Help me on components for htpc

[Rmak]

Hello all,

I picked out these components that i will be using for my htpc. I need help in getting a power supply for the system.

mb- Asus a8n-sli deluxe (any benefit in going with a8n32-SLI ? )
cpu - amd 64 3700+ or better to get a 3800+ or 4000+ ?
memory - Corsair TWINX2048-4000PT 2GB Kit DDR500 XMS4000
vid card - eVGA e-GeForce 6800 GS PCI Express 256MB DDR3 Video Card w/HDTV
HD - WD caviar SE16 320gb OR seagate 7200.9 300GB
Tuner - twinhan 102g
power supply - not sure which to get, i guess i need one thats around 500W and runs silent
case- will use one that i allready have

I'll be using the system for everything, well i will try atleast . (movies/music/live tv from dvb-s using a network encoder,hopefully OTA HD also later on)
Im going to be using SageTV.

Any suggestions would be great!!
Thanks

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by Rmak

Tuner - twinhan 102g

Sage has just started to try and support DVB cards. The support in the latest beta is for DVB-T cards. This cards is probably not going to work. At least for a while.


Gerry

[davin]

I recently just rebuilt my box with some upgraded components, and I got a Seasonic S12-380 power supply. It's been great... seasonic makes quality supplies and they are very high efficiency, which means less waste heat. It uses a single large 120mm fan that turns at about 800rpm in my system... it is the quietest component in my case.

Also, don't buy into the "larger is better" power supply wattage hype. Your system only needs a PS that can put out what it uses, but it needs a quality unit. A 380W should be fine for the hardware you listed. Remember, most supplies are less efficient as the power consumption relative to the rating goes down... so a 380W supply will run cooler than a similar 500w supply running the same hardware.

http://www.seasonic.com/product/pc_atx.jsp

[stanger89]

If you can justify it, an Antec Phantom is the only way to go, 100% silent

Oh, and if I were you, I'd swap that video card for a passively cooled one, they come all the way up to a 7800.

[Rmak]

Originally Posted by stanger89

If you can justify it, an Antec Phantom is the only way to go, 100% silent

Oh, and if I were you, I'd swap that video card for a passively cooled one, they come all the way up to a 7800.

Do you know if eVGA makes a 6800 GS thats passively cooled ? and where to get one? I saw one on pcalchemy, but that one is a 6600.

Thanks

[insomniac]

the 102g works great with the MT network encoder. Also, buy more HD space! tigerdirect has a 300GB SATA II for $99 with rebate right now.

I.

[dbfresh23]

Originally Posted by insomniac

Also, buy more HD space! tigerdirect has a 300GB SATA II for $99 with rebate right now.

Only 300gb HDDs there for $99 after rebate are SATA I (150) not SATA II.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by Rmak

Do you know if eVGA makes a 6800 GS thats passively cooled ? and where to get one? I saw one on pcalchemy, but that one is a 6600.

Thanks

Gigabyte makes passively cooled 6600 and 6800's, and Asus makes a passively cooled 7800. Newegg has them.

[dbfresh23]

I see Newegg has some 7300s pretty cheap, may be worth looking at though none are passively cooled, could always add that though with something like the Zalman GPU cooler.

[insomniac]

My bad. I was going off memory.

Still a great deal and plety fast for a HTPC!

I.

Originally Posted by dbfresh23

Only 300gb HDDs there for $99 after rebate are SATA I (150) not SATA II.

[teknubic]

3 PCI slots on the mobo are kinda slim. You might look at one with 4 or 5 instead since you said that you were probably going to expand.

[SHS]

Don't waste your money on SLI system there made for games system not PVR.
There all ready huge number of report the SLI can cuases problem.
I have ask hauppauge about SLI system they suspect there are BIOS issues with these systems. more so when start add 2 graphics card with huge amount of system RAM combined with huge amount of graphics memory so there no doubt that there are some kind memory allocation issues.
So any cases this may apply to all capture card.

[Rmak]

Originally Posted by SHS

Don't waste your money on SLI system there made for games system not PVR.
There all ready huge number of report the SLI can cuases problem.
I have ask hauppauge about SLI system they suspect there are BIOS issues with these systems. more so when start add 2 graphics card with huge amount of system RAM combined with huge amount of graphics memory so there no doubt that there are some kind memory allocation issues.
So any cases this may apply to all capture card.

So if i dont need SLI would a Asus A8N-E be enough?

Also have any recommendations on video cards, now im thinking i should move up to a geforce 7800. grrr all these GTX,gt, GT OC etc... driving me nuts
(yea im not much of a hardware person)

Thanks

[SHS]

The A8N-E should be good option but now you ask your self do you plan any type 3D games even Lite3D games then get lates geforce 7800GT or if can aford it more power 7800GTX other then that the geforce 7300GS should be fine and only real diff from the two is the Memory Interface is much slower which not really a big deal for Video Playback but on the hand is a big deal with games that need Direct3D speedy memory.

[insomniac]

I playback HD fine on a 6600GT. I would not imagine a need for anything more than a 6800GT. To me, anything else is overkill..

Anyone else feel differently?

I.

Originally Posted by Rmak

So if i dont need SLI would a Asus A8N-E be enough?

Also have any recommendations on video cards, now im thinking i should move up to a geforce 7800. grrr all these GTX,gt, GT OC etc... driving me nuts
(yea im not much of a hardware person)

Thanks

[Motofreak75]

you wont need a big PSU for the 102g card unless you plan on using a motor thats hooked upto it, I have tried 350W (30 amp on 5v line) and it barely worked. I have found atleast 40 amps (my 550 is rated at 50 amps) on the 5v line worked best for me to run a motor all day long without and problems.

my other system run 350watt PSU without any hiccup.

[omega]

Personally I can't say enough good things about the Antec NeoHE series. I have a 430W in my HTPC and it is totally silent even under full CPU load. I believe Antec makes 480 and 550W models as well if you need more power.