Thinking of building an HTPC for living room

[Tyreal]

So as the title says, i'm thinking of building an HTPC! Are there any tips that you guys have? If you've built an HTPC before i'd like to know your experience and if you have any advice for me.

[gvblake22]

I could give you lots of tips as I have been researching a lot about building a media type PC for myself. What would you like to know? How much general useage do you want to get out of it (like photoshop or movie editing or 3D modeling or using office applications, etc)? Is size a concern?

Personally, I would suggest getting a very low cost processor, RAM, and video card (or use on-board video) and focus the bulk of your funds on a nice sound card, quiet, fast, high capacity HDD (Barracuda or SpinPoint), and a motherboard with good stability, passive cooling, and sufficient features. A DVD burner is always nice too as they will do everything ;)

Personally, I think silence is one of the biggest factors with a media PC. Find a video card with passive cooling and a low-noise or no-noise PSU as well as a quiet CPU fan (hence the reason for a low-cost, slower processor because it won't run as hot).

Personally I think a s754 Sempron or an LGA775 Celeron D would be great choices for processor. If you want to go s939 then a 3000 Venice would probably be your best choice.
Pair that with an X1300 of some kind or a GeForce 6600 or 7300 with passive cooling and you'll be doing good. Then grab yourself an X-Fi or AuzenTech XPlosion with a Logitech Z-5500, Z-680, or Klipsch Ultra ProMedia 5.1 and you have yourself a sweet sounding system that will be nice and easy to set up and run.
More info upon request (as always) ;)

[fps justin]

well he has a spare socket A mobo lying in his house. So he could just use that instad of a s754

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by fps justin

well he has a spare socket A mobo lying in his house. So he could just use that instad of a s754

True, but the advantage of going with s754 is he could get PCI-Express. That and the fact that AMD has stopped making socket A processors. That's prettymuch the main reasons for suggesting the A64 architechture. But if you have a spare mobo and CPU, then by all means, go for it! 8)

[fps justin]

really depends whats more bang for the buck.

EDIT: The cpus cost almost the same price. For socket A you could get the athalon 2000+ for 100 dollars @ 1.67

Or

You could get the AMD Athlon XP 2600+ Barton for 113 dollars.

I don't think it would be really worth it to buy a whole new mobo unless you really want the pci-e.

[gvblake22]

justin, both of those processors you listed are Socket A... I think you made a typo somewhere maybe?

The reason I mention PCI-Express is because most of the new cards with the new technology are only available on PCI-Express. Although the 6600 and X1300 cards are actually available on AGP (at least at newegg, not sure about in Canada). I just like to be more futureproof, it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside

[fps justin]

lol. Well i suppose if its worth another 100 dollars then go for it.

I saw you at ocforums too at the cooling section. =P Some guy destroyed his asus mobo in the cpu section.

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by fps justin

lol. Well i suppose if its worth another 100 dollars then go for it.

I saw you at ocforums too at the cooling section. =P Some guy destroyed his asus mobo in the cpu section.

LOL, what?! :?
I know I made a post at OCForums... But what was that about $100?

[fps justin]

well scratch everything i said before. Joe wants a s939 or a AM2 for his HTPC.

[Tyreal]

I will almost certainly be using socket 754. I thought you were talking about seomthing else.

Main uses would be just watching TV, so we want a tv tuner for sure, and possibly emails and movie/videos. I will look for Windows Media center edition.

What i want to know know is how do i get audio!!? I hooked pc up to the tv using s-video but no matter what i tried, i couldn't get audio. This is with my current rig btw.