
$67.00

KRETON 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - Retail
$79.00

Western Digital 180GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, 2MB Cache,
$99

Lite-On Black 16X DVD-ROM Drive, Model XJ-HD166, OEM
$30.00

TRENDware/TRENDnet 11Mbps Wireless PCI Ethernet Adapter, Model
$20.99

CoolerMaster CPU Cooler for Socket A/ 370, Model "DP5-7JD1B-0L"
Noise(dBA): 24.2 more info-> N82E16835103408
$8.99

Hauppage WinTV 250 w/ SageTV bundle
$169

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Looks pretty good but I'd go with a Barton 2500+, stick with the ti4400 over the 9600se *EDIT: might do better to sell the ti440 and get a ATI AIW series* and since you will be working with some large video from capture I'd use the money saved on a new vid card to upgrade to the 8mb cache drive as it should help there.

 

[Elcs]

Im struggling against the temptation to tell you get get a mobile 2400+ which is a Barton core but I dont think its nessercary on an HTPC.

That aside, your choice of components seems to fit quite well. Although I cannot say specifically what setup would be better by way of graphics, Id have to suggest a meatier heatsink such as Thermalright one..... if you have the confidence, a Thermalright heatsink with a Panaflo L1A is quiet and cool. At stock or below stock speeds, the mobile processor should be fine with such a fan although I wouldnt be confident as to say whether you could 5V or 7V it. I live in the UK, its nice and cool here.... my processor is overclocked, pumped full of voltage and still stays at roughly 51C under load.

Hopefully someone can help you more with the Video/Graphics side of things but as it stands, I dont think you have selected badly.

 

[Todd33]

With the hardware encoding on the WinTV 250, the main CPU isn't used for much. I went with the cheapest CPU I could find, the cooler, the better. I won't be OCing anything and I won't be gaming. I am aiming for passive cooling on the video card, I want a quiet system. Thanks for the feedback, keep it coming.

 

[Pariah]

You can save another $15 going with an XP 2000+ from Newegg. You won't gain anything by going with a mobile 2200+. I would definitely recommend going with an ATi 9600 variant over any Nvidia card when dealing with TV-out. A lowend Matrox card would be even better, but I don't know if they sell in the $70 range. I would also recommend going with an AIW 9600 variant over the Radeon/TV card combo you are looking at. The AW would be cheaper and a better integrated product.

 

[robcy]

IMHO,

The Abit is a great board for overclockers/gamers. you can go with a shuttle AN35 and save some $$.

change the 2200+ for a 2000+ save more $$

change the 9600se for a 9200se save more $$ neither are gamer cards both have the same output

Get a 8mb cache HD, or go with a 250gb HD.

 

[Elcs]

I still have to advise getting a Mobile Processor... whether it be Barton or not. They run cooler than normal desktop chips and Id **estimate** that a mobile 2400+ will be cooler than a desktop 2000+.

Will this HTPC be encoding or doing any work other than watching/listening to things?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Well, given that HTPC will be the sole focus then I'd suggest the Asus A7N266-VM -$59 for the board since that way you get the Dolby Digital via the S/PDIF and a 2000+-52$ will be plenty for the CPU along with 2100DDR which you can buy used for dirt cheap. You can use a inexpensive quiet cooler with a 2000+ t-bred and it'll still be very cool. I have a retail 2200+ t-bred in a A7N266-VM and even under extended F@H load it only reaches 44c. It'll be more than enough for HTPC and let you stay with a mATX case unlike the NF7-s while keeping the Dolby Digital encoding capability.

 

[Todd33]

Ok, I may get the ATI 9200 ($13 cheaper and faster 3d) or just bite the bullet and get a 9800 pro for main rig and put the Ti4400 in the HTPC with a fan speed regulator to cut the noise.

I'm still not convinced a 8MB cache HD would make a difference for PVR stuff.

 

[Dug]

If you ever to hdtv you will want to get rid of the 4400.
Get any dx9 card.