# SANITY CHECK: About to Purchase Parts for HTPC Build



## GamingDaemon (Jul 15, 2011)

Hi Everyone,

Another one of those threads... Can folks sanity check this build for me before I pull the trigger?

Here’s what I want in a HTPC:

Play all of the 1080p Blu Ray movies I have ripped to my Home Server PC 
Play any other personal videos I have taken that are stored on my Home Server PC 
Access the internet to round out my ability to see movies and TV online (I have DirecTV and Vudu, but I know there are other options open to me like Hulu and YouTube) 
Future-proof to some degree, as much as is possible


The parts:

SILVERSTONE Black 8.0mm aluminum front panel, 0.8mm SECC body GRANDIA GD04B Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC $73.99
GIGABYTE GA-Z68M-D2H LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s Micro ATX Intel $104.99 
ASUS ENGT430 DC SL/DI/1GD3 GeForce GT 430 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video (Already purchased from Amazon for $74)
Antec NEO ECO 400C 400W Continuous Power ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power $34.99
Intel Celeron G530 Sandy Bridge 2.4GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics $51.99 from NewEgg, or $42 from Amazon (AntOnline seller for Amazon)
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL $29.99
SAMSUNG Black Blu-ray Combo SATA Model SH-B123L LightScribe Support $51.99

Thank you in advance


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## Jasonpctech (Apr 20, 2010)

I like the way you think.
I would personally go AMD CPU save some bucks and get a Blue ray burner, don't bother with more than 4gigs unless you are running 64bit Win7 and plan to use video editing or Photoshop otherwise 8 gigs is a waste of good hard drive funds. Do however consider a 64 gig or bigger Solid state OS drive!


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## Guest (Dec 6, 2011)

I would get a larger power supply. I always go bigger then the minimum requirement. I used to get "what was needed" and they always seemed to fail early.

I also agree that AMD would save some cash. If all you care about is media and not gaming, it's pretty easy/cheap to get 1080p playback. I'm doing it from a all in one HTPC mobo from a few years ago. And the original power supply failed.  Now I'm using one rated at 530watt.


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## cburbs (Mar 27, 2007)

Not to confuse you more but some good info at both of these posts -

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=94199

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1302559


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## Jasonpctech (Apr 20, 2010)

cburbs said:


> Not to confuse you more but some good info at both of these posts -
> 
> http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=94199
> 
> http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1302559


Good links, now that we are touching the software I will say my order of pref is WMC7, XBMC both have 1st try ease of use. Then J river MC for best technical audio video, *JRMC auto loads the newest codecs* and plays Bluray flawless out of the box plus no one has better DSP audio *(you can pretty much just skip the AVR and go right to amps).* JRMC needs a Nvidia card due to "MadVR" playback dependency. 

Always use MyMovies for at least metadata. Media browser is good but requires tinkering. I also recommend AnyDVD HD and Handbrake. Check out the Zotac fanless NV GT430 on newegg I will be testing that one soon.

This post was a little off subject sorry.


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## GamingDaemon (Jul 15, 2011)

Jasonpctech said:


> I like the way you think.
> I would personally go AMD CPU save some bucks and get a Blue ray burner, don't bother with more than 4gigs unless you are running 64bit Win7 and plan to use video editing or Photoshop otherwise 8 gigs is a waste of good hard drive funds. Do however consider a 64 gig or bigger Solid state OS drive!


Thank you, Jasonpctech!

I went with the 8Gigs of memory because it was highly rated and only $30 with free shipping.

Also, I have a separate gaming rig with tons of hard drive space that I use to rip the Blu Ray movies I own. Then I copy the MKV files to my Home Server PC, which will serve up the files to the HTPC I will be building.

And, it was an Anandtech article, "Discrete HTPC GPU Shootout", (can't link it) that made me go for the discrete video card, specifically the nVidia 430.

I have since pulled the trigger since I first posted this, so, crossing fingers, I will let you know how it goes. :gulp:

Also, I think I like XBMC over WMC because of the skinning options.

EDIT: Oh, and I did read Assassin's post on building HTPC's. Great read!


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## GamingDaemon (Jul 15, 2011)

BTW, if my nVidia 430 video card is doing the play back of MKV files generated from Blu Ray disks I own, will I get true HD audio?


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## Jasonpctech (Apr 20, 2010)

No, but you will get digital DTS or AC3 signals using "passthru" while transcoding. Handbrake allows compression, digital audio & .MKV packaging. I have seen HD audio on test tracks but not yet ripped, also it would lots of space. If someone is doing this I have not yet heard.


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## MikeBiker (Jan 3, 2010)

Generic said:


> I would get a larger power supply. I always go bigger then the minimum requirement. I used to get "what was needed" and they always seemed to fail early.
> 
> I also agree that AMD would save some cash. If all you care about is media and not gaming, it's pretty easy/cheap to get 1080p playback. I'm doing it from a all in one HTPC mobo from a few years ago. And the original power supply failed.  Now I'm using one rated at 530watt.


I am also one who gets a power supply that is rated larger than what is currently needed. Power supplies seem to be a weak link and a bigger one helps reduce the failure rate. Also a larger supply allows for expansion if the user desires to add a new feature that requires more power.


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