Seems like an awful lot of horsepower for just watching movies. Are you also planning on gaming with it?

In general the Silverstone stuff is pretty good but if you can go microATX I would look at the GD02.

One thing to make sure of is that you check the depth of the case.
Well I'm the type that doesn't like to half ass my PC builds. :) I will game on it too I'm sure, but that wasn't the main goal. If I was gonna purely game, I woulda bought 2x 3870 and gone Crossfire right off the bat. :D

I like the look of the Zalman HD160, but man is that thing expensive for a case. I guess I should go to a store and physically check out these cases cause it's not the same over the web.

Thanks for the recos, keep em coming.

Is anyone considering using the Asus M2A-VM-HDMI mobo ?

Not to poke, but you should read more of my (This one that you posted in) thread. This subject has come up in here and elsewhere in the HTPC section of the forum.

This board is in many HTPCs here at Digital Home Canada and is serving most of us just fine.

I have a problem paying over $200 for case and power supply

This is basically unavoidable in the HTPC market. The thing that may comfort you is that the HTPC cases are usually of a much higher level of quality and the power supply is very critical in a system that is usually turned on 24/7.

wow... yes i went back and read most posts since 2005... sorry if I just made you repeat yourself, que3jxp...

So I guess my questions are more specific now...

The version of the Asus M2A-VM-HDMI pictured on the Asus website no longer has a riser card for the HDMI connector but rather has it all on the mobo... version 2 maybe ? (I will look into the Sapphire or Gigabyte versions...)

I plan on using the HTPC to view BLURAY/HDDVD/DVD, downloaded DIVX/XVID content, surfing the net, and capturing OTA HDTV using an AverTV MCE A180... and occasionally as an mp3 server.

I do not own MCE2005 and would like to avoid buying it... (I was in the MCE beta test and it was excruciating... bug-filled... would not work at all properly for my BEV5900/9200 setup... not even at the end...)

I do not mind not having an EPG in the HTPC... and I do not plan on having the HTPC control any exterior hardware... Can I get away with using XP ?

Thanks to all for your feedback - it makes all this a lot easier to plan out - most of the beta testing has already been done !!

I like the Silverstone LC20 but the LC17 is a good case as well. My experience is that case sizes between ATX and mATX are not that significant. Smaller, lower cases are available but they come with trade offs in versatility and/or quality. Most (if not all) will not handle the components on this list.

Asus Maximus Formula motherboard
HIS IceQ3 Radeon HD3850 Turbo (2 slot cooling solution)
Intel Q6600 2.4GHz Quad Core processor
OCZ GameXStream 700W PSU

I agree that this system is overkill for an HTPC. Those specs describe a gaming machine. You will need a case with a lot of attention to good ventilation and noise reduction. A good HTPC needs a careful balance of performance, energy consumption, features and aesthetics. Not that this might not double as an HTPC given the right software and hardware additions. OTOH, a gaming system in a HTPC case is not a HTPC. Maybe you should keep the 360 and PS3 and look at building a lower powered HTPC.

Majobin - MCE is not for everyone but it has come a long way. And if you decide to buy Vista Home Premium then you get Media Center thrown in as it is part of Vista Home Premium and Ultimate - you can get an OEM version of HP for around $100 from online shops. You could still go with XP MCE - there is not much of a premium for MCE over regular XP and it has a few perks that regular XP doesn't - like the ability to act as a Remote Desktop host. But you never have to use the MCE part if you don't want to.

Other options for TV are Sage, which has been gaining lots of traction recently, and BeyondTV. You can use OTA with any of these three but I found MCE more flexible in channel assignments as the online services seem rather ignorant about Canadian digital OTA channels. If you want to use an extender to view live or recorded HD content then your options are down to Vista or Sage.

I have had a XP MCE system in my TV room for over a year with almost no stability problems. It is used every day by my wife and others and they like it and don't complain about problems - most people don't even know that there is a PC behind what they are watching.

I want to echo que3jxp on the Antec NSK2400. You might want to also look at it's big brother, the Antec Fusion.

I'm upgrading my computer for a future as a HD HTPC...

1. Would I notice much difference going to a E4500 from my trusty old 805 D dual core overclocked to 3.2GHz? (I'd be overclocking th E4500 to around 3.0Ghz I think). Would this upgrade benefit HD playback or DVD encoding much/at all?

2. How can I tell if my video card is HDCP compliant? Is this much of an issue? How is HDCP handled in a HTPC (ie depends on software, etc)? My card is a PNY 7900GT with 2 DVI outputs.... can't find any info on this... (pny part #VCG7900GXPB)

3. Is my 7900 GT sufficient to play 1080P HD video properly?

4. I bought another 2gb of memory for a total of 4gb, (2gb for $17 I couldn't not do it!), will I see any benefit from the 4gb? Not running 64bit OS which I understand you need to use all 4gb but it's only $17 so why not?

