Ongoing New HTPC - please comment! (2 Viewers)

[MPM]

Target use-case is pure “living room” HTPC, i.e. watching TV and videos in client-only configuration. No gaming, “MS Officing” or anything like that. The only “must have” is smooth and trouble-free playback of video material in all resolutions (including 1080p) and all flavours of compression; and smooth and trouble-free playback of TV, both SD and HD. “Nice to Haves” are ability to pass-through HD sound, sleep/resume technology that works well with MP and low power consumption. My current HTPC will become dedicated TV-server and all media is stored on NAS.

After few weeks of browsing and forum-researching, this is what I'm looking at to start with:

Case: MonCaso 312
http://www.moneualusa.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=157&Itemid=158

PSU: Seasonic X-400FL 400W
http://www.seasonicusa.com/NEW_X-series_Fanless.htm

MB: GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3975#ov

CPU: Intel Core i3 2105 3,1GHz

RAM: Corsair XMS3 DDR3 PC12800/1600MHz CL9 2x2GB (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9)

SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 SATA III 2.5" SSD 60GB
http://www.ocztechnology.com/ocz-vertex-3-sata-iii-2-5-ssd.html

BD: Samsung SH-B123L
http://m.samsung.com/ca/consumer/of...es/optical-disk-drives/SH-B123L/RSBP-features


If I find boxed CPU fan too noisy, I will instead use Scythe Shuriken
http://www.scythe-usa.com/product/cpu/043/scsk1000_detail.html

If integrated HD3000 graphics are not good enough, I will add Sparkle GeForce GT430 1G-P
http://sparkletw.com/products/geforce-gt-430-1g-p/

If I get into cooling issues with too many passive elements and no case fans, I will add a couple of SilenX fans to create some airflow through the case...
http://www.silenx.com/quiet.fans.asp?sku=ixp-13-14

What do you think?

Thanks!

 

[Caesium]

Watch out for the 23.976Hz issue with the HD3000 - last I heard, it couldn't do it - when asked to display 23.976Hz, they display 24Hz.

Reference:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1308142

And not fixed in Ivy Bridge apparently
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2198726

So basically you'll need that GT430.

 

[m0t0k0]

I can't say I have noticed the 23.9Hz problem to be honest with my i3 2100 but instead of getting a discreet GPU you may consider going for an AMD fusion setup

 

[MPM]

I'm sort of suspecting that I wouldn't notice the 23.9Hz problem either... I have never messed with output frequency so I guess I've always been watching all my content in a default 60Hz - but have not experienced any picture issues or judder. It may very well depend on my eyes not being trained enough but nevertheless, I'm OK with it...

Regarding AMD fusion, I'm looking for something that would give me a set-up that is as close as possible to hassle-free-fool-proof video playback and researching the forum seems to point into GT430 direction which is why I decided to go with a discreet card to start with. Then, after some more reading, I noticed that many users seem to be fairly happy with HD2/3000 integrated in i3 or i5, especially on a MB with Z68 chipset, so I decided to try a two-step approach.

 

[Owlsroost]

Looks good to me (and with the right motherboard you can limit the CPU clock multiplier, to reduce the TDP down to the level of the 2105T).

Tony

 

[MPM]

Yes, that's part of the plan - saw your post in a different thread and link to the related discussion. (Thanks!)

There aren't too many boards there to choose between that have Z68 in mATX format. Plus, I limited the choice to Asus and Gigabyte due to many years of extremely positive experience. Typically they also have good set of options in BIOS, but it's not a dealbreaker if I cannot limit the multiplier so I haven't even checked for that...

 

[MPM]

Well, I thought my math skills were better... Made a mistake when converting inches to centimeters so MonCaso 312 will not work. It doesn't fit...

A back-up solution is:
Silverstone Grandia GD06B
http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=293&area=en

And since I now don't have to go for a low-profile card, I may go with Asus instead of Sparkle:
Asus ENGT440 DC SL/DI/1GD3
http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/NVIDIA_Series/ENGT440_DC_SLDI1GD3/

 

[SpudR]

If you've got the space - I can recommend the Zotac Zone GT430 (passive cooling)
It's amazing! (see my other thread... (https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/threads/gt430.106170/))

 

[MPM]

Thanks for the hint, will definitely consider it. It's actually 4cm shorter than Asus so it may work out even better with the Grandia case.

 

[SpudR]

I missed the fact that it's a double slot card too - thought the 2nd slot is just overshadowed by the heatsink.
I moved the extra USB ports I have to that slot because the ports just sit on the backplate and don't need the PCI slot - it works fine