First HTPC - I need your wisdom... (1 Viewer)

Sicox

Portal Member
May 19, 2005
24
0
New Zealand
Hi,

This is my first complete build (i have only swapped things around before..) and need your advice as to whether the following items would be a good choice.. or what would be better...
I am planning later on adding a Hi Def tuner but need this setup to be capable of recording & playback etc. (only 720p at this stage because that's as much as my TV will accept)

- Gigabyte EP45-UD3LR
- Intel E7400 - Core 2 Duo 2.8GHz
- Sapphire HD4550 512m DDR3 PCI-E VGA / TVO / DVI-I (ROHS) LITE
- Hynix 2GB DDR2 800Mhz PC6400 SDRAM
- Hitachi 1TB SATA 3.25" Internal 16m 7200RPM
- Vista Home Premium 32-bit OEM
- Wireless Keyboard & Remote - not sure yet (in the lounge)

I currently have the following which I am intending to use from my current (poor excuse for) HTPC;

- Bestec ATX 300-122 300W Power supply
- Ahanix D-VINE 4
- Barracuda 250GB SATA 3.25"
- Samsung 500GB SATA 3.25"

I am intending to have in the lounge (as you do) into my
-Sanyo KLV -40S200A

and because i can't justify buying this and a laptop (well mainly because it is winter here and i would be locked out in the cold for a very long time...) I intend to run a second screen mouse & keyboard in my office. Because it is 15m from the main box i was intending to run a VGA cable (+ keyboard & mouse cables) as i don't think DVI will travel this far..... (am i wrong..??) - I dont need Hi Def in the office as it is just for internet email etc use...

- LG W2043T-PF 20"

Anyway - any advice / Help / Ideas / Info / People with same or similar setups / or anything else you can think of would be greatly accepted.... :)
 

Owlsroost

Retired Team Member
  • Premium Supporter
  • October 28, 2008
    5,540
    5,038
    Cambridge
    Home Country
    United Kingdom United Kingdom
    Looks basically OK to me (and should be for 1080i HD to a 1080p screen as well, although this will be close to the max. capability of the HD4550 with MP) - btw, I assume you mean an HD4550 video card ?

    I'd check that the PSU capability is OK with the new hardware.

    Tony
     

    Sicox

    Portal Member
    May 19, 2005
    24
    0
    New Zealand
    Cheers Owlsroost,

    Thanks for that...I was wondering about the power supply - I might try it and see what happens...

    Yes I did mean HD4550 (have corrected).

    Thanks for your input.. :)
     

    etheesdad

    Retired Team Member
  • Premium Supporter
  • November 8, 2008
    831
    139
    Adelaide
    Very nice. Should be able to handle pretty much any htpc task with ease.

    Nice choice of cpu and video card. Should be a very good machine :)

    On the issue of DVI cable - I think 9 metres is the max length for copper, but I think you can get fiber-optic DVI cables with a much longer maximum length (something like 100 metres?) - but they are horribly expensive.

    I think its possible to use a good quality HDMI cable to get up to 15 metres. As you are using a HD4550 you could use its hdmi output. This would also eliminate the need to run a separate cable for sound as those cards do 7.1 audio through the HDMI cable. Using an HDMI extender will give you up to more length and better signal quality. (There are DVI extenders available too but Im not sure about the pros and cons of using them, also I think the HDMI extenders are cheaper(?)).

    Ive never used long cable lengths myself so this is not a recommendation- just some information off the top of my head. Hope it helps :)
     

    Users who are viewing this thread

    Top Bottom