Thanks for any help!

This whole issue about nice expensive cases could be avoided with something like this:

Buffalo External HD DVD/Blu-ray Drive BHC-6316U2 (http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/26/buffalo-offers-up-external-hd-dvd-blu-ray-combo-drive-in-japan/)
http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadget.com/media/2007/08/8-25-07-buffalo-hd-dvd-play.jpg

Available in Japan only according to that article, but it would be perfect to have a small drive in your theater room and have the PC and other components in another... no noise/aesthetic issues. Anyone know the max length of a USB 2.0 cable for something like this?? EDIT: found it on Ebay for $550 US shipped!

The version of the Asus M2A-VM-HDMI pictured on the Asus website no longer has a riser card for the HDMI connector but rather has it all on the mobo... version 2 maybe ?

Haven't seen that one...

As of right now, if I had to do it over again, I would go for the Gigabyte mATX 690G board as it has an optical out for audio. The Asus only has co-ax digital.

I do not own MCE2005 and would like to avoid buying it... (I was in the MCE beta test and it was excruciating... bug-filled... would not work at all properly for my BEV5900/9200 setup... not even at the end...)

MCE 2005 is actually very good. I can quickly agree that earlier versions of MCE were pretty buggy, but 2005 with all of the patches installed is a very nice product. Especially when you consider that it comes from Microsoft. Also, like was pointed out, the price for WXP MCE is only a bit more than straight WXP and the nice thing is that if you dislike the MCE apps, you just turn them off and start using an alternative like SageTV.

I like the Silverstone LC20 but the LC17 is a good case as well.

I can see the need for the different aesthetics for different buyers but to further bolster the LC17, it is a much better value proposition as it can be found on sale for very close to $100.

My experience is that case sizes between ATX and mATX are not that significant.

I can confirm this from all of the research and wasted money I have chewed through. Unless space requirements on a shelf demand it, I suggest building a main HTPC into a full ATX capable case like the LC17.

The only time I have and will further consider using a mATX case is when building a thin client machine. That is why I bought the NSK2400. I needed something reasonable, smallish and pretty enough for the master bedroom so that it looked as little like a computer as possible.

To DJDiggler:

1. Not likely. The better place to focus your $$$ is the video card. Unless you are able to simply drop in a new C2D chip into an existing P4 that is LGA775, or your existing mobo lacks a PCI-E slot, save your money.

2. This is difficult on older cards but anything in the last 12 months should have the HDCP spec on the box or on the manufacturers site. One method you can use to check is to download the HD/BD adviser from the PowerDVD site. It will also give you good feedback on other components in your system. As for it being an issue, not really. You can buy a copy of AnyDVD and it will allow for playback on ANY output. This is what I use on my HTPCs. Some of the best money I spent.

3. Yes it is. If you are looking to add better HDTV processing and performance and you are not looking for gaming performance, the ATI HD2600 Pro and the NVidia 8600 GT are the absolute sweet spot for performance in an HTPC. They are actually better and faster at HDTV than an 8800 series card and they are definitely faster than anything from the older 7xxx and 1xxx series cards from NVidia and ATI.

4. I have yet to run into a real issue with 1 GB in an HTPC. I have 2 GB in one of them but I have not seen that huge of a benefit. 32bit O/S' will only address 3 GB of memory so the 4 is overkill butlike you said, it is so sickly cheap right now...

Thanks for the info! I tried that HD Advisor utility and apparently my 805 is under the minimum, (stock speed at least, it lists the 840 at 3.2Ghz as ok). My card is also just under min req. at stock but I overclock that to. Unfortunatly it's not HDCP so I'll need a new card or anydvd anyway.

Hi everyone,

I'm in the process of buying parts for an htpc. Here's a list of what I intend to build it with:
Processors (CPUs) AMD Athlon X2 BE-2350 Dual Core Processor Socket AM2 2.1GHZ 2X512KB 45W 65NM SOI Retail Box
Motherboards Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H 690G mATX AM2 1PCI-E16 1PCI-E4 2PCI HDMI Video Sound GBLAN 1394 Motherboard
Memory (RAM) Patriot Extreme Performance 2GB 2X1GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 CL4-4-4-12 Dual Channel Memory Kit
Video Cards Integrated
Computer Cases Antec NSK2480 BLACK & SILVER DESKTOP CASE MICRO ATX EA380 HIGHEFF PSU $98.38
Power Supplies Included with case: 380Watt
Hard Drives Western Digital SE16 500GB SATA2 7200RPM 16MB Cache 8.9MS NCQ Hard Drive OEM 3YR MFR Warranty
DVD Writers Pioneer DVR-212D Black DVD-RW 18X6X18 DVD+RW 18X8X18 DL 10X SATA 2MB OEM DVD Burner No Software
Sound Cards Integrated $0.00 $0.00
TV Tuner (DVB-S) Digiwave 103G DVB-S Digital FTA Satellite Tuner PCI Remote
All this would cost me around 550$ +tax and shipping.

