5Forty Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 (edited) Im new to the HTPC scene, having been reading loads of threads on here Im looking for a smiliar set up to this Im looking at the system being able to play/stream 1080p files. I plan on storing most of my films/music/photos on 2 hard drives I already have Ive had a look around and Ive found the following items, and Im wondering if it will do for what Im after? Case Antec NSK 2480 MATX Desktop Case Mobo Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-DS2H 780G Socket AM2 Processor AMD Athlon 64 X2 4850e 2.5GHz Socket AM2 Energy Efficient 1MB L2 Cache Memory Kingston 2gb 800mhz Drive LG GH22NS40 22X SATA DVD?RW I might at a later date buy a blu-ray/hd dvd combo drive Can anyone suggest any bit of kit so I will be able to access and system wirelessly to maintain it? I already have a retail OS so that will save some money as well Edited May 7, 2009 by 5Forty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannydeman Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 I see that mobo has a onboard ATI Radeon HD 3200 - 128 MB DDR3 SDRAM. It's on the edge, but should be good enough for HW accelerating HD content (dxva). I would recommend something a few steps higher, like the 34/36XX versions, but ahh well..you should be fine :) And to remotly use it, you need a second PC and install a VNC server so you can just take over control through your main PC. And make sure you buy a nice remote (MCE) remote control. The MCE remote controls are compatible with lots of mediacenter software programs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Forty Posted May 8, 2009 Author Share Posted May 8, 2009 Cheers for the advice Since the case I have picked is silver Ive tried to find a silver dvd drive instead and have no luck :( Does anyone know websites that stock silver dvd drives? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakem1 Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 Cheers for the adviceSince the case I have picked is silver Ive tried to find a silver dvd drive instead and have no luck :( Does anyone know websites that stock silver dvd drives? Are you sure you need a silver dvd drive? Most HTPC cases come with faceplates that stick onto the door of the drive to ensure that it looks good. I'd be surprised if your Antec case was any different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Forty Posted May 8, 2009 Author Share Posted May 8, 2009 Ive had a look at some of the reviews and comments posted around on a few websites about the case and they have said it doesnt come to any faceplates Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToneKnee Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 Just to correct Dannydeman, you should be able to remote into the computer using Windows built-in one, no need for VNC. I'd recommend getting a dedicated graphics card to help accelerate the HD side of things, preferably something from the ATi's 4000 series family. Just to correct Dannydeman, you should be able to remote into the computer using Windows built-in one, no need for VNC. I'd recommend getting a dedicated graphics card to help accelerate the HD side of things, preferably something from the ATi's 4000 series family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawkMan Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 VNC doesn't log out the media center though, wich can be usefull. even if RDC is better in ever other way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiB3R Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 I'd recomend a Pioneer DVR-216 or DVR-116. SATA and IDE respectively. Costs around ?20 in the UK and is a highly regarded burner. Also, this might be of interest to you:)) http://www.antec.com/Detail.bok?no=329 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannydeman Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Just to correct Dannydeman, you should be able to remote into the computer using Windows built-in one, no need for VNC.I'd recommend getting a dedicated graphics card to help accelerate the HD side of things, preferably something from the ATi's 4000 series family. Yeah dedicated is always better, but you need a larger case for that, and it will make much more noise which isn't neccesary at all, since I assume he will only play movies. A passive cooled videocard is a must if you use it as HTPC only. And the 3000 series are very cheap. He might also want to take a cheap Nvidia card. I heard it's much better for dxva, since Ati cards are very driver sensitive about this. Nvidia also use CUDA which is also for HW acceleration. CoreAVC for example is CUDA compatible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Forty Posted May 11, 2009 Author Share Posted May 11, 2009 Yeah dedicated is always better, but you need a larger case for that, and it will make much more noise which isn't neccesary at all, since I assume he will only play movies. A passive cooled videocard is a must if you use it as HTPC only. And the 3000 series are very cheap.He might also want to take a cheap Nvidia card. I heard it's much better for dxva, since Ati cards are very driver sensitive about this. Nvidia also use CUDA which is also for HW acceleration. CoreAVC for example is CUDA compatible. Thanks for all the feedback, will be looking to order the hardware this week. After mentioning graphic cards I was wondering what your views on these 2 cards are Sapphire HD 4550 512MB DDR3 VGA DVI HDMI HDCP PCI-E Gigabyte HD 4350 512MB GDDR2 VGA DVI HDMI HDCP PCI-E Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denis W. Veteran Posted May 11, 2009 Veteran Share Posted May 11, 2009 (edited) Go for the 4550. I have it for my HTPC running Windows 7 and it renders the UI (mainly WMC) and plays videos without hitching. It's also a decent gaming card at lower resolutions. The onboard GPU won't be enough if your screen resolution's set to 1080p. I'm not sure if the Gigabyte HD 4350 has a low profile bracket included, but most mATX cases demand low profile brackets for addin cards. As for the motherboard, that one's okay, but you can save a bit by going down to this one. For the purposes of a HTPC it does the job. Note that this one has a ALC888 chip whereas the one you selected has a ALC889A chip for audio. The 889A has Dolby Home Theater - could be useful for small speakers. And it looks like yours has a optical TOSLINK plug at the back, as opposed to the GA-MA74GM-S2H which has a coaxial plug for digital audio output. For the CPU, you can try slightly cheaper ones, although they seem to be cheaper by no more than 10 pounds so I guess you can stick with the one you've selected. The one I'm using for my HTPC is a x2 3600. I'm not sure about the case. For the one I have, the fans are rather loud, even louder than my main desktop. :ermm: It's no big deal if you've got the volume cranked up to a reasonable level, but if quietness is one of your needs, take a closer look at the case you selected. Finally, for remote maintainance. Simply take advantage of Remote Desktop Connection, and setup your folders so that you can drag and drop files over the network. In this respect HomeGroups works wonders. ;) Edited May 11, 2009 by rm20010 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannydeman Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 I use a laptop as 1080P mediacenter with an onboard 3450 mobillity readeon chip. All my 1080p content plays fine without any problems :) So why go for an overrated noisy and energy eating graphichs card? It's just a little bit over the top if you just want to use it as HTPC. EDIT: seems the HD4550 is good. I thought it was a big card with a fan, but after cheking the link I seem to be wrong :) It's a good card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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