First Time HTPC Builder (1 Viewer)

[steve1024]

Hi all,

You all seem like a friendly bunch, and I could do with some help.

Im going to order some parts to build my first HTPC, and was wondering if the following parts would do?

1024Mb DDR2 533Mhz 240-pin

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 3600+ 2.0GHz 768KB (2x384KB) L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor

ECS C51GM-M V1.0 MicroATX AM2 Motherboard (Supports 16Gb DDR2 / SATA / LAN / VGA / Audio)

Gigabyte GeForce 7300GS 256Mb PCI-Express Graphics Card

Hauppauge WinTV PCI FM Analogue Terrestrial TV Tuner Nicam Stereo SoftPVR Fast Teletext FM Radio Remote Control

Opera ATX Desktop Case with 500 Watt Power Supply

Samsung BLACK 52x/24x/52x CD-RW & 16x DVD Combo Drive

Thermaltake TR2-R1 Heatsink/Fan for AMD AM2/754/939 pin Processors

120 GB IDE HDD


Thanks

Steve

 

[petzlux]

Hi all,

You all seem like a friendly bunch, and I could do with some help.

Im going to order some parts to build my first HTPC, and was wondering if the following parts would do?

1024Mb DDR2 533Mhz 240-pin

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 3600+ 2.0GHz 768KB (2x384KB) L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor

ECS C51GM-M V1.0 MicroATX AM2 Motherboard (Supports 16Gb DDR2 / SATA / LAN / VGA / Audio)

Gigabyte GeForce 7300GS 256Mb PCI-Express Graphics Card

Hauppauge WinTV PCI FM Analogue Terrestrial TV Tuner Nicam Stereo SoftPVR Fast Teletext FM Radio Remote Control

Opera ATX Desktop Case with 500 Watt Power Supply

Samsung BLACK 52x/24x/52x CD-RW & 16x DVD Combo Drive

Thermaltake TR2-R1 Heatsink/Fan for AMD AM2/754/939 pin Processors

120 GB IDE HDD


Thanks

Steve

You dont need a 500w Power Supply, you will only get more heat developing and thus more noise from fans. Go for the smallest power supply in terms of watts(250 watts could be enough depending on your components), and if possible one that's certified as 80+ efficiency. Your electricity bill will be lower and you will have a cooler/quieter system.

In the same spirit, try to get a energy efficient CPU, the new Athlon Be2350 for example use 45 watts max. My HTPC has a single Athlon 3500+ which also is specified as 45watts max TDP, and my HTPC as a whole consumes only about 55watts idle, with peak power consumption of about 90.

You might get away without a separate graphics card, as your mb has one integrated already. Again, my MB has the geforce 6150 integrated, and I can view any video up to full HD h264 with no problems. If you dont want to do any serious gaming on the HTPC, and just watch record and view video content, than dont bother with a separate video graphics card. Again saves on the watts as well !