# budget HTPC



## sunny (Jun 21, 2008)

I am building a new system using a Q9450 so I was thinking of putting my E4300 1.8 Ghz dual core to a good use by building a budget HTPC. 

Here is the setup. E4300 no OC (1.8 GHz). System has 2 GB RAM which is probably an overkill for HTPC but I have it so it will be used. The motherboard I have is a freebie from Fry's combo deal. It is ECS P4M800Pro-M. The video card is again a freebie - GeForce 6200. The video card is performance bottleneck on my system which runs vista ultimate.

The Cyberlink BD advisor says that I should be ok but video card upgrade is recommended. 

I am looking for input from users if this setup would work. Primary use of this box would be for Blu-Ray as I have a TivoHD for HD recording. 

I am also looking for recommendations on a Blu-Ray Drive and audio options for my setup.

Thanks.


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## ktr (Jun 21, 2008)

Just make sure the video card has HDCP. ATI cards are pretty good for HTPC, look at the 3 series, such as the 3650 or the 3450.


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## sunny (Jun 25, 2008)

ktr said:


> Just make sure the video card has HDCP. ATI cards are pretty good for HTPC, look at the 3 series, such as the 3650 or the 3450.



I do have a new 2600PRO but I will need a new board as that is a PCIE card and my current board supports AGP only.

Also, I just bought this Antec case (http://www.frys.com/product/5356188) but I see that most of Blu ray drives are black. Do most drives or cases comes with front panels that can be swapped? Or am I supposed to use black drive on a silver case?


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## ktr (Jun 25, 2008)

I have the same case, and have black on a silver case (for the case is mostly black). Doesn't look that bad IMO. Only the Antec Fusion has a silver CD/DVD bezel (and a vfd), but the Fusion is pricey. You can buy silver bezel on the net, I know that Lian Li and Coolermaster makes one.


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## wiak (Jun 25, 2008)

well
for blu-ray
you only need 
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+
2GB PC6400 Memory
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H

the AMD 780G chipset has its own UVD engine that offloads decoding of blu-ray so no worrys =)

or you can get a Radeon HD 3650 
the HD 2600 is old, the new 3650 has updated UVD engine for decoding


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## sunny (Jun 25, 2008)

ktr said:


> I have the same case, and have black on a silver case (for the case is mostly black). Doesn't look that bad IMO. Only the Antec Fusion has a silver CD/DVD bezel (and a vfd), but the Fusion is pricey. You can buy silver bezel on the net, I know that Lian Li and Coolermaster makes one.



Thanks for the info. I will wait till they deliver the case and then decide what I want to do.

But I found couple of links for silver bezel.

http://www.coolerguys.com/840556007616.html

http://www.directron.com/afpu011.html

I wish they didn't say brand name on the front. I would have preferred if it said 'Blu-Ray' or something. If someone can find a bezel which says BluRay on front please post a link. Thanks.


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## suraswami (Jun 25, 2008)

These might help you since you have a AGP board.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...36593,679:37462,679:36592&bop=And&Order=PRICE


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## ktr (Jun 25, 2008)

wiak said:


> well
> for blu-ray
> you only need
> AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+
> ...



Even though the 780 is faster than the 8200, the 8200 is the only one that can do 8-channel LPCM (uncompressed) output. The 780 can do 2-channel uncompressed, and 5.1-channel compressed. Perhaps in a future update, AMD will enable the 8-channel LPCM. 

As for intel, only that ASUS G35 can do 8-channel LPCM.


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## suraswami (Jun 25, 2008)

Or this

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0262132


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## sunny (Jun 25, 2008)

Wow. You guys are great (and fassst). I will stick with my current processor and intel line of boards for now. 

So I can spend about $80 for a new AGP card and use my current board or get the new ASUS G35 board for $129 which comes with built in HDMI. 

Would I still need a Video card or the on board video is good enough for HTPC? 
EDIT : I found this link http://www.silentpcreview.com/article785-page5.html which tells I may be ok for BR playback.

If I throw in an additional video card will it use in hybrid mode or will it turn off the on board video? 

Does the on board HDMI have sound as well? 


Your help is much appreciated.


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## ktr (Jun 25, 2008)

Yea, the G35 does send sound over HDMI. Only issue of the G35 is that it has an high CPU utilization compare to the 780g or the 8200. But the 780g and the 8200 are only for AMP CPU, so you have no choice. I would just get the asus g35, and no video card.


