[kleptican]

Hey all,

I'm getting rid of cable all together and it seems an HTPC is the solution I'm looking for. I haven't built one before, and I'm a novice to building computers too, but I'm hoping this setup will fulfill my needs.


CASE: SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum skin reinforced plastic front panel, 0.8mm SECC body MILO Series ML03B Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case

MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-A75M-D2H FM1 AMD A75 (Hudson D3) HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

PROCESSOR: AMD A6-3500 Llano 2.1GHz (2.4GHz Max Turbo) Socket FM1 65W Triple-Core Desktop APU with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 6530D AD3500OJGXBOX

MEMORY: Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CT2KIT25664BD160B

PSU: Rosewill RV350-2 350W ATX 12V v2.2 Power Supply

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARX 2TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

This build comes to about $460, as I was trying to stay close to $400 but will upgrade if ya'll think it's necessary.

I basically need the HTPC to record any OTA channels, stream my ripped dvds to other PCs, play HULU, Netflix (etc), and just surf the internet. I'm not using it for gaming. I may end up streaming content to 2 PCs at the same time, with the possibilty of recording shows. I plan on leaving this PC up and running nearly 24/7 so I'm looking to see if, not only the components are fully compatible and the case would be properly cooled without adding anything, but also that it'll work for what I need it to do. It'll be directly connected, via HDMI, to my main TV (55" Samsung).

Thanks everyone!

[problaze]

be aware ml03 case has short depth allowance for PSU! it's also a tight fitting case...
this should fit! I have a similiar model and it's great!!Here
in terms of future etc it will also only handle low profile PCI-E cards which is something to consider...

maybe look at a scythe sjuriken but consider noise/cost first
-aka try stock cooler first !

if you can wait for hd prices to go down again...DO: you will save $50
You are also prime target for a NAS...unless you plan to media extend to xbox etc...

make sure your on a gigabit Ethernet for streaming or simultaneous streams isn't going to happen! I recommend splitting drives to in this case i.e. one smaller drive for OS and another larger for data -> it helps seek times I think

otherwise nice spec and good reading of the forums

[eskro]

here's what i would get if i were you.

[PSU] Cooler Master GX 450W ($30)
[RAM] CORSAIR VENGEANCE 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600 CL9 1.5V ($32)
[MOBO] ASRock A75M FM1 CIR USB3.0 SATAIII UEFI μATX ($80)
[SSD] Patriot Torqx-2 32GB 2.5" SATAII Trim Read:270MB/s Write:230MB/s ($45)

BAM!!

[kleptican]

Thanks much for the assistance. I'll look into the PSU. I know no one has a crystal ball, but are there any rumors going around as to when HDD prices will go back to normal? I'm guessing it'll still be a while

I initially tested my ripped dvds to the XBOX as an extender but I wasn't all that thrilled. Again, this isn't my area of expertise so I did go through a lot of variations of encoding (using dvdfab to rip the dvds and then using handbrake to encode). The video seemed to stutter and I had issues with the subtitles; both of which played fine on my computer using XBMC though. I'm guessing the stuttering could either be my network (i'm not on a gigabit network but I didn't think this was necessary?) or just my lackluster encoding technique

I have a friend willing to sell me a WD 2TB hard drive so maybe I'll take the savings and look into an SSD for the OS/programs. Do you have any recommendations for an SSD, as I haven't researched them until I just heard I might be saving some cash.

EDIT: Posted after seeing eskro's post. Thanks for the advice!

[eskro]

my recommendations are here
http://forum.xbmc.org/showpost.php?p=988564&postcount=3

[problaze]

the 360 only has 100mb ethernet so giga doesn't really matter but if you plan to copy files to/thro the htpc then this will effect as network through put is dependent on the framework's line speed

I tend to rip dvd's x264 in mkv container and with "constant quality" of about 21 or higher dependent on the action content of film I would then use tversity to stream these around the house OR you could just rip to mp4 but I am not a fan of that container!

subtitles will be tricky I have never had the need...sorry can't help there!

oh and seagate had a jan call that they were outperforming market so it's earlier than previously thought for recovery but know one really knows still!

[r1lee]

here's what i would get if i were you.

[PSU] Cooler Master GX 450W ($30)
[RAM] CORSAIR VENGEANCE 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600 CL9 1.5V ($32)
[MOBO] ASRock A75M FM1 CIR USB3.0 SATAIII UEFI μATX ($80)
[SSD] Patriot Torqx-2 32GB 2.5" SATAII Trim Read:270MB/s Write:230MB/s ($45)

BAM!!

The only thing i would add to this is for a little bit more ram, maximize Windows 7 to 8GB. I know it's really not necessary but for the price, you wouldn't need to open up the case again for that.

[Kirky99]

The Hauppauge 2250 will fit in that case. That case is tight though, you may want to look at a couple, three 80mm case fans to keep the air moving, especially if you're putting a spinner in there.

Recordings are large, especially HD recordings. 2TB will go fast.

Since you're doing Netflix, you're looking at Windows. 8G would be nice, use some for a ram disk for the Team MediaPortal time shift buffers. I think you'll be happy.

[eskro]

8GB for win7 is overkill,,,
i do alot of multitasking on my HTPC and i've yet to see the ram go over 3GB lol

[kleptican]

Thanks to everyone for their advice. I updated the mobo to your suggestion eskro but had a question. On newegg the memory standard has (OC) listed next to 1600, while the highest it says without OC is 1333. The memory you suggested, and the one I had, were set to 1600. Does that mean I have to do anything special to use the memory to its fullest or is the memory too fast for the mobo as it stands? Sorry for a noob question, kind of learning as i go.

Thanks.

[eskro]

well yes, if u want your memory to run at 1600,
you'll have to set it to 1600 in your motherboard BIOS.
if not, chances are that your 1600 ram will run at 1333.
again, till you tweak it.