My plan: to build an HTPC that will serve mainly as a Vista Media Center to play Blu-ray and HD DVD content (from both physical disc and HDD), recording TV, provide extender support for an XBox 360, & occasional big-screen gaming. I want the ability to expand and upgrade in the future, so a full ATX mainboard is a must.
[u]Here is what I already have:[/u]
-Omaura TF11 ATX case
-80 gig Hitachi 2.5″ SATA HDD for OS
-400 gig Samsung SATA HDD for recorded TV
-Blu-ray/HD DVD combo drive
-ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre
-3 gigs DDR2 800 memory
-Vista Home Premium x86
-HP MediaSmart Home Server w/ 3 TB’s of storage space. This is where most of my media resides.
-HDHomerun for clear QAM cable TV
-65″ DLP w/ HDMI inputs
-Sony STD-DA 5300ES HDMI 1.3 Receiver
-Logitech Harmony 880 remote control
-Logitech DiNovo Edge keyboard
[u]This is what I’m considering for the remainder of components:[/u]
-Gigabyte GA-MA78G-DS3H AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI ATX Motherboard [color=yellow]*Probably the safest bet for an HTPC at this point in time.[/color]
-AMD Athlon X2 4850e 2.5GHz Socket AM2 45W Dual-Core CPU [color=yellow]*Fastest of the 45W AMD’s.[/color]
-Powercolor AX3450 512MD2-S Radeon HD 3450 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 GPU [color=yellow]*For added power for light gaming.[/color]
-SeaSonic S12 II SS-380GB ATX12V 380W PSU [color=yellow]*Nice and quiet and should be plenty of power.[/color]
-Scythe SCMNJ-1000 80mm Sleeve “Ninja Mini” CPU Cooler [color=yellow]*Can be used without the fan if needed.[/color]
I am also considering for the motherboard:
-ECS GF8200A (V1.0) AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8200 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard [color=yellow]*An alternative to the AMD 780G boards– not much info on performance yet; immature drivers may hinder performance. Supposedly will be able to pass DTS MA/HD and Dolby TrueHD formats? If I stay with the 780G board, then I would possibly add an Auzentech or ASUS HDMI 1.3 sound card for the new sound formats when they are released. [/color]
Did I leave anything out? Comments? Suggestions? Thanks!
.
