My HTPC - the long brief

[acewin]

wow great review and help, you really have managed to make things in control. And you even bought Softwares to keep safe of pirated.
My question is you could have gone for an Intel procy also like 2160 or 4400 on same price, is their limitation ingetting MOBOs for the overall HTPC requirement and vid-outs for TV. Because I wanna take some time and wait and then build up a HTPC for myself latter on, but I wanna keep intel procy.

You guys have though helped me out alot to know what components to add though.

 

[Ponmayilal]

^ @ acewin, thanks for the nice words.

And yep, for a small form-factor HTPC with HD capability, there is no match from the Intel-nVidia stable yet. And this is what Tomshardware has stated finally in the referenced article dated 04 March 2008.

Rival Intel is put to shame by AMD's chipset in every single one of these categories. And although Nvidia recently released a similar product with the GeForce 8200 mGPU, we have yet to receive a review sample.

But things may change. If you are bent upon Intel - nVidia comby, then hang on and keep your eyes and ears open. IMO however, for a dedicated HTPC ( no gaming ), the low cost AMD/ATI comby is value for money and more than sufficient with all-around appreciation on the performance front.

 

[Daffodil]

WOw............Wow........What a great build. I was pleasantly surprised when I reached here through gx_saurav's equally worthy tutorial, to find that this build preceded it with the only difference that you had gone for two 250 GB hard drives (total 500GB) in RAID 0, for faster read and writes.

I may suggest to the mods that in as much as these two noteworthy threads complement each other, they should be integrated under one thread.Those interested in a DIY build will benefit. At least the two pictures of the build in the Zebronics CUBE cabinet can be placed in the other tutorial with due credits.

And @Ponmayilal, if you are under the impression that a 60mm fan is of an exotic hard to find variety, it is nothing but the the usual processor cooling fan which you can get from most stores dealing with computer accessories. You may perhaps need to extend the leads so that they can reach the motherboard's Chassis Fan connector.

What monitor/HDTV and TV tuner card do you have in mind to complete your HTPC?

 

[gxsaurav]

Monitor = LG L206WTQ, I am using it at 1440X900 with 75 Hz, although it is not the native resolution but I like it cos text is fine... & movies from a distance look awesome on a 20" LCD.

 

[nsbindra]

Dude, ur tut cleared lot of tech cobwebs in my head. Thanx for enlightening.

 

[gxsaurav]

My pleasure.

 

[Ponmayilal]

^^^@ daffodil thanks for your keen interest and info.

As for the TV Tuner, I had already indicated that my mind is set on Compro Videomate Vista E800F or E600F.Though the products are listed in the Compro USA website, no store in USA still carries the product. My US friends' email query to Compro remain unanswered for whatever reason. I shall wait, for I'm a Compro baby . As a stop-gap measure, I may try the Yuan PG 600 TV tuner that is now doing duty in my XP MCE PC. It is certified for use with Windows MCE 2005 by Microsoft, but I donno whether the MCE driver will work with VMC.

As for the monitor, an order is being placed for DELL SP2208WFP (1680X1050 resolution with HDMI input; Rs.14513/-) and DELL AS501 Soundbar (10W ; Rs.758/-). Prices inclusive of taxes and shipping but through DELL's Employee Purchase Program. Lead time indicated 12 to 15 days.
1080p capable 24" monitors are still out of my reach and I shall wait till prices drop.

See review for the 22" monitor here

The soundbar will clip on to the monitor and derive its DC Power and audio input from the monitor when connected with the HDMI input.Thus it will be a total replacement of my 29" Philips TV for HD Video viewing.. For casual TV viewing the soundbar will be used and for other audio, the HTPC will drive the Philips AV amp through its optical output.That's how it has been planned and lemme see how practical its gonna be.

 

[gxsaurav]

It is certified for use with Windows MCE 2005 by Microsoft, but I donno whether the MCE driver will work with VMC.

It will work flawlessly.

As for the monitor, an order is being placed for DELL SP2208WFP (1680X1050 resolution with HDMI input; Rs.14513/-) and DELL AS501 Soundbar (10W ; Rs.758/-). Prices inclusive of taxes and shipping but through DELL's Employee Purchase Program. Lead time indicated 12 to 15 days.
1080p capable 24" monitors are still out of my reach and I shall wait till prices drop.

