[crazy_gadgets]

Hi all

Firstly thankyou for the numerous build advice posts very useful!

I am in the process of building a new htpc. Have had one for the last 5-6 years and its beginning to fall over. Plus I want to take advantage of my new hd 3d tv and av receiver. It will be solely an htpc but does need to play full hd content and 3d etc maybe the odd game. It will also be a pvr probably using media portal As the back end with xmbc as the front end. Have been using gbpvr but love xbmc interface so gbpvr has got to go!

So I need to
Watch 1080
Record freeview hd (dvb-t2) multiple channels and watch previously recorded etc and timeshift etc
Watch 3d bluray
Pass audio to my av reciever
Play the odd game
Get 4-6 years out of this system!

After reading what feels like the whole Internet I have come up with the below list of bits and I'd appreciate a sanity check from you guys. Any comments welcome.

Thanks

Rich

LN13884 - SilverStone LC20B-M Desktop/HTPC Case, Black with VFD+IR+Remote w/o PSU
Quantity: 1
£119.97 (Ex VAT)
£143.96 (Inc VAT)

2) LN25426 - Scythe Shuriken Rev.B Quiet Low Profile Cooler 3 Heat Pipe - HTPC Ready ALL AMD/Intel CPU
Quantity: 1
£21.69 (Ex VAT)
£26.03 (Inc VAT)

3) LN29161 - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit SP1, Operating System, Single, - *OEM
Quantity: 1
£56.07 (Ex VAT)
£67.28 (Inc VAT)

4) LN29534 - AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition, S AM3, 3.4GHz, 8MB Cache, 125W, Retail
Quantity: 1
£82.96 (Ex VAT)
£99.55 (Inc VAT)

5) LN36085 - 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair DDR3 XMS3, PC3-10666 (1333), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 8-8-8-24, * 1.65V
Quantity: 1
£25.10 (Ex VAT)
£30.12 (Inc VAT)

6) LN36184 - 500W Silverstone ST50F-P, Strider Silent, 100% modular, 80 Plus Bronze PSU
Quantity: 1
£46.98 (Ex VAT)
£56.38 (Inc VAT)

7) LN37450 - BlackGold BGT3620 High Definition PCI-e Card, Dual DVB-T and DVB-T2, Dual Digital DVB-C
Quantity: 1
£88.00 (Ex VAT)

8) LN38446 - Samsung SH-B123L/BSBP 12x BD-ROM & DVDRW Combo Player OEM
Quantity: 1
£37.38 (Ex VAT)
£44.86 (Inc VAT)

9) LN38959 - 1GB Asus GT 520 Silent, 40nm, 1200MHz GDDR3, GPU 810MHz, Shader 1620MHz, 48 Cores, D-Sub/ DVI/ HDMI
Quantity: 1
£35.52 (Ex VAT)
£42.62 (Inc VAT)

10) LN39245 - 60GB OCZ Agility 3 SSD, 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s, SandForce 2281, Read 525MB/s, Write 475MB/s, 50K IOPS
Quantity: 1
£79.16 (Ex VAT)
£94.99 (Inc VAT)

11) LN39999 - Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3, AMD 970, AM3+, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR3 1866/2000, SATA 6Gb/s, RAID, ATX
Quantity: 1
£69.97 (Ex VAT)
£83.96 (Inc VAT)

[Mallet21]

My only issue might be with the GT520....Evidently it struggles with 1080i material and it looks like you will have quite a bit of it. I would look at the GT430 instead.

[crazy_gadgets]

Thanks Mallet21

Hadn't really considered that 1080i would need more power but I can see that it might. I don't want to be crippled by my graphics card that is for sure!

So if I replace the GT520 with this 430 card from zotac

1GB Zotac GT 430 Zone, 40nm, 1600MHz GDDR3, GPU 700MHz, Shader 1400MHz, 96 Cores, DL DVI/ HDMI/ DP

is there anything else people might recommend?

Thanks

Rich

[eskro]

i have a GT210 and i have ZERO issues,,,

dont think you'll have issues with the GT520

[crazy_gadgets]

Thanks Eskro

At £20 extra for the 430 seems like a small price to pay to have extra piece of mind.

Unless there are some disadvantages to using the 430?

Rich

[outatouch0]

My only issue might be with the GT520....Evidently it struggles with 1080i material and it looks like you will have quite a bit of it. I would look at the GT430 instead.

Where are you getting this from Mallet?

[Mallet21]

Where are you getting this from Mallet?

When I said struggle I was referring to quality:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4380/discr...shootout/7

When it comes to deinterlacing the GT520 is very weak.

[eskro]

When it comes to deinterlacing the GT520 is very weak.

probably like my GT210, which i've yet to come across a movie that stutters

[poofyhairguy]

It comes down to the number of shaders. The GT430 has the amount needed to de-interlace 1080i, the GT520 doesn't really. The only time this comes into play really is viewing live-tv just like OP wants. The GT520 is better with power usage, and should be considered for those who don't want live tv.

[darkscout]

Not sure how it is in the UK, but 99% of OTA live TV is 720 not 1080.

[poofyhairguy]

Not sure how it is in the UK, but 99% of OTA live TV is 720 not 1080.

CBS in particular here in the States has the type of 1080i broadcasts that will overwhelm lower-end GPUs.

[eskro]

CBS in particular here in the States has the type of 1080i broadcasts that will overwhelm lower-end GPUs.

so, GT520 and GT210 will both struggle on 1080i/LiveTV i guess...

roger that,,,

[crazy_gadgets]

Thanks for all the replys guys

430 it is then!

[outatouch0]

yes, thanks for the info.
I have watched some (very little) live TV via my Hauppage (GT520). CBS is the first channel that comes up. Have not noticed any issues.