HTPC build - comments appreciated!

chappy16775 · Post by **chappy16775** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 6:32 pm

OK, after weeks of research I finally got the first draft of my spec. My aim is to build a nice looking HTPC which can be used for 1080p playback and high end gaming on my 46" LCD. Also, needs to be as SILENT as possible so I can't hear it from 5 feet away. I'm a bit of a newbie and this will be my first ever build but I've learned alot in the forums.

Comments appreciated!!

CASE Silverstone LC20B-M
- Still not a 'perfect' case but I need at least 3 HDD bays and 2x5.25 optical (for Blu Ray and HDDVD). I heard the new version comes with upgraded HD cage (vertical drive positioning).

FANS Nexus 80mm Real Silent Fans x2
- Install a couple of quiet 80mm fans at the rear. Not going to bother with HDD fans at the front.

POWER CORSAIR HX620w ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 620W
- Was originally with the Seasonic S12-430w but heard a modular PS may be better with this case. I read the Corsair was a touch better than the Seasonic M12.

MOBO ASUS P5W DH DELUXE
- Not 100% about this but seems to be a good one. Alternatives were P5B deluxe or 975XBXLKR. Or the Gigabyte 965PDS3 which is cheaper. Not going to be overclocking much as don't know how to do that (yet!) and want cool temps.

CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz LGA 775
- C2D seems to be the way forward. May stump for a E6600 if I come into more cash!

CPU HEATSINK ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2
- Needs to be cool and quiet! not 100% sure this will fit in the case.

VIDEO XFX GeForce 7950GT 512MB HDCP Passive
- Heard great things and some bad things on this. Willing to give it a try. The length may 'remove' one of the HDD bays.

AUDIO Auzen X-Meridian 7.1 Sound Card
- Not done a ton of research here but heard its a good one.

MEMORY CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
- Hope this works with the Mobo.

HARD DRIVE SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD400LJ 400GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA (3 of these)
- Big 'n' quiet

DVD +/- RW NEC ND-3550A Black Media Drive/Burner
- or similar...

TV/HD capture - maybe in the future

Should be able to get it done for under $2,000.
THANKS!

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 7:51 pm

I built something with *very* similar specs recently.

I did put the two 92mm fans at the front though, and didn't end up bothering to put in the 80mm's.. as it turned out i had sufficient cooling.

the Zalman 9500 fits - reasonable amount of room but not a huge amount. I used a P5B Deluxe though, but i'm sure space wise they're similar.

I used a NeoHE 500 .. and the ATX power only just reached the far side. Also, i had to reroute the front USB cables as they weren't long enough how they came from the factory. No cutting or anything required though.

No idea if you'll be right for the 7950.. you'd want to measure to make sure it'll fit as it's not the highest of cases - you can use the 9500 as a guide though.

I'd reckon that if you did want to use the 7950 you'd probably want all four fans in the case so that you have good airflow. Its not the most spacious of cases.

Actually i'm not sure you'll have enough height for a 7950. Here is the case top down.

I haven't got a better pic unfortunately.

LC20M
E6600
P5B Deluxe
2Gb PC5400 OCZ
ASUS 7600GT w HDMI & HDCP & Zalman vf-900cu
Antec NeoHE 500
1x 250gb WD KS drive & 2x 400gb WD KS drive.
Pioneer DVR-111D.
2 x Nexus 92mm
Zalman 9500 CPU cooler.

Its pretty quiet, can barely hear it from across the room.
Haven't measured it with anything, though.

chappy16775 · Post by **chappy16775** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 10:04 pm

Thanks. I've read on other forums that people have been able to fit the 7950GT passive in this case. Also, the case now ships with an upgraded HDD rack - where the drives are mounted vertically. I guess this was considered an improvement.

Any reason you went for the P5B deluxe over the P5W?

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 10:11 pm

I think a better improvement would have been hdd rubber grommets, not sure how much of an impr the other direction would give it. Probably better for cable management, though. Maybe.

