Looking into building a HTPC, would this work?

tominated · 02-29-2008, 10:59 PM

Hi all,
I'm thinking of building a HTPC so I can get rid of the dvd player and set-top box. I have scoured the web for good parts that are cheap and found a good combo, but what i need to know is if they are all compatible (i'm not sure with the mobo).

MSI 945GCM5-F Mobo
Intel Core 2 Duo E6550
2gb PC-5300 corsair ram
2 Samsung 500GB SATA hard drives (in raid 0)
Galaxy GeForse 9600GT Graphics Card
PPioneer BDC-S02BK Blu-Ray Drive
Antec Fusion V2 Case
Vista home Premium 64bit (for media center)
DLink DWL-G550 Wireless adaptor
AOpen Cobra AW-870LP Sound Card (for the S/PDIF connector)
DVICO Fusion Dual 4 TV Tuner (2 hd channels at once ftw!)

Would this work and do you think it is any good?

BTW: It's only going to cost $1730 Australian (around $1610 american) to build!

2k1Toaster · 02-29-2008, 11:36 PM

I think it is way overkill for a HTPC. A P4 can do a good HTPC no problem.

Also your video card is overkill and wont do you any good. Video cards like that are meant for gaming and a high number of pixel shaders and such wont help you rendering video.

If you are wanting to record 2 HDTV streams at the same time, while outputting an HDTV stream, you may need some good CPU power more than a P4. And today, the best bang for your buck desktop wise is a cheap Quad core.

I have an HTPC running a 2.2Ghz P4, with 512Mb RAM, and outputs basic HD (component/composite I get them mixed up. It is the 5 pronged ones with 3 video 2 audio) and it never skips a beat. Total cost including case/psu was under $200. Internal storage of 20Gb but streams media from my server PC (2.5Tb of space).

So a media PC doesnt have to be so complicated.

brendan · 02-29-2008, 11:55 PM

as 2k1toaster said you don't need a super warp 10 computer, mine is only a 1.8 amd with 700ish meg of ram. i stocked it with about 1Tb of space and just a simple haupauge tuner and an ati card that could do component video. im just using the onboard s/pdif for sound and it's all good.

id like to make the switch up to HD recording soon, but im in no rush, its outputting to a big veirra and looks fine in 1080 whatever resolution, i can sit nearly right infront of it and its still good, although not quite a monitor but everything is readable.

tominated · 03-01-2008, 12:39 AM

thing is, I want to use it for gaming on the plasma (i really like all the new games like crysis, ut3 and cod4. It's not just a regular HTPC. I really want to use it for average pc tasks as well as home theater usage. Also, It's easier to turn it into a gaming pc later if i want to.