First budget htpc

[catalan]

Putting together my first htpc w/ spare parts I have and looking for opinions. It'll be used for streaming, some web browsing, playing dvds/dvr, emulator gaming, etc. Id like to keep everything below $350, I have no preference of brand, but I do like the case a lot so I'm pretty set on that.

Win7 Home Premium 32x $0
Intel E7200 w/ E5200 Heatsink $0
Corsair 2x1GB CM2X1024-6400C4 $0
SilverStone LC02 "Clone" w/ 220w psu $35 ebay
EVERCOOL 80x15mm + 2x Scythe 60x25 Mini Kaze $27 jab-tech
Gigabyte G41M-ES2L $51 ewiz
Laptop SATA DVD/CD R/W Drive $25
Samsung 1TB SpinPoint F3 $60 ebay
PowerCooler Go! 5450 512MK3-SH w/ low profile bracket $25 AMIR newegg
PCI-E 1x Ribbon Riser Cable + PCI-E 16x Ribbon Riser Cable $18 ebay
Internal USB IR Receiver w/ MCE Remote $25 ebay
AVerMedia Duet (White Box) $57 ebay

Total = $323 AMIR

**Updated w/ Total Cost**

Ordered everything, just waiting on it to come in.

 

[mfenn]

Pretty much any cheap mobo will be fine. You really just need something reliable to plug all of the parts into.

I would definitely go with the Hauppauge tuner, as they are rock-solid in my experience.

 

[heyheybooboo]

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

DANGER, Will Robinson!

<Robot from Lost in Space>

You have spec'ed an mATX motherboard and chosen a mini-ITX case.

Now ... it looks as if the Silverstone LC02 will accept an mATX motherboard so we will assume that its "Clone" will as well. That sounds good, right?

Well, no.

I think if you put an mATX motherboard into that case, not only will you be unable to install your HD 5450, you will not be able to install your tuner card.

Not only that, but the daughter card is PCI and the first slot on the P5G41C-M is the PCIe x16 slot --- meaning the riser is pretty much useless (and I doubt the lower slot of the riser would work anyway because any installed card would have zero clearance across the last slots on the mATX mobo).

Sorry to be the bearer of the bad news.

I've a big fan of the DViCO Fusion but it is not for the weak of heart.

IMO WMC can suck a nutt I use XBMC for my front-end and the Fusion recorder with Titan TV to schedule my captures.




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[somethingsketchy]

Pretty much any cheap mobo will be fine. You really just need something reliable to plug all of the parts into.

I would definitely go with the Hauppauge tuner, as they are rock-solid in my experience.

+1

I've been using my Hauppauge tuner (for basic cable) for the better part of 2.5 years and I love the card. Probably one of the better investments I've made with reusable PC parts. Especially when you pair it with an OS that can make full use of the tuner, you can't beat it (well expect for the Ceton tuner cards )

If you can't afford the mobo real estate (especially if it's a mini-ITX board), USB tuners aren't too bad, just get some extension cables, so the USB devices aren't reffing on the USB port and possible damaging the port.

 

[catalan]

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

DANGER, Will Robinson!

<Robot from Lost in Space>

You have spec'ed an mATX motherboard and chosen a mini-ITX case.

Now ... it looks as if the Silverstone LC02 will accept an mATX motherboard so we will assume that its "Clone" will as well. That sounds good, right?

Well, no.

I think if you put an mATX motherboard into that case, not only will you be unable to install your HD 5450, you will not be able to install your tuner card.

Not only that, but the daughter card is PCI and the first slot on the P5G41C-M is the PCIe x16 slot --- meaning the riser is pretty much useless (and I doubt the lower slot of the riser would work anyway because any installed card would have zero clearance across the last slots on the mATX mobo).

Sorry to be the bearer of the bad news.

I've a big fan of the DViCO Fusion but it is not for the weak of heart.

IMO WMC can suck a nutt I use XBMC for my front-end and the Fusion recorder with Titan TV to schedule my captures.




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the ribbons will allow me to adjust the cards to fit. my 5450 is low profile/fanless so i doubt it'll cause fitment issues.