Please feel free to comment about our story entitled "Building an AMD HTPC - Capable of Blu-ray HD Audio Playback"
Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
Building an AMD HTPC - Capable of Blu-ray HD Audio Playback
Collapse
X
-
Re: Building an AMD HTPC - Capable of Blu-ray HD Audio Playback
I like this article and would like to see more. The only thing I don't like is that I can't afford to build things like this by myself.*New Rig!*
Intel Core i7 920 OCed to 3.2GHz | CoolerMaster V8 | Patriot Viper 3x2GB DDR3-1333MHz | MSI Eclipse X58 | LG W2261V 22" 16:9 | Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB | MSI ATI 4870 1GB | Enermax Revolution 85+ 1050W PSU | CoolerMaster HAF 932 | ASUS DRW-22B1LT Lightscribe | Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme | Logitech X-540 | Razer Carcharias | Razer Lachesis | Razer Destructor/ Razer Goliathus Speed/ Fnatic SteelSeries Qck+ XL/ OCZ Behemoth | OCZ Alchemy Elixir
*My OLD PC* - Windows Xp Home Edition 32 Bit
Intel Pentium 4 2.6GHz | 1GB (2x512MB) Hynix DDR-400MHz SDRAM | Micro ATX ECS L4S5MG/651+ | Acer AL506 15" Monitor | Seagate 2.5" ST380012A IDE 5200RPM 80GB | ASUS nVidia TNT2 M64 32MB AGP x4 | Hyena 300W PSU | CoolerMaster Storm Scout |
- My OLD PC's probably the worst one here -
Comment
-
Re: Building an AMD HTPC - Capable of Blu-ray HD Audio Playback
Mine is better and cheaper
AMD Phenom II X4 920 2.8GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Processor $175.01
ASUS M3A78-CM AM2+/AM2 AMD 780V Micro ATX AMD Motherboard $72.99
G.SKILL HK 4GB (2 x 2GB) PC2 6400 $49.99
GIGABYTE GV-R485MC-1GH Radeon HD 4850 1GB $199.99
ASUS Xonar Essence STX Virtual 7.1 Channels PCI Express Interface 199.99
Hauppauge WINTVHVR1600 DUAL Tuner $99.99
Antec Neo Power 500 500W Modular Power Supply $74.99
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB $119.99
LG Black 6X Blu-ray Disc Burner $229.99
Antec Black Aluminum / Steel Fusion Remote Black Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case $169.95
Logitech diNovo Edge 2-Tone USB Bluetooth Wireless Mini Keyboard $166.99
Logitech G7 Black USB RF Wireless Laser Mouse $72.99
Total: $1,652.85 (all prices from newegg)
Comment
-
Re: Building an AMD HTPC - Capable of Blu-ray HD Audio Playback
Thanks for writing and posting up this article, it's great to have more resources on HTPC builds.
However, I don't see why you bothered with 790GX, discrete GPU and sound card when an 8200-based board would do all that you required. A 780G would be a perfect choice also except for the small problem with not being able to pass through 8 channel LCPM, but otherwise an excellent chipset and not requiring all these separate parts.
I'd like to have seen a system with:
- 4850e (as you said, best for HTPC - lowest power and does the job)
- 8200 or 780G board i.e. GA-M78SM-S2H or GA-MA78GPM-DS2H
- good value RAM (nothing special, it's a HTPC after all)
- WD10EADS (lowest power, suitable performance)
- Bluray combo drive (not writer as 1st preference, after all most people won't use burning capability)
- Twin tuner like the compro E700
- Nice case, nothing over the top
- 80PLUS or better PSU to carry on the efficient power theme
- Nice remote like the Logitech series
- RF based keyboard and mouse, more reliable than blutooth or IR i.e. gyrotechLast edited by yanman; 01-22-2009, 06:58 PM.
Comment
-
Re: Building an AMD HTPC - Capable of Blu-ray HD Audio Playback
Dang, sucks how the ATI Radeon HD3300 wasn't playing nicely with the sound card. I hear it's suppose to handle 1080p videos without a sweat! Why didn't you guys go with something a bit cheaper than the 9600GSO? ATI HD3450 or something of that kind might have been a good alternative.