See review for the 22" monitor here

The soundbar will clip on to the monitor and derive its DC Power and audio input from the monitor when connected with the HDMI input.Thus it will be a total replacement of my 29" Philips TV for HD Video viewing.. For casual TV viewing the soundbar will be used and for other audio, the HTPC will drive the Philips AV amp through its optical output.That's how it has been planned and lemme see how practical its gonna be.

Quite an expensive setup. Won't normal creative 5.1 speakers work?

 

[Ponmayilal]

Thanks for the reassuring info.

There exists the Philips 100W RMS X 6, 5.1 AV receiver complete with 5 full-range speakers and a subwoofer (not the sub/sat variety ) for the last five or six years..So I will only be using the existing HT setup without any additional expenses of a 5.1 PC speaker system.Already I shall be incurring the wrath of everyone for dispensing with the expensive 29" Philips TV (with pixel plus 2 for PAL and 100Hz for NTSC,) till I can show them what HD video is . It can take 480p and 1080i thro component video input, but there is no way I can couple this HTPC to it.

 

[gxsaurav]

24" LCD isn't even required. Unless you are comparing the HD quality on a 20 & 30"+ LCD monitor, 1080p doesn't make a difference.

On my 20" LG Monitor, both 720p & 1080p HD Videos look same to me....

 

[amd4800]

Hello ponmayilal , saurav and others,

I am trying to assemble a PC for my son and new to this stuff. I need help.

I would start with the AMD4800+ and Gigabytye GA_MA78GM-S2H and add a 250Gb harddisk

I already have an Pentium II ATX cabinet, Intel Motherboard with 200Watts power supply and a 6Gb harddisk using windows 98.

1. Can the new mother be installed in the old cabinet.
If not ,what is a good Cabinet and SMPS for this PC.

2.Does this require a separate CPU cooler FAN other than the one which comes with AMD. Also does it require a system fan.

3.can the windows 98 harddisk be used with this PC.

Thanks for any help.

 

[gxsaurav]

1. Can the new mother be installed in the old cabinet.
If not ,what is a good Cabinet and SMPS for this PC.

No, U will need to a buy a new one. Although any cabinet will do with a good 400W power supply but have a look at the above mentioned Zebronics Cube cabinet with Cooler Master 460W SMPS

2.Does this require a separate CPU cooler FAN other than the one which comes with AMD. Also does it require a system fan.

The bundled Fan should be good enough, the cabinet comes with some system fans so those alone will do.

3.can the windows 98 harddisk be used with this PC.

6 GB is very less now, atleast get a 120 GB SATA.

 

[Ponmayilal]

^^ I fully endorse what gx_saurav has stated.
Give a go-bye to any old cabinets.Though a bit costly The Zebronics CUBE case is a better choice and you do need a good SMPS with atleast 380W and above and a reputed one at that.Do not skimp on it and go for no-name brands.

There are already reports that the Northbridge in the Gigabyte MB runs very hot and people are worried, though no catastrophic failures have been reported under normal usage conditions ( no overclocking ).

Given that so much is packed in so little a chip, that is understandable and good case ventilation is very important.

In the Zebroncs CUBE case, the bottom fan of the SMPS blows air directly on to the Northbridge in the lower compartment (see the pictures elsewhere on this thread). Therefore this case is ideally suited rather than a tower case.

So choose an SMPS with a fan at the bottom.I was not aware of this but luckily, the VIP Gold 400W, I chose, has a bottom fan and so I am happy that I made a correct choice of the case and cabinet.I would have erred had I chosen an SMPS with the usual fan at the back only.

I have now been running the HTPC for almost 20 hours a day for the last twenty one days.( I still have 9 more days to activate Vista ) The AMD overdrive program ( which I use only for monitoring) reports tmpIN1=42 C, tmpIN2 =44 C and TmpIN3=87 C. The last one is presumed to be that of the Northbridge.(82 to 90 is what is being reported by other users).( I did not check the temperatures immediately after installing the AMD overdrive, when I had kept the case fully open)

As already reported a clean install of Vista Home premium SP1 requires 15GB for OS alone.

The current breed of motherboards support XP and Vista only since most software vendors have stopped providing drivers for Win9X/Win ME. So don't even think of them.