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## sunny (Jun 25, 2008)

ktr said:


> Yea, the G35 does send sound over HDMI. Only issue of the G35 is that it has an high CPU utilization compare to the 780g or the 8200. But the 780g and the 8200 are only for AMP CPU, so you have no choice. I would just get the asus g35, and no video card.



Sounds good. I can try OC'ing my E4300 if that helps with CPU utlization. If not I have a spare Q9450 lying around as well.  This board does support Quad core processors. Thanks for all the great advice.

But do you know if the on board video will work in hybrid mode (i.e. if I choose to throw in one more card later). My only concern is that additional card will shut the HDMI port on MB. Do you know the answer?


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## ktr (Jun 25, 2008)

I think you are out of luck in that case, but any ATi card will have HDMI and get audio from the board automatically.


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## sunny (Jun 26, 2008)

ktr said:


> I think you are out of luck in that case, but any ATi card will have HDMI and get audio from the board automatically.



Help me here..... so let's say my 2600PRO has two DVI ports. If I put a DVI to HDMI dongle, am I supposed to get audio with it? I didn't think that was the case. 

Or are you saying that any ATI card with HDMI will get audio from board?


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## calvary1980 (Jun 26, 2008)

no. can't get Audio from DVI only S/PDIF or Native HDMI.







HDMI Left, S/PDIF Right

- Christine


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## sunny (Jun 26, 2008)

calvary1980 said:


> no. can't get Audio from DVI only S/PDIF or Native HDMI.
> 
> 
> HDMI Left, S/PDIF Right
> ...



Muchas Gracias. That's what I thought.


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## ktr (Jun 26, 2008)

sunny said:


> Help me here..... so let's say my 2600PRO has two DVI ports. If I put a DVI to HDMI dongle, am I supposed to get audio with it? I didn't think that was the case.
> 
> Or are you saying that any ATI card with HDMI will get audio from board?



Yea, the card has an audio bridge, which re-routes audio to the hdmi.


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## sunny (Jun 26, 2008)

Thanks KTR. I did look it up and some manufacturer's (like sapphire) say that  2600PRO has 5.1 sound via HDMI where Diamond (that's what I have) does not say anything. 

Anyway, I decided to buy the mother board that you recommended but before I ordered I saw this at NewEgg. 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131229. 
ASUS P5N-EM HDMI LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 7100/nForce 630i HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

It is about 50 bucks cheaper but has a different on board video. This has NVIDIA GeForce 7100 as compared to Intel GMA X3500 on other board. The reviews say that it should ok for Blu ray play. This board will also do 8 channel sound and HDMI. 

What do you think?


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## CrackerJack (Jun 26, 2008)

I been thinking about building a HTPC also. This was what i would go with or do for myself

Nice dual core (AMD 5000+)
Atleast 2Gb of Ram (800Mhz or higher)
Just a simple Motherboard (atleast one pci-e slot)
SATA Hard Drive (300Gb or higher)
LG or ASUS blu-ray player
Decent Video Card (A card with HDMI output will work really good, it's HD and it's supplys 7.1 surround sound) So any HD series with HDMI will work fine.


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## sunny (Jun 26, 2008)

CrackerJack said:


> I been thinking about building a HTPC also. This was what i would go with or do for myself
> 
> Nice dual core (AMD 5000+)
> Atleast 2Gb of Ram (800Mhz or higher)
> ...



I am not too far off. I just don't want an overkill. I am putting together
E4300 (Dual Core)
2 GB RAM (I will have to check speed but I think it's around 600 MHz)) 
ASUS motherboard (one of the two listed above)
500 GB local storage (plus 1 TB NAS)
LG player
HDMI built in on board (have a spare 2600PRO just in case)
Antec NSK 2480 HTPC case


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## ktr (Jun 27, 2008)

sunny said:


> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131229.
> ASUS P5N-EM HDMI LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 7100/nForce 630i HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
> 
> What do you think?



3 memory slots with 4gb support . That is a weird combination, I doubt it runs in dual channel (which means a 10-15% performance loss). 

Edit: I was right, it's not dual channel. Plus the g35's gpu (x3500) is directX 10.


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## CrackerJack (Jun 27, 2008)

ktr said:


> 3 memory slots with 4gb support . That is a weird combination, I doubt it runs in dual channel (which means a 10-15% performance loss).
> 
> Edit: I was right, it's not dual channel. Plus the g35's gpu (x3500) is directX 10.



+1 Agree, Get a a board the supports dual channel. Single is just a waste


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## sunny (Jun 27, 2008)

Glad I checked with you guys. I missed that part.


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