# Buying a HTPC package



## iponk1322 (Jun 14, 2008)

I have plans to buy a HTPC package..
In my town there's a computer store that sell HTPC packages with the following specs:
Motherboard Gigabyte H55N ITX
_Onboard VGA Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD (DVI-D & HDMI Output), GigaLan, 7.1 Sound through HDMI, 1x PCIe 16x_ 
Core i3 530 2.93GHz
DDR3 2GB PC10600
WDC 320GB Sata 
DVDRW
Case Cube Libera + PSU 150 Watt

It sells for Rp. 3.500.000,- (around US$386)

Is it worth it?
Does this mobo capable of playing 1080p video?

Previously they sell the package with Zotac GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi mobo.. 
Onboard VGA Nvidia MCP7A MCP (GeForce 9300 MCP), DVI-D and HDMI with HDCP 1.3 content encryption support (two simultaneous display outputs supported), GigaLan, wireless G, 7.1 Sound through HDMI, 1x PCIe 16x
Which mobo is better? 
Any suggestions?


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

If you're not going to use it for gaming, that procs way overkill, but the price is right, at least in USD. Will you be gaming? Either way, a dedicated vid card will help with Blu-ray playback and CPU usage (though the i# combo an dlatest onboard is supposed to do okay w/ HD playback), and you'll want a larger HD. That's power supply is also a little low if you want to add components in the future.

Here's what I just built.

Intel Celeron E3300
Biostar G31d-M7 Mobo
ATI 5450 vidcard (passive cooling to keep noise down)
2TB WD Green Drive
Antec Earthwatts 300 Power Supply
2GB DDR2
Cheap Rosewill case

Plays blu-rays, streaming video, music, and starcraft (havn't tried starcraft 2) just fine.


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## iponk1322 (Jun 14, 2008)

eugovector said:


> If you're not going to use it for gaming, that procs way overkill, but the price is right, at least in USD. Will you be gaming? Either way, a dedicated vid card will help with Blu-ray playback and CPU usage (though the i# combo an dlatest onboard is supposed to do okay w/ HD playback), and you'll want a larger HD. That's power supply is also a little low if you want to add components in the future.


Nope. I'm not using it for gaming. Ive never been a fan of PC Gaming.
I'll using it for watching 480p-1080p mkv/avi files with my LCD TV and listening some music with external chinese-made Tube DAC which I'll be buying.
How about the onboard VGA? Between Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD and Nvidia MCP7A MCP (GeForce 9300 MCP), which is better?

Maybe I'll just buy the motherboard and procie with different casing so I can use a bigger power supply and more HDD.

Btw, that's a cool rig you've just build there. 
How much does it cost you to built it?


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

$18	Roswell Case
$30	Antec PS
$82	Mobo and E5300, 65W
$90	4GB (2GB x 2)
$100	2TB wd green
$30	ATI 5450
$30	Windows 7


$380	Total


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