My HTPC Project..

[smack323]

I figured it was about time to jump on the bandwagon and get one of these things built. Here is what I am going with:

nMEDIAPC Black Aluminum / Acrylic / Steel HTPC 5000B Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case $89.99
Intel E7400 2.8GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor $119.99
ZOTAC GeForce 7050 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard $44.99
EVGA GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB $154
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 $5 (nice find with the rebate)
Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive $99
LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner SATA $22
OCZ StealthXStream 500W $25
Logitech EX 110 Black USB + PS/2 Standard Cordless Desktop Keyboard & Mouse Kit $30

I know I dont have a TV tuner - but it mostly going to be used for gaming and storing music and movies. I have a HDDVR for all my TV shows and crap

I also downloaded Windows 7 to give it a try. The last of the parts should have been delivered to day, and i hope to get it up and running over the weekend. I wanted to get a thread started so I can post pic later without messing around. I already know I am going to have to do a bit of case modding - I think the card is to long to fit as is.

not bad for $589.00

suggestions on software? comments on the system?

[mr_noname111]

All looks good except for the keyboard mouse combo you chose. The range on that is probably only 1m~, as it is 27mhz instead of 2.4Ghz RF. If you plan on using the keyboard/mouse from your couch, you need 2.4ghz RF, or bluetooth.

[martini161]

2.4ghz can interfere with wifi and cordless phones. as long as you have LOS that keyboard should be fine from the couch

[smack323]

well the good news is the card did fit in the case with no modification to the hard drive bay.. bad news is the power connector for the card is on top of the card and not on the back side. so I need to cut a 1inch x 1/2inch hole in the top for the plug to stick out so I can get the cover on.

Saturday i will be loading up windows 7 64 bit.... has anyone had any bad experiances with it?

hopefully the keyboard works. I read some reviews and people were saying it was working for them up to 8-10 feet away- I should have a clean line of site to the box so we'll see..

[dicecca112]

Hope you don't expect to play Blue-Ray on this. The 7050 is a little underpowered even for regular DVDs

[GI-JOE]

Hope you don't expect to play Blue-Ray on this. The 7050 is a little underpowered even for regular DVDs

That's why he has the 9800gtx listed.

[smack323]

Hope you don't expect to play Blue-Ray on this. The 7050 is a little underpowered even for regular DVDs

dicecca- I had to do a double take for a second.. I was like "oh crap I thought for sure my video would be processed smoothly thru the 9800 GTX" - I am hoping you just miss the GPU?

I dont know much about Blu-Ray.. I have a couple Blu-ray movies - If/when I am able to rip them to my hard drive am I going to need a special player to play them? I know I will at least need a BD drive to rip them so that will be my next part once I find a good deal on one.

Like I said earlier I am hoping to rip my favorite DVD's/Blu-rays and music on this so I dont have to mess around with disks anymore. but have never really got into that befroe so its all kinda new to me.

[GI-JOE]

Just a question. Why not go for an AMD rig with 780g graphics? You could do without buying a video card then.

[smack323]

I plan on doing gaming also. mostly FPS and driving games. needed something a little better than on board graphics.

[GI-JOE]

Cool, 9800gt is a great choice then.

[smack323]

Its a gtx I am assuming that is a tad better than the GT? my initial plan was to get a GTX 285 for my main rig and put the 8800gts 512 in the HTPC.. but then I would have needed another PSU and I was trying to keep the price down.. plus i am still kinda bitter about paying $380 for the 8800 less than a year ago. I figure these cards will tide me over a year and I can upgrade both to 285's or 295's for under $350.. I have had good luck re selling my video cards on ebay for close to the cost on newegg. I think when I sold my 8800 gts 640mb on ebay I sold it for like $5 less then what it was on the egg. So the total cost of upgrading cards hasnt been too bad.

[GI-JOE]

Its a gtx I am assuming that is a tad better than the GT? my initial plan was to get a GTX 285 for my main rig and put the 8800gts 512 in the HTPC.. but then I would have needed another PSU and I was trying to keep the price down.. plus i am still kinda bitter about paying $380 for the 8800 less than a year ago. I figure these cards will tide me over a year and I can upgrade both to 285's or 295's for under $350.. I have had good luck re selling my video cards on ebay for close to the cost on newegg. I think when I sold my 8800 gts 640mb on ebay I sold it for like $5 less then what it was on the egg. So the total cost of upgrading cards hasnt been too bad.

From what I gather, a 9800gt = 8800gt and a 9800gtx = HD4850 so thats a good choice.

[smack323]

All looks good except for the keyboard mouse combo you chose. The range on that is probably only 1m~, as it is 27mhz instead of 2.4Ghz RF. If you plan on using the keyboard/mouse from your couch, you need 2.4ghz RF, or bluetooth.

you were correct sir the range is pretty limited. i need to be with in about 4 feet for it to work. but I can move the IR receiver closer to me when i use it so it still will work..