Legit Reviews

Yup, I'm at it again. And this time its not getting sold. The last build has sold to a coworker and tailored to fit old VHSes that were coded to DVDs. Sound was a priority on that build. On this build the priority is Hi Def Video.

UPDATE - Brother in Law took this one

So here's the build



AMD Athlon X2 4850e 2.5GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 45W Dual-Core Processor - Retail

2 x 1TB HDD

2 X OCZ Solid Series OCZSSD2-1SLD30G 2.5" 30GB SATA II Solid State Disk (SSD) - Retail

ASUS M3A78-T AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

Adaptec 2260100-R PCI Express SATA / SAS Controller Card - Retail

SONY Black 2X Blu-ray DVD-ROM 8X DVD-ROM 24X CD-ROM SATA Internal 2X Blu-ray DVD ROM Model BR-5100S - OEM

LIAN LI Black Aluminum PC-C32B ATX Media Center / HTPC Case - Retail

HT OMEGA STRIKER 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail

Scythe SCSK-1000 100mm "SHURIKEN" CPU Cooler - Retail

ASUS EAH4350 SILENT/DI/512MD2 Radeon HD 4350 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ500MXSP 500W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model CT2KIT25664AA800 - Retail

Vista Media Center w/Harmony One Remote

Connected VIA HDMI from the Video Card, all Videos encoded to 720p Standards, sound via TOSLINK

Any comments welcome, and yes this will be the first time I've used AMD since the old XP Chip Days.

Trying to keep this quiet as well

And yes I'm aware that Vista will not see all 4gigs.

what about using the MSI DIVA motherboard?

MSI and I don't get along. I have had 3 of there Mini ITX boards, all were crap. They are more designed for Embeded Solutions, like POS and Terminals.

see both of my HTPC's are MSI based and no problems here.

And not to mention I use Mini-ITX not Micro-ATX Nate.

So ended up not using the Sound Card and using the HDMI Audio to the reciever, and added in a Promise Raid Card, raided the 1TB Samsungs, and are installing Windows. Figured the SSD is overkill. Installing Windows as we speak. All built and installing Windows, I'll post pictures tomorrow.

So, brother in law bought this one, and I cleaned out the closet as you guys may have seen in the Trader, so we're going over the top this time. I'll update the first thread to reflect that.

haha, You should look into making these as a sideline, as they seem to be quite popular

I hope you are making a nice profit on them for your troubles.

Dan

Making enough to pay for this build.

You said you weren't going to sell this one!

We didn't even get pictures this time!

Haha I know, but he offered me an offer I couldn't resist, plus I know my sister will benefit, don't worry, I've put Bunsonium II together as much as I can. Didn't get the motherboard, got everything else. So I put the PSU in, and the drives, got many a picture. Once I finish I'll post the pictures.

Plus I have Windows 7 here, yes I got it legally. Can't wait to load it. Since my they wanted it with 2GB of Ram, they felt 4GB wasn't needed, I put 2G in my EEE Pc, and the other 2GB stick is going in my laptop. So I have that to do too. Look back in a couple hours for the Pics.

Pictures

you must have made a killing!

Lian Li case to boot. Once I have a nice entertainment system, I am going to have to build one of these. Your precedent machines will help me out!

Nice looking setup! I can't find an HTPC case that I like, so I just went with another Antec 300 from today's Shell Shocker deal. Now I just need to get the rest of the gear to catch up with you.

Haha DaIce your not catching up with this config. Check out the new Controller, SSDs and Motherboard. This is going to fly, and may even replace as my daily driver.

Lets put it this way I haven't built a computer since Senior year of college (2 yrs ago) It was time. Laptops are fast, but hell, I need faster. With that controller people are getting 300MB/s read and write. It was recommend at OCZ forums to use that with these

So Raid 0 for the SSDs, and some time next month I'll by 2 more TB drives to allow me to RAID 5 the TBs via the Motherboard. Once I hit 4TBs, I'll be set for a long time unless I start Ripping BlueRay

Some more Pictures to hold you Over

your going to love that sound card

Got everything, its installed and pictures have been taken. Currently this controller is making me its b***h, trying to figure out how to get Vista/Windows 7 to be see the raid as a bootable/proper system volume. Going to bed in a bit, this is getting to be a pain. I know it works with Vista because people have done it before, so has OCZ. Might have to post over there

OCZ Forums came through, after upgrading the firmware and bios, and then creating a 1GB partition then creating the one I wanted, it allowed me to install to the second partition. Been watching Transformers. I have pictures, will post later. Its gonna take some time to rip 400+ discs. And yes I did this all with Windows 7, the Media Center is incredibly stable.