First attempt in building a HTPC

SavageNL · 2006-05-23, 19:03

I am planning to build a HTPC for a while now, and today I started to gather some information about stuff I would use to build it.
I came up with this list:

Motherboard: Asrock K7S41GX, 741GX (mATX, Sound, Lan, VGA)
Graphics card: Asus GeForce 6200 128MB DDR (AGP, DVI, Passive), N6200TD/128M
Memory: 1GB PC2700 DDR CL2.5 (Kingston ValueRAM)
CPU: AMD Sempron 64 2600+ (S754, 1,6 GHz, 128KB, Boxed)
Harddrive: Maxtor DiamondMax 10, 200GB (7200rpm, SATA II, 8MB, NCQ, RoHS) * perhaps this will be just ATA *
Case: Enlight EN-7473 (mATX, 200W, Zilver)
Tuners: Hauppauge WinTV PVR-500MCE
Remote: Microsoft Media Center Remote & Receiver 2005 NL
DVD writer: Lite-On SHM-165P6S 16x (Dual Layer, Zwart)
WiFi: Sweex Wireless PCI Card (54Mbps)

I'm kinda sure that it will work for MP, but I an not too sure about how silent it will be.
I chose some of the parts because they were the cheapest ones I could get (like motherboard/wifi), and others because I will like the options (tuner)

The case is about the cheapest I could find, but it was the only one that is affordable and still doesn't look like a tower casing.

So, does this configuration make any sense, did I forget anything or should I start all over again

.
This solution will cost about â‚¬500 which I think is a reasonable price for it.[/i]

surfermc · 2006-05-23, 19:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by SavageNL

I'm kinda sure that it will work for MP, but I an not too sure about how silent it will be.

In your search for a silent machine you need to consider where the largest amounst of noise will come from. This will generally be either fans or HDD.

There are many makes of fan and generally the slower you can make the fan operate the lower the noise will be. Also if you want to move a given amount of air then a larger fan will do it at a lower speed than a small fan.

Hard Disks also have the same problem if you can get a lower speed 5400rpm it will be quieter (but they are difficult to find) Seagate Barracuda and Samsung Spinpoint are considered by many fairly quiet. The HDD can also be place inside a noice reducing case.

The other thing you can do is line the inside of the case with sound absorbing material.

SavageNL · 2006-05-23, 19:43

The sound production isn't my biggest concern. It would be nice if it will be silent, but as long as it doesn't make more noise than the programs I'm watching and it doesn't annoy me too much, it will probably be fine.
If there are more silent alternatives for the components I have now, I will probably take those instead, and if silent fans are cheap then I might consider those as well.
I'll probably look into some other harddrives, because I heard that Maxtor isn't the best choice if you want to build a silent PC

I am a bit more concerned that I am missing something, altough I don't think I do. I will use the system for recording TV and not listen to the radio, so speakers aren't neccesary. But I might still forget to get something that is really needed

Bram · 2006-05-23, 19:56

Your HTPC will be more then capable of running MP. Don't worry

The price is fine.
The TVcard doen't support teletext. Are you sure you won't need that?

SavageNL · 2006-05-23, 20:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bram

The TVcard doen't support teletext. Are you sure you won't need that?

Kinda missed that

I can always still use my tv and the cable connection to use teletext... But are there any good, affordable, dual tuner tv cards that have teletext? (I'm not really into tv cards, found this one because I read somewhere that someone else had a different hauppauge tv card

)

Will I miss any features if I just use teletext on my tv instead of getting it on the HTPC? Like caching of teletext pages for faster access.

tklon · 2006-05-23, 20:38

The Asrock K7S41GX is a Socket A/462 mainboard and the AMD Sempron 64 2600+ ist a Socket 754 cpu.

That will not work. :roll:

Perhaps you better go with the brand new AM2 Socket.
-> Mainboard: ASUS M2NPV-VM with onboard GeForce 6150
-> CPU: AMD Sempron64 3600+ (AM2) (german page), is also available as 2800+, 3000+, 3200+, 3400+ and 3500+ at a lower price.

