Ready to order parts, final questions

[hyg71886]

This is the part list I've finalized for my HTPC. It will house and play all my music, movies and pics. I wont be doing any major converting on this except maybe combining .vob files into one to play through XBMC. I will be ripping all my blu-rays, dvds, and cd's to this.

mobo
GIGABYTE GA-MA780G

psu
Antec earthwatts EA500 500W

ram
A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB)

cpu
Athlon 64 X2 5050e

dvd drive
LITE-ON Black 6X BD-ROM

OS
WD 160gb

storage
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB

case
Thermaltake DH 103

I was also considering the ASUS Xonar HDAV1.3 sound card, is it worth it over the onboard sound? Also, is the onboard video fine to play dreamscene back rounds in vista on a 61in dlp I know it will handle 1080p. Any other suggestions would be appreciated, this is all being connected to the following,

Samsung HL61A750
PS3
XBOX 360
Wii
Klipsch F-3 Synergy FloorStanding Loudspeaker (2)
Klipsch S-2 Synergy Surround Speaker (2)
Klipsch Synergy C-2 Center Channel Speaker
Klipsch Synergy 12in Subwoofer
Pioneer Elite SC-07
Belkin PureAV PF60

[Khalil]

That's a nice Television.

[hyg71886]

Originally Posted by Khalil That's a nice Television.

ya its gorgeous, its getting discounted so im glad i bought it before that happened.

[hyg71886]

question, why do you have a i7 in your multi media build? Is that ur htpc?

[Khalil]

Originally Posted by Prometheus question, why do you have a i7 in your multi media build? Is that ur htpc?

Yes but it is in a full tower case not in an htpc case. i7 is the fastest thing out there if you can get one to work right for you. The kids play games on it as well, it is hooked up to a 55" LCD, I also use it to watch Blu-Ray and edit home movies of the family.

[hyg71886]

What kind of problems have you had with it? Do you think it is worth it for me to get say a x4 955 cpu in the htpc for future encoding or something close to it?

[Force Flow]

We stopped recommending Seagate drives for the time being. They had some recent firmware issues, and now it looks like a number of them are failing.

The WD Black drives seem solid, plus they come with a 5 year warranty (seagate dropped back to 3 years)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136284

[hyg71886]

ok i will use those drives, do you think its worth the extra money for the 1.5tb drive?

[passn_thru2]

.. i thought you were making a Desk top,... i just checked out the case.. interesting

earlier post ..
if you are using Vista.. i would think at least 2x2Gb RAM, Vista uses a Gb to run

i have been researching Gigabyte boards and have been told they like 2x2Gb Ram, even if you are using a 32bit system ..you will be losing a Gb, but the Gb you get will make a lot of difference for very little cost. and if you upgrade later to 64bit you only have to buy another 2x2 if you need more

[Khalil]

Originally Posted by Prometheus What kind of problems have you had with it? Do you think it is worth it for me to get say a x4 955 cpu in the htpc for future encoding or something close to it?

i7 is not stable yet I would stay away from it.
The AMD 955 is a beast and if you don't mind spending the money I would go for it however if you have no plans on video editing then the other AMD you picked will work great for watching movies, TV and music playback.

[hyg71886]

i would be doing converting o it of videos do u think the chip is worth it

[Khalil]

If you don't mind spending a more on a CPU it is for sure worth it.

[hyg71886]

ya i dont mind, is the extra heat going to be all that significant in it? Its a pretty big case and I'm installing a after market cooler

[Khalil]

AMD processors run cool. My Phenom II 955 runs 38-42C under load.

[hyg71886]

Originally Posted by passn_thru2 .. i thought you were making a Desk top,... i just checked out the case.. interesting earlier post .. if you are using Vista.. i would think at least 2x2Gb RAM, Vista uses a Gb to run i have been researching Gigabyte boards and have been told they like 2x2Gb Ram, even if you are using a 32bit system ..you will be losing a Gb, but the Gb you get will make a lot of difference for very little cost. and if you upgrade later to 64bit you only have to buy another 2x2 if you need more

I didn't think of that, plus I will do all encoding on this machine so ya 4gb is a good point. This build is going on my av rack with the receiver, game consoles, and power regulator/surge protector.

