First off, I was a member over at HTPCNews and have been one here for only a short while. I am not new to computer building or HTPC building but am not an expert by any means.
I built my LC18 about 1 1/2 years ago with the help of the members at HTPCNews. My computer has remained unchanged since then. Being out of the game for so long, so much has changed, so I am looking for some help… again… 😉
For the most part, I will be using my HTPC for DVR and for media (photos, music, videos, DVDs) storage/streaming. (No gaming at all!) I have not yet jumped on the BD/HD-DVD bandwagon, so I will not (currently) be ripping any high def movies. For now, I will keep to plain ol’ DVDs. I do plan to upgrade when BD/HD-DVD combo drives become a little cheaper. Also, for now, I plan to only record SDTV, but I am looking for good tuners that will do HDTV (maybe three months from now).
Here is my current system with a new motherboard that has not been installed yet. Please let me know if there are any significant changes that I need to make.
Case: Silverstone LC18
Power Supply: Enermax Liberty 400W (or SeaSonic S12 380W)
Motherboard: MSI K9N SLI Platinum (AM2, NVIDIA nForce 570) [new addition]
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ Brisbane [new addition]
CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Blue Orb II
RAM: Kingston 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) 240-Pin
Optical Drive: BenQ DW1655 DVD Burner with LightScribe
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic 7.1 (PCI)
Speakers: Creative Inspire P7800 7.1
Video Card: eVGA GeForce 7600GS (Passively Cooled)
TV Tuners: PowerColor T55E-P03 (PCIe x1) [x2]
TV: Olevia 32″ LCD TV
I’m hoping to hear from you guys recommendations on new (digital) TV tuners and maybe a new video card. Really, I am open to any and all suggestions for change.
Also, I have a Vista Ultimate disc sitting around, so I’ll probably run it in place of MCE 2005, which I am currently running.
As for hard drives, I have a bunch! I’ll be using a 40 GB for OS and a 80 GB for programs. I will be attaching this HTPC to an HP MediaSmart Server, that I will load with 4 500 GB drives. I have a Drobo with 4 500 GB drives in it as well; I might use the Drobo as a backup device for my HP Media Smart Server.
Anthony
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