I want to build a HTPC and I need suggestions for the components, especially motherboard, cpu, and graphics card. This is what I got so far: Seagate 1.5 TB HD=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00066IJPQ?ie=UTF8&dropdown-selection=molmnvi-CAS.S1V2IXIBAV6DMN] Logitech Z-5500 5.1 Speakers Antec P182 case I have about $800 for the rest of the hardware. Don't need mouse keyboard,or monitor. I'm going to connect it to my HD LCD via HDMI, but I want an aditional connector for a monitor. Sugggestions?
Motherboard: $120 UD3P: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358 $100 UD3R: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128359 RAM: $40 no fan http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145214 $60 w/fan http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145197 Power Supply: $50 PCP&C http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703015 $80 Corsair http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005 CPU: $190 Q6600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041 $320 Q9550 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017 Video Card: $105 HD4830 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102803 $145 HD4850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770 $170 HD4850 1GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125237 $180 HD4870 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102810 $225 HD4870 1GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801 Fan: $46 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154001 $50 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154002 $27 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134 As you can see there are a lot of suggestions. The motherboard, decide from the UD3P or UD3R based on if you want crossfire or not. If you want crossfire, then you would want the UD3P. If not, the UD3R. The only difference between the two is the two PCI Express slots on the UD3P. The RAM, decide whether you want a fan or not. The Fan kit costs an extra $20, so you are basically buying the fan. When I bought the kit, the one without the fan was more money With the power supply, either one will do. The PC Power & Cooling is 500w and the Corsair is 650w (or is it 620). There is a $20 price difference. For the CPU, decide whether you want to spend $320 for the Q9550 or $180 for the Q6600. Either will work fine in your setup. The Q9550 is a better CPU, but you are paying extra money for it. I have a Q6600 and the CPU utilization while watching 720p content is between 0% and 2%. Also, compressing a DVD with DVD shrink was limited by HDD speed, so it is unlikely that you will notice the difference between the two unless you start encoding H.264 or play games at high settings. The Video cards, I started with the HD 4830. I think even this card is overkill if you don't play games. It can handle every game at good resolutions. If you do not plan on getting extreme with games, there is no need to go higher than this. The HD 4850 will get you higher resolution on games or more eye candy at lower resolutions. The 1GB version will scale better at higher resolution (probably 1900x1200 and higher). The HD 4870 would max out just about every game at 1900x1200. If you plan on playing games at this resolution (or on a 1080p set), this is the card to get. The 1GB version would again scale a little better. Also, HD4870 512 > HD4850 1GB just in case you are trying to decide between those two. The HD4850 1GB might start to sneak ahead at resolution of 2500x1600, but at that point you would really need an HD4870x2 (and a 32" PC monitor ) For the Fan, the Tuniq tower is what I use. It is HUGE and LOUD!! However, I am overclocked at 3.2GHz and my temps are 24 degrees idle and 45 degrees at load (hottest cores). The load temp is lower than what the stock cooler has the Q6600 at idle There are two different versions apparently. One has a Blue LED fan and is $5 more. The Freezer 7 Pro is a pretty good cooler and should give similar results to the Tuniq. The Tuniq would be a better choice if you plan on overclocking or rather, pushing the overclock. The total cost is: $512 - $855 So basically, if you take the cheapest on each category, you get $512. If you take the most expensive, you get to $855. If you do not have an OS, then the build to go for would be the $512 one. Also, do you have a DVDRW drive? Do you have an operating system? For your TV, you may want a DVI to HDMI cable. The video cards come with DVI to HDMI adapters, so you may not need the cable if the adapter is fine for you. Personally, I like the cable over the adapter which is what I use on my upscaling DVD player. For my PC I use the DVI to VGA adapter and use a VGA cable
Wow great suggestions. My I don't play games at all, so I'm going with the HD4830. No games means I won't need Crossfire? I just plan on doing a ton of video, music and internet. I'll go with the Ram with the fan, Corsair power supply, and Q6600 CPU As for the fan I really want something quiet, so I guess I would go with the Freezer 7 Pro. Do you recommend Artic Silver? I don't have a DVDRW drive. I was thinking of this one: What do you think? For the OS I guess I'll get Vista Premimum.
I've used Arctic Silver before and it is very good. Most people swear by it This time I used the Thermal Compound that came with the Tuniq and it is working very well. The DVDRW is fine. I haven't researched DVDRW drives in years since mine is holding very well (Pioneer A09). The only things you can really look for is PIF/PO scanning and booktyping, which my drive does not support, but I don't care about either as I use Taiyo Yuden DVDR media, so write errors are not an issue. Edit: I forgot that I was going to recommend a Lite-On DVDRW drive. It is $5 cheaper: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106263 I don't think it will make a difference either way you go. Just make sure it is SATA as the SATA cables are better for airflow, but if you do get IDE (they are cheaper) there is no performance hit. Also, depending on how many SATA cables come with the Motherboard (mine came with 3), you may need to buy some SATA cables. As for the OS, consider 64 bit Windows, or if you are comfortable with Linux, a 64 bit Linux. I say 64 bit because your CPU will be 64 bit and 32 bit will only support roughly 3.5GB of RAM. You are correct about the crossfire. Crossfire would only be useful if you want to play games and get more FPS or eye candy. This means that the UD3R would be the way to go for the motherboard. With the Fan, I do not know if the Freezer Pro is quiet. I only know that the Tuniq tower is loud, however, I have it going at 2100RPM (maximum). As I am writing this, I turned it down to 1100RPM (minimum) and I am keeping an eye on temps as Prime95 is going in Blend mode. At 1100RPM, I cannot hear the Tuniq and the HD 4850 is now the loudest in my system. For video, I am not sure exactly how well it will work on Vista. I am using XP 64 and it emulates 32 bit very well. I also tried a 64 bit media player and have no problems other than there not being many filters for it (I use Media Player Classic). If Vista does not have an issue with CCCP, then everything should be ok. So here are the screenshots of my temps. The first is Idle Temps with the fan running at 1144RPM: This is my temps at load running at 1144RPM: Here is my Load at 2130RPM: And here are my idle temps at 2130 RPM: As you can see, the temp change is not that much, but for some reason, I always have my Tuniq Fan blowing at full speed I think I will start turning it down except when I encode or something where my CPU will be running at 100% for the sake of my ears. Also, note, that I am running overclocked, so my temps should be higher than yours would be at stock. The biggest issue would be if the Tuniq would fit inside your case and I don't know the answer to that, volume will not be an issue. If I didn't have to be up in 6 hours for work, I would have made nice graphs Hope you enjoy the screens! Oh, and before you go and buy everything, compile your build and make public wishlist (I wouldn't know how to do that) or a bunch of links so you get a few more opinions and maybe extra suggestions. Edit: Oh, and I forgot to mention, the fan that comes with the RAM supports 4 sticks. So, if you plan on buying another pair of RAM, you do not need to get another fan. I don't think you'll need more RAM, but maybe you like overkill Actually, I am debating whether I should pick up the $40 pair... I spent $25 on cake yesterday and RAM lasts longer than cake... If not for the rebates, this would be a no brainer.
