# Rate my HTPC build



## daveroberts (Jun 10, 2009)

Case: Silverstone LC13B-E
PSU: Antec earthwatts EA500 500W 80 PLUS
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3LR LGA 775 ATX
CPU: Intel E5200
RAM: Kingston 4GB DDR2
Video: nVidia Palit 9600GT
Storage: Western Digital 1TB 3.5 drive
Blueray: LG drive
TV Tuner: Hauppauge ATSC
Wireless Adapter
OS: Win 7 64-bit

Keyboard: Logitech DiNovo
Mouse: Logitech MX Revolution

I'm looking for recommendations. We want to game and watch movies. We'll be sitting about 10 ft away from the system and TV.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Hi Dave, Welcome to the Shack.

I'm not 100% sure but Intel still as of last year had issues switching between 32bit and 64bit processes if your going to be running 32bit applications you would be better off using an AMD processor.


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## daveroberts (Jun 10, 2009)

Thanks for the reply! I happen to be running with an e5200 in my system right now and haven't had any trouble so far, but I'll keep my eyes open. I'm not really in love with Intel or the motherboard I'm planning on getting, so if anyone can suggest a new motherboard + CPU combo, that will still stay cool (<=65W) as well as quiet, I'd love to hear!


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## Mike P. (Apr 6, 2007)

> OS: Win 7 64-bit


That's been called "Vista done right". How do you like it so far?


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## daveroberts (Jun 10, 2009)

Most of my complaints are from the 64-bit part of it, not the Win 7 part. There's a bunch of odd applications which don't function in 64 bit: I can't VPN into my work PC, and GameTap doesn't support 64-bit Windows. It's 2009 and if your application doesn't work on a 64-bit platform, you're late to the party.

I'm not a huge fan of the new taskbar and they've eliminated the classic task bar. When I used Vista, I turned off UAC, so that change isn't a big difference to me, and is probably the biggest one users will see. There's a slightly nicer interface to switch wireless networks. I like the ability to maximize an app to half the screen. I use that all the time for two explorer windows while moving and copying files, but I would have rather just had a multi-paned explorer with which to begin. Other than that, the differences seem small to me.


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