I was wondering if it's a good choice for an htpc or should I go with something like the Netgear EVA8000 or the D-Link DSM-520.

Thank you for your help!

That is a nice and comprehensive first step into an HTPC.

Toss in a copy of Windows and SageTV and that will make one nice box.

The only major change I would make would be to install a silent version of an HD2600 Pro or a silent version of a GeForce 8600 GT. Although the 690G does an admirable job on all content, there are post processing features that may be desirable that are not in the 690G that are in those two series of card I suggested.

Gigabyte actually makes a silent version of each and they are both HDCP compliant and are available for about $100.

Don't get me wrong though. I have the Asus 690G based board and it is fine. Like I said above, the onboard video does an admirable job.

The only question I have for you is do you intend on installing TWO 500 GB drives? The reason I ask is that the prices of Terabyte drives is rapidly dropping so I would personally advise that you get one 500 GB drive and hold for a little bit to get any additional drives.

As que3jxp said, it should make a nice HTPC.

Regarding the video card comment, unless you get a discount when purchasing the whole system, I would simply use the integrated video and go from there. If you are satisfied with its ouput to your TV quality wise, you just saved ~90-100$. If not, you can always purchase it at a later time.

Make sure you have a good return policy if you go with the Netgear EVA8000 or the D-Link DSM-520. If you feel its not good enough, too restrictive compared to a full HTPC, you always have the option to change your mind.

megab, if you are in or near Montreal you should also put in an ATSC tuner card to get the OTA HD stations for free.

Thanks everyone for the reply!!!

First of all I would only put one 500GB drive. I don't think I will need more at the moment.

As for the ATSC tuner, do you have any example? I'm near Montreal and this would be very interesting.

I was wondering if anyone used the antec case I mentioned. Does it perform well and would I'd be better buying something like this:
http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=93480

Thanks again everyone, I appreciate the help :)

P.S. To the moderator: Thanks for the formatting of the post!

First of all I would only put one 500GB drive. I don't think I will need more at the moment.

The one lesson on storage I learned in the last few years of HTPCs is that you never have enough. Once you start storing ripped DVDs and start downloading TV shows that are not on TV anymore, well, you chew through a ton of space.

I have gone from 250 GB to very close to 1.5 TB now for all of the media content that I store, record, save for rainy days or repeat nights. And I plan on blowing past the 2 TB mark just to guarantee that I am not stopping to shuffle files and shows around.

I am using a NSK2400 (the previous version) for my HTPC and it works fine for me. You only have to be careful with your heatsink selection due to height restrictions. However, if you plan on using the stock cooler or some of the now available low height heatsink such as the mini ninja that may be a moot point. I have no experience with the NSK33XX, only the NSK44XX (bigger).

ATSC in Montreal? Reception wise, you can check the appropriate subforum here to see what is available to you: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=129

Card wise, I'd go with a combo PCI/PCI-E dual tuner so you can record both SD and HD at the same time like the Hauppauge HVR-1600/1800. Its readily available in the Montreal area or online.

Thanks again everyone!

I just realised that my tv (http://ca.lge.com/en/products/model/detail/lcdtv_32lc7d.jhtml) already support NTSC/ATSC/QAM. I think I will stick with the satellite card for the moment.

Just another question about the cpu cooler. Does the stock one will do the job, or should I buy something better?

Thanks!

The stock coolers are meant to be used with the CPU they come with and cool them properly. So, yes, they're meant to do the job fine.

The only thing to consider will be noise depending on the location of your HTPC and, in that aspect, most aftermarket heatsink are more efficient at cooling your cpu (better thermal) and/or use a fan that will be more quiet than stock cooler and/or a combination of both.

Here, my HTPC runs an AMD 3200+ using the stock cooler with the fan speed controlled via SpeedFan (software). Under 45c, it turns the fan off. Above 45c, it turns it on at ~40% (silent at ~1meter in front of the case). Above 55, 100%. The fan only turns on when I am watching HD content (temp hovering ~48c) and never at full speed. The only full time active cooling is the PSU and 1x120mm TriCool Fan running at LOW setting near the CPU as exhaust.

Actually, the stock HSF units with the AMD X2 CPUs combined with the AMD "Cool-n-quiet" technology makes for a VERY quiet and reasonably efficient cooling solution. Let me go so far as to say that it passes the "Can run all night in the bedroom without being heard" test.

My suggestion is that you try the packaged HSF first and if it is not to your liking, then invest in a different HSF.