Went the 965 as i'd heard it had better raid performance. *shrug* No real reason not to, though. Not sure if there's any thermal difference.

chappy16775 · Post by **chappy16775** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 10:16 pm

I think I'll go P5B Deluxe 965 actually.

Thanks again!

pandamonium54 · Post by **pandamonium54** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 1:43 am

Your choice of CPU and GPU will probably give you trouble with full 1080p playback. Testing by AT (http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2886) shows that pairing today's bleeding edge CPU/GPU together gets by alright, but when you start moving into "midrange" gear, it's questionable. Your current specs would handle 720p easily. 1080p is questionable.

The only choices I see are:
1) Spend a LOT more and buy the C2D6800/8800GTX.
2) Expect to upgrade in the next 6-12 months to handle every instance of 1080p
3) Wait

pandamonium54 · Post by **pandamonium54** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 1:52 am

On a side note, I wouldn't cram HDDs into a HTPC. It's an appliance- you want to set it up and forget about it. If it dies, you'd want to be able to quickly and easily replace and redeploy it for tivo/whatever duty.

Think of the hard drive capacity in your HTPC as a media cache. Your most recently viewed stuff/what you expect to view/what you've just recorded would be stored on it. Your archival unit should be completely separate. I would recommend a separate file server for media storage. Keep such a file server in a well-ventilated climate-controlled room, and let the fans spin as fast as they will. We all risk our hardware's longevity for the sake of silence- hardware is a commodity and can be replaced at will. Our data, on the other hand, is far more personal and far more difficult to replace. Keep it safe.

I have 2 of the 400GB Samsung T-series drives in a Thecus eSATA enclosure. They are *not* as quiet as I would like.

Edit: Scratch that last comment about the 400GB Samsung T's. I never bothered to figure out how much of the noise came from the fan vs the drives, and I don't plan on it because I only turn the drives on for a couple of hours or so a week.

Stereodude · Post by **Stereodude** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 4:06 am

pandamonium54 wrote:Your choice of CPU and GPU will probably give you trouble with full 1080p playback. Testing by AT (http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2886) shows that pairing today's bleeding edge CPU/GPU together gets by alright, but when you start moving into "midrange" gear, it's questionable. Your current specs would handle 720p easily. 1080p is questionable.

The only choices I see are:
1) Spend a LOT more and buy the C2D6800/8800GTX.
2) Expect to upgrade in the next 6-12 months to handle every instance of 1080p
3) Wait

What?

How about you read the guide from nVidia?
Or, this review from PC Perspective Note how much more of a difference hardware acceleration helped on H.264 playback in the PC Perspective review.

I find it really hard to believe the nVidia would intentionally put incorrect information in a buyer guide, and send someone out a reference system without enough CPU to decode the content (they didn't, it worked). I also find it really hard to believe that the H.264 on Blu-Ray is very different from the H.264 on HD-DVD.

chappy16775 · Post by **chappy16775** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 7:51 am

pandamonium54 wrote:Your choice of CPU and GPU will probably give you trouble with full 1080p playback. Testing by AT (http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2886) shows that pairing today's bleeding edge CPU/GPU together gets by alright, but when you start moving into "midrange" gear, it's questionable. Your current specs would handle 720p easily. 1080p is questionable.

The only choices I see are:
1) Spend a LOT more and buy the C2D6800/8800GTX.
2) Expect to upgrade in the next 6-12 months to handle every instance of 1080p
3) Wait

I'm going to go for the E6600 instead. Hope this will help.

jackylman · Post by **jackylman** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 8:08 am

pandamonium54 wrote:The only choices I see are:
1) Spend a LOT more and buy the C2D6800/8800GTX...

OR, you could just OC the E6400/6600 for A LOT cheaper than a 6800

. The 7950GT will take some of the load off the CPU. Not quite as much as an 8-series, but I certainly wouldn't buy one of those for video yet until we see what the midrange parts and ATI's offerings are like.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 4:35 pm

You know what though, if the hard drives are mounted vertically you may be able to get away with leaving the cage in with a longer vid card.