My future HTPC (hopefully)

[Spragleknas]

Even though I am on a tight budget (just bought myself a 42" 1080p LCD ), I hope to buy myself a new HTPC in a month or so.

My current HTPC is a s479 (MoDT) SFF from AOpen (review) - a pretty little thing (see "my system" for more info).


What I plan to buy:

Case:
Antec NSK 2400 (review). There are three reasons for buying this case: price, test results and it fits into my IKEA-thingy (have to make a hole for air outlet). This way I will not see it, and hopefully not hear it.

Motherboard:
I was planing to go for a 690G motherboard, but nVidia's new NF630a-series looks very promising (integrated 7050 graphics w/HW-HD support), so I have decided to go for Abit's AN-M2HD (only one that is currently for sale in Norway). What I like about this motherboard: Optical SPDIF-out on mobo (NOT bracket or only internal), HDMI w/HDCP-key, IEE1394 (like most other "hi-end" m-atx cards) in case I buy a FireDTV. Wort mentioning is that it looks like Abit is using a Realtek ALC888 (not listed in Abit's hompage). Manual to be found HERE.

CPU:
One of the reasons for waiting to make this buy (besides spending shit loads of money last weeks) is the release of AMDs new X2-series. I'll probably get the BE-2350. What I like about these is the low TDP; 45W! AMDs info HERE.

RAM
A cheap stick of 1GB DDR2 800 MHz. Should be 800 MHz due to integrated graphics. Probably going to buy another one later, but I believe I mentioned my tight budget ATM? EDIT: Seems like I should get two sticks.

Other
Allready got a PVR-350 and a HDD (even though I am not satisfied with my Seagate 320GB or my WD 250GB - I actually perfer my Samsung IDE that allows me to adjust AAM). Also buying a NEC (Optiarc) silver DVD-RW (matches the color of the NSK good - not perfectly, though...), and a CPU fan if not bundled.


I will update this thread when changes occur or when it is bought.


Please feel free to comment!

[Spragleknas]

*Will use this post for completed project*

[petzlux]

Originally Posted by Spragleknas

RAM
A cheap stick of 1GB DDR2 800 MHz. Should be 800 MHz due to integrated graphics. Probably going to buy another one later, but I believe I mentioned my tight budget ATM?

One issue, if you are using the motherboard video, than you would be better off with two 512mb sticks to make use of the dual channel ram controller on the AMD CPU. A the cpu and video chip need access to the ram at the same time, with only one channel of ram there could be bottlenecks, especially playing hd video ... .

[Spragleknas]

Thanks for the input.

I remember from the "good old" AMD XP days that dual channel was nothing more than a hype (not so much as the AGP X8-hype, though).

Will check this out - but since the mobo has 4 DDR2 slots, I might consider 2x512MB (or just close my eyes and order 2x1GB ).

[THDBASED]

Just a question: What makes the NF630a-series better than the AMD 690G? I noticed that the 690G only supports "ShaderModel 2.0" while the NF630a supports 3.0. Is this a big difference?

[Spragleknas]

I don't know if SM 3.0 has any advantages over 2.0 when it comes to HTPC, but I ended up on the NF630a due to lower CPU usage when playing high def. movies. (could not find the URL of review - )