SavageNL · 2006-05-23, 21:04

overlooked the compatibility

I have been switching which motherboard I wanted, so probably didn't update the processor after the last switch

The problem with the motherboard / cpu that you are proposing is that they are both twice as expensive as the ones I have selected now. For the motherboard that isn't a big problem because the GFX card almost makes up for it, but it would still be overkill for just a HTPC

I will probably get the system in a month or two, but the prices won't have dropped that much

SavageNL · 2006-05-25, 13:00

The revised list as it is now:

Motherboard: Asus P5V800-MX
GPU: Asus Nvidia N6200/TD 256MB DDR SDRAM (AGP)
Memory: Kingston 512MB PC3200 ValueRam *CL3*
CPU: Intel Celeron D 346 (Socket 775, 3.06Ghz, 533Mhz FSB, 256KB)
Harddrive: Samsung 250GB (SP2504C, 7200RPM, 8MB, NCQ, SATA II)
Case: Enlight EN-7473 Desktop 200W Zilver
TV: Hauppauge WinTV PVR500MCE (Amity2) OEM
Remote: Microsoft MCE Remote Control Kit
DVD-RAM: NEC DVD +-R/+-RW ND-3550 DD zwart OEM
WiFi: Sweex Wireless PCI Adapter 54Mbit
CPU-Cooler: CoolerMaster Hyper L3 (Socket 775)

I read that Samsung harddrives should be a bit more silent than maxtor. Also the CPU cooler should make the thing a bit less noisy.
Also, Motherboard / CPU / Memory should be compatible now

My only concern with it now is how much noise the case (power unit) will make

It should be quite quiet

Bram · 2006-05-25, 13:27

I have the same housing! It isn't very noisy, but I can hear my two harddrives. Whit a little creativity you should be able to keep the noise level down to a minimum (use rubber rings i.a.) Also, the cooling is quite good. There are two small fans in the case, that are placed just right (next to the CPU). Above the cpu cooler there are little holes to allow cold air to come in. This makes it (depending on what CPU you have) possible to diable the CPU cooling fan. But I dan't think you will want to do that. The two little fans most likely make more noise than the CPU cooling fan. So I have the two little fans disabled.

It's to bad the housing doen't come in black. Would have liked that better than the silver. Still, it a fine case for little money.

SavageNL · 2006-05-25, 14:21

Nice to know you have the case and like it

Does the power unit have a Serial Ata power connector in it, or should I go get a cable for that (or get a ATA harddrive

)?

I'll probably disable the two smaller fans because the other fan will be less noisy, but I can't disable the the power unit fan. Does that one make noise as well?

2006-05-23, 19:03	#1 (permalink)
SavageNL Portal Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	First attempt in building a HTPC I am planning to build a HTPC for a while now, and today I started to gather some information about stuff I would use to build it. I came up with this list: Motherboard: Asrock K7S41GX, 741GX (mATX, Sound, Lan, VGA) Graphics card: Asus GeForce 6200 128MB DDR (AGP, DVI, Passive), N6200TD/128M Memory: 1GB PC2700 DDR CL2.5 (Kingston ValueRAM) CPU: AMD Sempron 64 2600+ (S754, 1,6 GHz, 128KB, Boxed) Harddrive: Maxtor DiamondMax 10, 200GB (7200rpm, SATA II, 8MB, NCQ, RoHS) * perhaps this will be just ATA * Case: Enlight EN-7473 (mATX, 200W, Zilver) Tuners: Hauppauge WinTV PVR-500MCE Remote: Microsoft Media Center Remote & Receiver 2005 NL DVD writer: Lite-On SHM-165P6S 16x (Dual Layer, Zwart) WiFi: Sweex Wireless PCI Card (54Mbps) I'm kinda sure that it will work for MP, but I an not too sure about how silent it will be. I chose some of the parts because they were the cheapest ones I could get (like motherboard/wifi), and others because I will like the options (tuner) The case is about the cheapest I could find, but it was the only one that is affordable and still doesn't look like a tower casing. So, does this configuration make any sense, did I forget anything or should I start all over again . This solution will cost about â‚¬500 which I think is a reasonable price for it.[/i]

