[gbmattwh]

Hi All,

Kudos to all those that have spent time on these forums and posted some excellent info.

I'm about to take the leap into building a HTPC, I've had about 20 years experience building gaming rigs but now I'm getting busier with an ever expanding family I have less time to get fully immersed into gaming.

I'm a bit rusty with some of the new AMD hardware having last built my rig two years ago.

So now I'm going to butcher my gaming rigs and try to use some of the components inside.

I'm aiming to build a slimline good looking htpc that can still play games at a decent level when and if the need arises.

I'm basically looking for something to play music, movies and games from this box direct to my TV via HDMI.

I have Virgin so no need to record live TV

My TV is then connected via Digital Optical direct to a processer which splits the sound to my amp. It's a fairly old Technics 5.1 processor & amp but still does the business and I can quite happily hook up my laptop via displayport to the TV and watch movies with no problem. However I'm now after something a little more civilised

I have a couple of options:

Option A:

Case: Silverstone ML03 or preferably the moneual moncasa 320b which I'm finding very hard to source in the UK
This would force me down the route of getting a low profile card which would be a combo of HIS 6670 + an A8 3870K
I would then purchase a SSD and a couple of Western Digital Greens to fit in.

I have another old gaming case which I would then just add a shed load of drives in and install unraid for more storage

Option B:

Case: Silverstone GD06
The case allows for a larger choice of gfx cards and processors but could open up a can of worms and then I'd end up spending a lot more money than I wanted to.
It could potentially also negate the need for an unraid server with having the extra slots for disk drives.

Basically I'm leaning to Option A: but I'm hoping that the setup will be able to playback movies stutter free with awesome sound & video.

If I go option B: there's no doubt there would be an intel solution out there but I'd rather the slimline looks with option A and It looks like AMD have the better solution with slimline cards and xfire.

Are there mobo's out there that could accommodate the processor and card and output the quality of sound via HDMI that I'm after? Or would I have to spend money on an additional sound card?

For reference I'd be using XBMC and win 7 64

Thanks for your time people

[gbmattwh]

case - Silverstone ML03
mobo - A75 pro4-m
cpu - a8 3850
heat sink/fan - undecided
gfx - low profile HIS or Sapphire 6670 using xfire/dual gfx or whatever they deem to call it
ssd - Samsung 128GB 830 Series SSD - Solid State Drive - MZ-7PC128B/WW
fdd - 2 x 2TB western digital caviar greens
ram - 2 x 2gb (undecided what to get)
psu - undecided

Haven't thought about cooling as yet, still investigating. If anyone has any knowledge, experience or thoughts i'd be much appreciative of the input.

Shaping up though

[KraziJoe]

with a 3850, I see no reason to put in another video card. It does everything a HTPC needs too.

[gbmattwh]

Only reason to add the GFX card is to allow for improved gaming...should I find time to game

I haven't tested any of this yet I'm just hoping that the sound quality is going to be high quality via HDMI to the TV then digital optical from TV to my SH-AC300 digital processor then to my SA-AX6 amp.

I'm trying to save money by not replacing the amp and processor, they have done me proud for over a decade and still a really impressive quality of sound.

[KraziJoe]

You will get basic Dolby digital etc but will not get the HD Audio streams if you watch Blue Rays.or rips of BR.

[Andori]

I haven't tested any of this yet I'm just hoping that the sound quality is going to be high quality via HDMI to the TV then digital optical from TV to my SH-AC300 digital processor then to my SA-AX6 amp.

You will get basic Dolby digital etc but will not get the HD Audio streams if you watch Blue Rays.or rips of BR.

I may be wrong, but you will only get stereo sound going via the TV. AFAIK, you only get 5.1 out of optical on a TV when using it's own internal tuners or streaming direct to the TV. Any source going in by optical will be downmixed to stereo. (I think what you actually get is the TV tells the source that it is only capable of stereo output, so the source downmixes)

What you'll need to do is HDMI to TV for video, then optical from the PC to the amp.

[gbmattwh]

Thanks for the info guys.

Done a bit of searching on the back of the info above. See here for a discussion about some tvs allowing 5.1 through an optical http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1389050

I've currently got my xbox and virgin media box connected to my tv via hdmi and then optical out to my processor which reports to be feeding dolby digital (AC-3) to my amp. I'm not sure if I'm one of the lucky ones that has a TV that is feeding 5.1 through the optical or whether it's my processor been clever and splitting the sound back out.

I've also plugged in my laptop to the tv via a displayport to hdmi straight to the TV and the sound has been awesome and definitely 5.1.

This was why I was hoping I could continue in the same manner.

Only way is to test I guess but as it already does this for virgin tivo, xbox and my laptop I would assume it should do it for my media pc...fingers crossed

[gbmattwh]

Read something else that explains it all perfectly..with my current setup I would not be able to get True HD sound only AC3...looks like I'll be on the hunt for a new a/v receiver....boooo hiss

Explained here : http://columbiaisa.50webs.com/diagrams_h...l_hdmi.htm

[KraziJoe]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004M8RPBI

[Andori]

It's a new one on me if there are TVs that pass it, but I'm not discounting it. Not read the full thread on AVS but from the first page there is a lot of disbelief on the subject.

If you don't want HD audio, then no need IMO to get a new AVR. Just go with video from the various sources to the TV and audio via optical (or coax) to the AVR. My bedroom system has a Virgin TiVo, Sony BD Player and 360 connected this way.

It may be your processor is converting a 2.0/2.1 signal to 5.1 with Dolby Pro Logic.

[gbmattwh]

More than likely to be the processor and doing a fine job it is too.

I'll purchase all the kit see how I get on and check back with the quality. It would be a shame to lose my amp and processor as it's performed very well for over a decade.

600 watts of venom made people leap when alien was played for the first time on it

If I need to replace then I'm leaning towards the Onyko NR709, that type of investment should see me good for at least 5 years+

[Andori]

The 709 is (or rather was) nicely priced at £550, though it is now an outgoing model so looks like getting hard to get hold of at that price.

[gbmattwh]

Managed to source one for £545 picking it up tomorrow....couldn't resist. Definitely think it's worth the investment, will cure a lot of ills for me

With everything being plugged into the TV at the minute, even to play music, I had to have multiple devices turned on. I can now just have one or two devices turned on instead of 3 or 4. (tv, amp, processor, media source).

Aiming to order the parts for htpc tomorrow will run a full listing upon purchase. Slimline Gaming HTPC coming up

[gbmattwh]

So Final Kit List:

Case: Silverstone ML303 - £49.50
Mobo: Asus F1A75-M - £57.55
CPU: A8-3850 - £77
GFX: Sapphire 6670 Low Profile - £60.91
Case Fans: 4 x Fractal Design 80mm Silent Series (Possibly overkill and may not need 4) - £22.40
CPU Fan: Scythe Shuriken Low Profile - -£20.61
Boot/OS drive: Samsung 128GB 830 SSD - £112.49
PSU - Ripped from Gaming Rig - Enermax Modu 82+
RAM - Ripped from Gaming Rig and total overkill - 2x4GB Dominator GT 2000

Chose the Asus mobo over the Asrock because I tend to favour Via over Realtek for Audio.

Should turn out to be a very good looking slimline and powerful gaming/HTPC paired with my 709 and B&W MT-50 it should be immense