Note: Though AMD Overdrive is slated to work on this RS 786 motherboard with the latest F3 bios update, there still appears to be some bugs, which AMD/ATI/the bios manufacturer have to sort.For example the CPU core temperatures are read as 0(?).I have tried to ascertain as to what are tempIn1,tempIn2,tempIn3 but no info.The user manual just states value of temp sensor1, 2 and 3.So tempIN3 represents the northbridge temperature is at best only a guess by many.If there is any clarity on this I shall post the same.For now take it with a pinch of salt as I do.

 

[amd4800]

ponmayilal,gaurav

the zebronics cube and VIP/Powersafe 400W SMPS is not available in chennai. but zerbronics B2 is available.

Please suggest some alternative cabinets and power supply.

Is Cooler Master Extreme power 390W good enough.

also pls suggest a DVD writer with or without lightscribe facility.

Thanks.

 

[Ponmayilal]

Zebronics Cube should definitely be available at Chennai.In fact I have heard that at around Rs.1900/=, it is cheaper in Chennai. Please contact Top Notch Infotronics India Pvt. Ltd.For the benefit of all, this is the branch address at various places.
*www.zebronics.net/contactus.asp

I have no idea about other make power supplies but whether Coolermaster or antec or Corsair or Gigabyte,or whatever good brand, choose one that has a bottom fan.

I have gone in for Samsung SH203D/IDBH SATA (Rs.1180.00) DVD Writer after reading good reviews in Digit and elsewhere too.Till then I was a lite-on fan.

 

[amd4800]

@ponmayilal

These are the components that i have bought.

1. Mother board - Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H
2. Processor - AMD4800+
3. Memory - Transcend 2Gb 800Mhz
4. HardDisk - Seagate 250Gb Sata
5. DvdWriter - Samsung S203 Sata
6. SMPS - Cooler Master Extreme 460W
7. Cabinet - Cooler Master Elite 332
(with 120mm Fan in the back.
provision for 80mm fan in the side - do i need this fan??)

Do i need a Thermal compound to fix the stock CPU Fan.

Any Cooler required for North Bridge or South bridge as you mentioned.
Can I use the Floppy and CDROM Drive from my old pc in this setup.

Since i am a first timer, please give me tips on assembling the PC. Anything i should be careful about etc..

 

[gxsaurav]

^^^ Thermal Paste is already applied on the stock CPU Cooler. No cooler is required for northbridge or south bridge. Install a 80 mm fan on the side. You can use old floppy & CD drive in it.

Which OS R U installing on this machine?

 

[amd4800]

Currently I have only Windows XP now ( I need to get windows Vista).

Where is the offer for Windows Vista Home premium fr Rs.5100 (ponmayilal had posted).

does the 2x 1Gb make a difference over 1 x 2Gb RAM??

Any Tips on how to go about assembling the parts.

 

[gxsaurav]

does the 2x 1Gb make a difference over 1 x 2Gb RAM??

yup, 2 X1 GB will run in Dual Channel configuration.

Any Tips on how to go about assembling the parts.

Buy the parts, then tell some hardware assembling guy from some computer shop to assemble it for u, he should take Rs 400 maximum.

 

[Ponmayilal]

Where is the offer for Windows Vista Home premium fr Rs.5100 (ponmayilal had posted).

Windows Vista Home Premium was purchased at Computerwarehouse, Bangalore for Rs. 5100 plus 4% VAT.Prices have since dropped and the same is quoted now as Rs.4600 + 4% VAT. My loss Rs. 520 . *www.computerwarehousepricelist.com/productlist.asp?curpage=2&ctg=23.

From what I see, the Coolermaster Elite has an optional airduct on the side panel - not actually intended for a fan - that can draw air on to the processor. Since northbridge is the hottest on the MB, an additional 120mm fan in the front may help in better cooling.Whether absolutely essential is debatable, but IMO it will be better than nothing.

With another four days to go for windows activation, I decided to add two more transcend 1GB 800 MHz modules thus making it to 4 GB.While shopping my eyes fell on a 120mm Fan and I decided to add it to my CUBE cabinet.

Currently I am evaluating the efficacy of an 120mm front fan in the CUBE cabinet. I am halfway through this experiment and will post the results soon here.