2006-05-23, 19:56	#4 (permalink)
Bram Portal Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: 's-Hertogenbosch Age: 30 Posts: 832 Thanks: 18 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts Country: My System	Your HTPC will be more then capable of running MP. Don't worry The price is fine. The TVcard doen't support teletext. Are you sure you won't need that? __________________

2006-05-25, 13:27	#9 (permalink)
Bram Portal Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: 's-Hertogenbosch Age: 30 Posts: 832 Thanks: 18 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts Country: My System	I have the same housing! It isn't very noisy, but I can hear my two harddrives. Whit a little creativity you should be able to keep the noise level down to a minimum (use rubber rings i.a.) Also, the cooling is quite good. There are two small fans in the case, that are placed just right (next to the CPU). Above the cpu cooler there are little holes to allow cold air to come in. This makes it (depending on what CPU you have) possible to diable the CPU cooling fan. But I dan't think you will want to do that. The two little fans most likely make more noise than the CPU cooling fan. So I have the two little fans disabled. It's to bad the housing doen't come in black. Would have liked that better than the silver. Still, it a fine case for little money. __________________

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2006-05-23, 19:43	#3 (permalink)
SavageNL Portal Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	The sound production isn't my biggest concern. It would be nice if it will be silent, but as long as it doesn't make more noise than the programs I'm watching and it doesn't annoy me too much, it will probably be fine. If there are more silent alternatives for the components I have now, I will probably take those instead, and if silent fans are cheap then I might consider those as well. I'll probably look into some other harddrives, because I heard that Maxtor isn't the best choice if you want to build a silent PC I am a bit more concerned that I am missing something, altough I don't think I do. I will use the system for recording TV and not listen to the radio, so speakers aren't neccesary. But I might still forget to get something that is really needed

2006-05-23, 20:38	#6 (permalink)
tklon Portal Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Germany Age: 43 Posts: 311 Thanks: 4 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Country: My System	The Asrock K7S41GX is a Socket A/462 mainboard and the AMD Sempron 64 2600+ ist a Socket 754 cpu. That will not work. :roll: Perhaps you better go with the brand new AM2 Socket. -> Mainboard: ASUS M2NPV-VM with onboard GeForce 6150 -> CPU: AMD Sempron64 3600+ (AM2) (german page), is also available as 2800+, 3000+, 3200+, 3400+ and 3500+ at a lower price.

2006-05-23, 21:04	#7 (permalink)
SavageNL Portal Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	overlooked the compatibility I have been switching which motherboard I wanted, so probably didn't update the processor after the last switch The problem with the motherboard / cpu that you are proposing is that they are both twice as expensive as the ones I have selected now. For the motherboard that isn't a big problem because the GFX card almost makes up for it, but it would still be overkill for just a HTPC I will probably get the system in a month or two, but the prices won't have dropped that much

2006-05-25, 13:00	#8 (permalink)
SavageNL Portal Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	The revised list as it is now: Motherboard: Asus P5V800-MX GPU: Asus Nvidia N6200/TD 256MB DDR SDRAM (AGP) Memory: Kingston 512MB PC3200 ValueRam CL3 CPU: Intel Celeron D 346 (Socket 775, 3.06Ghz, 533Mhz FSB, 256KB) Harddrive: Samsung 250GB (SP2504C, 7200RPM, 8MB, NCQ, SATA II) Case: Enlight EN-7473 Desktop 200W Zilver TV: Hauppauge WinTV PVR500MCE (Amity2) OEM Remote: Microsoft MCE Remote Control Kit DVD-RAM: NEC DVD +-R/+-RW ND-3550 DD zwart OEM WiFi: Sweex Wireless PCI Adapter 54Mbit CPU-Cooler: CoolerMaster Hyper L3 (Socket 775) I read that Samsung harddrives should be a bit more silent than maxtor. Also the CPU cooler should make the thing a bit less noisy. Also, Motherboard / CPU / Memory should be compatible now My only concern with it now is how much noise the case (power unit) will make It should be quite quiet

2006-05-25, 14:21	#10 (permalink)
SavageNL Portal Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Nice to know you have the case and like it Does the power unit have a Serial Ata power connector in it, or should I go get a cable for that (or get a ATA harddrive )? I'll probably disable the two smaller fans because the other fan will be less noisy, but I can't disable the the power unit fan. Does that one make noise as well?