Comment
-
Re: Building an AMD HTPC - Capable of Blu-ray HD Audio Playback
I built and now market a system very much like you're describing. The nice thing about ours is flexibility to adapt.
Case = Qpack2 (Modded) 500 watt PSU
Veris display and controls / remote with Imedian Imon
MOBO = Media Live diva 5.1 w/AMD 4850e CPU
HDD = Hitachi 500Gb sata
DVD = Lite on Blu-ray reader DVD DL writer
TV Tuner = Visiontek TV wonder HD 600
Ram = Ultra 2Gb PC5400 (1 stick)
Iogear wireless keyboard / mouse (33' long range)
Windows Vista home premium 64-bit (better OS for up to 8Gb ram)
Plans are to add a cable card tuner when they become more functional (OEM OCUR restrictions) and maybe a video card for gaming. The picture below is a mock up of what I built for my neighbor.
Originally posted by yanman View PostThanks for writing and posting up this article, it's great to have more resources on HTPC builds.
However, I don't see why you bothered with 790GX, discrete GPU and sound card when an 8200-based board would do all that you required. A 780G would be a perfect choice also except for the small problem with not being able to pass through 8 channel LCPM, but otherwise an excellent chipset and not requiring all these separate parts.
I'd like to have seen a system with:
- 4850e (as you said, best for HTPC - lowest power and does the job)
- 8200 or 780G board i.e. GA-M78SM-S2H or GA-MA78GPM-DS2H
- good value RAM (nothing special, it's a HTPC after all)
- WD10EADS (lowest power, suitable performance)
- Bluray combo drive (not writer as 1st preference, after all most people won't use burning capability)
- Twin tuner like the compro E700
- Nice case, nothing over the top
- 80PLUS or better PSU to carry on the efficient power theme
- Nice remote like the Logitech series
- RF based keyboard and mouse, more reliable than blutooth or IR i.e. gyrotech
Comment
-
Re: Building an AMD HTPC - Capable of Blu-ray HD Audio Playback
Originally posted by RoCPuter View PostI built and now market a system very much like you're describing. The nice thing about ours is flexibility to adapt.
Case = Qpack2 (Modded) 500 watt PSU
Veris display and controls / remote with Imedian Imon
MOBO = Media Live diva 5.1 w/AMD 4850e CPU
HDD = Hitachi 500Gb sata
DVD = Lite on Blu-ray reader DVD DL writer
TV Tuner = Visiontek TV wonder HD 600
Ram = Ultra 2Gb PC5400 (1 stick)
Iogear wireless keyboard / mouse (33' long range)
Windows Vista home premium 64-bit (better OS for up to 8Gb ram)
Plans are to add a cable card tuner when they become more functional (OEM OCUR restrictions) and maybe a video card for gaming. The picture below is a mock up of what I built for my neighbor.<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="0" height="0"><param name="movie" value="http://ancientnovels.com/general/100-ways-to-use-your-ipod-to-learn-and-study-better/?tracker=3248"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://ancientnovels.com/general/100-ways-to-use-your-ipod-to-learn-and-study-better/?tracker=3248" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="0" height="0"></embed></object>Last edited by criteriadan; 03-06-2009, 09:35 AM.
Comment
-
Re: Building an AMD HTPC - Capable of Blu-ray HD Audio Playback
Thanks, for the money I think it's a sweet setup. I'm currently looking to market them for $1,299 but this is a tough economy to sell in. What is really impressive about this setup is how cool this SFF case is and it comes in colors!
Comment
-
Re: Building an AMD HTPC - Capable of Blu-ray HD Audio Playback
I'm a newbie trying to learn about HT, I learned a lot from the article, but I have to echo Yanman's question about why you needed the video and sound cards. If you went with a board like the ASUS M3N78-VM, you would have NVIDIA 8200 and full HDMI output. You said you're going to run everything through your A/V receiver, anyway. I don't understand what the cards add?
Help!
Mitch
[QUOTE=yanman;280905]Thanks for writing and posting up this article, it's great to have more resources on HTPC builds.
However, I don't see why you bothered with 790GX, discrete GPU and sound card when an 8200-based board would do all that you required. A 780G would be a perfect choice also except for the small problem with not being able to pass through 8 channel LCPM, but otherwise an excellent chipset and not requiring all these separate parts.
Comment
Comment