HTPC Parts Query

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HTPC Query

Hey guys I am looking to build myself a HTPC and I need to zero down on what components to get. My budget for the hardware is around 10k. I have quite a few hardware components lying around which can be used in the HTPC. The HTPC would mainly be used for music and movies and I would like to use it with Win 7 and XBMC's latest build.

This is what I have:

Sound card Asus XonarDX
Remote/keyboard iPad/iPhone 4
HDD Have enough 3.5" Sata HDD lying around
LG 42N Optical drive
Elchepo brand new TV Tuner card with a IR Remote
This is what I am looking for:
Mobo+Proccy+RAM combo powerful enough to run win7 with XBMC smoothly for at least next 3 years
Gfx card super silent yet powerful to run high quality BR rips
Decent looking cabinet with inbuilt PSU to handle all this(the cabinet though would be visible but I don't wanna invest in a high end HTPC cabinet as of now).

I have no idea as to what is currently available in the market and for what price. I don't mind picking up something used from the market section but it should fit in the criteria. I don't mind spending a bit extra for decent setup. Also it would be great if the mobo could also be Hackiontosh compatible for the occasional kicks, though not necessary.

TIA

Switch
 
Hey Switch,

Cabinet Suggestion : If u need simple looking cabinet try Coolermaster Elite-360. Beware that, it limits the size of the GFX card and also number of HDDs. But looks good and build-quality is incredible. Costs ~1.8K.
 
For Cabinet get the Silverstone SG02 combo(including 500W PSU) from Primeabgb. for Rs.4,500/-

Graphics Card: Zotac GT 430 1GB DDR3 or GT240 512MB DDR5 Roughly @Rs.5K

You may have to settle for 2nd hand hardware, else the price would go up.
 
Processor: AMD Athlon II x2 250 - 2700

Motherboard: MSI 880GM-E41 - 4100

RAM: Corsair 2GB 1333mhz - 1300

GPU: Onboard HD4250 IGP -

Cabinet & PSU - Any Combo - 2000

Total: 10100

HD4250 wud able to play all the HD movies...

And this rig can even handle win7
 
Guys would like to go in the intel way as I would like to dual boot between mac os and win 7 and there are quite a few mokbos which are snow leopard friendly...
 
Switch said:
Guys would like to go in the intel way as I would like to dual boot between mac os and win 7 and there are quite a few mokbos which are snow leopard friendly...
Click to expand...
Buddy all i3 processors are above 4k... and to build an intel based htpc u have to go with some old like core 2 duo with a discrete graphic card coz G31 chipset cant handle HD stuff...

Also it would be great if the mobo could also be Hackiontosh compatible for the occasional kicks, though not necessary.
Click to expand...

U said that Hackintosh support is not so necessary for u...
 
If you want to go the Intel way then here are my suggestions:-

Intel Pentium Dual core E5700 ~ 3k

Gigabyte GA-G41M-Combo ~ 2.6k

Cooler Master Elite 360 ~ 2k

Radeon HD5450 ~ 2.9k

Corsair 2GB DDRIII 1333MHz ~ 1.1k

FSP Saga II 350W ~ 1.5k

Total - 13k

1. Unlike a regular gaming rig, HTPC/Media Center systems aren't processor intensive. E5700 should suffice.

2. Yes, that motherboard is compatible with hackintosh. It's still a good backup board, or a great board for an HTPC or NAS server.

3. Cooler Master Elite 360 - A beautiful cabinet that has all the quality.

4. Radeon HD5450 has good support in XBMC. 7.1 Bitrate Audio, So, Dolby TrueHD and DTS MasterHD over HDMI.

5. Nothing special here, since the demands on the RAM aren’t that great. We need DDR3 for the motherboard, and a pair of 1GB sticks are ample for an HTPC.

6. Get FSP Saga II 350W atleast. Don't save money especially when it comes to PSU.
 
I have recently bought a 5450 & using that with a A64 3200+ & 2Gb DDR.

If you use MPC-HC with a couple of shaders enabled, the 5450 could run out of juice.

Try to get the 5670 , if you can. Though with a new gen CPU , you might not face that much of a problem with the 5450..
 
XTechManiac said:
If you want to go the Intel way then here are my suggestions:-

Intel Pentium Dual core E5700 ~ 3k

Gigabyte GA-G41M-Combo ~ 2.6k

Cooler Master Elite 360 ~ 2k

Radeon HD5450 ~ 2.9k

Corsair 2GB DDRIII 1333MHz ~ 1.1k

Total - 11.6k

1. Unlike a regular gaming rig, HTPC/Media Center systems aren't processor intensive. E5700 should suffice.

2. Yes that motherboard is compatible with hackintosh. It's still a good backup board, or a great board for an HTPC or NAS server.

3. Cooler Master Elite 360 - A beautiful cabinet that has all the quality.

4. Radeon HD5450 has good support in XBMC. 7.1 Bitrate Audio, So, Dolby TrueHD and DTS MasterHD over HDMI.

5. Nothing special here, since the demands on the RAM aren’t that great. We need DDR3 for the motherboard, and a pair of 1GB sticks are ample for an HTPC.
Click to expand...
u forgot to add a PSU...
 
FSP Saga II 350W ~ 1.5k

@Switch - Any Basic PSU of 250w will suffice, but I recommend you to get this.

Though it extends your budget, this is one component where you should gladly put in a little more money and be in peace. :)
 
@Switch: Get the Silverstone case+psu como its a steal deal. The case is kick-a$$ and the PSU is good enough. For the rest of the stuff I'd reckon you go G41+5300 and add a discrete GPU later or if you could wait a little then sandybridge is just around the corner.
 
Well i already took the plunge yesterday itself and got myself a x2 250 + gigabyte 880G chipset borad(Chose it over the MSI as it had esata and more usb connectors on the back). Bought a 2 GB RAM along with a Wifi N card also for the HTPC for the streaming and net. Finally setteled for a cheap yet good looking mATX cabby by Foxin for 1250 bucks(yes i know) and now in lookout for a good remote and a awesome looking cabby.

The total money spent was just over 10K which is as following:

CPU X2 250 Rs 2700

Mobo Gigabyte 880G Chipset Rs 4300

RAM 2 GB Kingston Rs 1200

WiFi Card Netgear Rs 800

Cabby Foxin Rs 1250

Grand total : Rs 10250

Now comes the next set of questions. I have already setted everything up and its working alright. But i wanted to install showmix skin on the XBMC which is kind of tricky. So the next set of questions are:

1. How do you install skins apart from the ones which you can download internally within XBMC

2. What all good skins are available.

3. Whats the best way to maintain the files/folders for the XBMC to recognize and download all kinds of fanart/imdb data and trailers from the next.

In a nutshell whats the best way to setup XBMC. Also whats a good remote to get as i realized it pretty late that not everybody in the house would be able to use the touch interface of the iPad for using XBMC.

Thanks to all the guys who helped me with the config.
 
Congrats Switch. I am going to bite the bullet soon and get myself an AMD combo soon. Currently looking at the same proccy and 880GMA-UD2 from Gigabyte.

My main application will be running XBMC as Windows Shell.

I plan on getting the diNovo Mini keyboard and the Shuttle cabinet or the CM Elite 360 in a few months.

Keeping an eye on this thread for inputs about XBMC media organisation. :ohyeah:
 
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