First Antec HTPC build

[kszabo]

Originally Posted by ShoopNL

Hi all,
Also full 1080p does not run smoothly, so I think I have to look around for a good video card,
which supports Full HD

1080p will not run smoothly on your x1250 (even with CoreAVC, most simple settings). Buy a cheap GFX Card (maybe passively cooled?) or replace motherboard (first one is more easy)

[ShoopNL]

Hi kszabo,

Any Advice on what type of GFX card I should look for,
I prefer it to be passively cooled.

Thanx already.

[kszabo]

If you want a silent HTPC with low energy consumption, you can take a GFX with an ATi HD3450 chip. They are cheap (ca. 40 €), almost always passively cooled, have integrated HD Audiocontroller and HDMI-Adapter, support 1080p/i h.264 hardware decoding.

If you want to play computer games, this would be not enough. AFAIK the fastest ATi is the HD3650 which can be passively cooled. Like this: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

But mote GFX power is = more energy consumption (= more case fan speed = more noise)
The nVidia stuff I don´t know too well.

[ShoopNL]

Originally Posted by kszabo

If you want a silent HTPC with low energy consumption, you can take a GFX with an ATi HD3450 chip. They are cheap (ca. 40 €), almost always passively cooled, have integrated HD Audiocontroller and HDMI-Adapter, support 1080p/i h.264 hardware decoding.

If you want to play computer games, this would be not enough. AFAIK the fastest ATi is the HD3650 which can be passively cooled. Like this: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

But mote GFX power is = more energy consumption (= more case fan speed = more noise)
The nVidia stuff I don´t know too well.

Hi kszabo,

My HTPC is dedicated to Watching media for now, so I will not play games on it.

Well I found these 2 cards based on the HD3450 chip.
- Sapphire Radeon HD 3450 256MB DDR2, PCI-Express 2.0, DVI-I/HDMI, Heatsink (29,- €)
- Sapphire Videokaart PCI-e Radeon HD3450 512MB DDR2 2xDVI/TV (36,- €)

The biggest disadventage is that I have to work with a DVI -> HDMI adapter.

Another thing I am not sure about is the integrated HD Audiocontroller.
Can I use this to transport my Audio via the HDMI I cable?

Anyway I also found a:
- Asus EAH3650 SILENT MAGIC/HTDP/512M,512MB (46,- €)
which should allow me to play some games, not a bad choise I think.

[kszabo]

I would go for the Asus EAH3650 SILENT MAGIC/HTDP/512M

a HD3650 has nearly the 3x 3D graphic performance of a HD3450. I could imagine that the video quality can be better also (better deinterlacing, better denoise algorhythms etc), especially for HD h.264.

[mamakawama]

I have the ATI 3650 HD (passively cooled), a passively cooled Celeron 420 1.6G (very low wattage) and it works great with any video I try to play. I put a 1TB green WD drive in the Antec (along with the system drive and DVD rom) and run the case fans on low. It is nearly silent and runs cool 24/7.

[kszabo]

I finished testing my new Antec Fusion based HTPC. It works great!

Antec Fusion 430 Silver
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H with ATi HD 3200 onboard
AMD X2 BE-2400 (TPD 45 Watt, 2x2,3 GHz)
2 GB DDR2 800 RAM
Scynthe Ninja Mini CPU-Heatsink without fan
PowerDVD 7.3 as mpg2 and h.264 codec, HW accelerated
Vista Home Premium SP1
Technotrend S2-3200 DVBS

- CPU <40 °C passively cooled (only 2 12 cm case fans run on lowest speed)
- system nearly silent
- Microsoft MCE 2005 Remote works with the buit-in IR receiver (latest iMon software) - configured for MP and PowerDVD
- HDTV smooth (1080i 50Hz)
- Bluray smooth (1080p 24Hz) - but little jumpy because of 50Hz TV (no 24p support)
- Display works with the cybrDisplayplugin here: CybrDisplay External Status Plugin


Only thing: I could not get wake up HTPC from standby wth remote, working on it

Edit:
Wake up from standby from Remote Controller works!!! You just have to recable the case: the black-white power cable from power button of the case must be connected with the display (with IR receiver), the purple-black power cable from display must be connected with the mainboards power pins. This is NOT the out-of-the-box configuration of Antec (as they state in the users manual). For this it is better to dismount the front panel of the case (3 small screws on top and 3 plastic clamps below)

[ShoopNL]

Hi,

I have ordered the EAH3650 SILENT MAGIC/HTDP/512M should be in tommorow.
I am also looking for a new Case. The Antec case is extremely good but it is just 10 cm to deep.
So I am looking around for a case that is only around 30 cm deep.
However there is not so much available, I found only the Silverstone LC02, or LC04 (I prefer the last one, since I can reuse my DVD player)
I also have to order a PCI-e raiser card, since it is not included :-(
Also I cannot reuse my TVcard, but maybe there are different solutions for that (it does not have my priority, to watch TV)

[bigflause]

I got rid of my fusion. bought http://www.origenae.com/downloads/br..._s14v_htpc.pdf

the cases are really nice but very expensive. quite hard to find as well. I had to order from the manufacturer in S korea.

I hated the crap LCD with the black fusion model. The thing was practically just a blue light. very hard to read.

the silver one with the VFD was two small to read. was garbled most of the time as well.

The fusion has gone end of life and is being replaced by the fusion remote and fusion max.

should be out at the end of the month. fusion remote has no PSU but comes with a remote instead.

fusion max is a full ATX case. looks exactly the same as the normal one. I hope they are chaging the imon VFD/ LCD as well.

[ShoopNL]

Hoi,

Yes, I found these originae case's, but all of them are to deep, around 390mm , I am looking for something between 290 and 310 mm deep.
Only thing I found were the silverstone's, LC02 and LC04.