Khalil

Being that they run that cool I wont be worried of heat so I am going to go with that processor. My main rig has a q6600 go stepping at stock so I shouldn't need to upgrade that for awhile. I am currently re encoding saving private ryan just to play on my ps3 and its a pain in the rear. Should I get a faster hd and ram in this build to help the cpu encode faster?

[glc]

If you are building a HTPC, I'd look at the WD Green drives - they are low power drives and run very cool and quiet. They are very close to the Blacks in speed.

[hyg71886]

I actually completly changed my plans, I'm gonna gut my current desktop and use those parts and upgrade my desktop. Here are the builds

psu- PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W
mobo- evga 680i sli a1
cpu- q6600 go
ram- crucial ballistic 4GB(2x2GB) 1066 ddr2
vid- HIS Hightech H467QT512P Radeon HD 4670 IceQ

I would only have to purchase 2 hd's, a vid card, and the dinivo which totals 274.28

Here is the i7 build parts list w/ pricing
psu- KINGWIN Mach 1 ABT-700MA1S 700W
mobo- ASUS P6T Deluxe V2
cpu- i7 920
case- Xcio 1000

[glc]

I would be very leery of a Kingwin PSU.

[hyg71886]

what would you recommend, wattage wise and brands

[scuderia]

Corsair 750TX and you're golden.

[hyg71886]

Originally Posted by scuderia Corsair 750TX and you're golden.

do i really need all that power?

[glc]

What video card is going in that box, and would you ever go dual (SLI or Crossfire)?

[hyg71886]

If ur talking about the htpc, the HIS Hightech H467QT512P Radeon HD 4670 IceQ, if you mean my desktop I'm keeping the graphics card I have, the evga 8800GTS (g92). And I think sli is a waste in less ur in compition, I don't think its overall used in a well enough since to use. I'd rather by 1 high end card

[glc]

I am referring to the build where you are talking about a Kingwin PSU.

[hyg71886]

I switched out the psu for a corsair modular. Do you think an x3 720 is that much of a wattage increase over a x2 5050e?

[Khalil]

No it is not and the 720 is a substantial boost over the 5050

[hyg71886]

ya I was checking because I thought it was a big increase and was going to go with the 5050e because of it, heres the parts list

mobo- MSI 790GX-G65 AM3

cpu- AMD Athlon 64 X3 720

OS hd- WD 160GB (7200)

storage hd- WD Black 1.5tb (2)

psu- cosair 550w

ram- OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB)

dvd- LG Black LG Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM

case- Thermaltake DH 104

Mouse/keyboard- Divno mini

Its either I do that or build an i7 rig and use the parts in my current rig for the htpc

psu- PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W
mobo- evga 680i sli a1
cpu- q6600 go
ram- crucial ballistic 4GB(2x2GB) 1066 ddr2

I would only have to purchase 2 hd's, a vid card, and the dinivo which totals 274.28

Here is the i7 build parts list w/ pricing
psu- KINGWIN Mach 1 ABT-700MA1S 700W
mobo- ASUS P6T Deluxe V2
cpu- i7 920
case- Xcio 1000

Do you think I should just go with the amd build or with the 2nd? Is i7 enough of a performance gain over my current rig to warrant the upgrade?

[Khalil]

You don't want an MSI anything. i7 is getting canceled I highly recommend you stay way from it.

[hyg71886]

Whats wrong with MSI? The board got good reviews? And where did u here i7 is getting cancelled?

[Khalil]

Do you want good advice or are we gonna have a debate?
I gave you my advice, sorry if you don't like it.
http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=207864
Good luck.