Post your htpc specs

[Konig]

Guys, im sure some of u have built htpcs.... Y not post your specs out here and give us some reference. I still have to decide if i shld use a laptop as source with of one the EA offramps or build a new htpc with lynx l22.

Liudas from lessloss sent me a very interesting article. I managed to understand 15% of what was going on in the titanic struggle with usb based dac with AP physics knowledge. I salute those engineers that had sacrificed their time for the benefit of audiophile community.

http://www.planetanalog.com/showArti...cleID=12801995

 

[tschanrm]

Here's My HTPC build & cost at time of purchases:

Asrock socket 754 motherboard - $70
Enermax Venus case w/ sfx PSU - FREE (front face came scratched from shipping damage, Newegg refunded me, and UPS never picked up their "claim")
Sempron Mobile Low-Voltage 2800+ - $40
512mb RAM - $40
X-Fi ExtremeMusic - $85
Radeon X1300 - $55
Samsung 160gb spinpoint - $85 (oldest part, used as external storage long before I built the HTPC)
Asus Queitrack DVD-ROM - $25
Zalman 7000alcu - $25
Fans/Misc. Stuff -$25
TO BE ADDED: Theatre 650 - ~120
Total Cost: ~570

Xtrememusic runs digital out to Panasonic XR-10 receiver. The loudest part of the computer is the hard drive. I have 1 Yate Loon 80mm case fan at 5v, and put one Yate Loon 80mm in the PSU.

Before I built this HTPC I actually had a free laptop to use. However, I wanted flexibility and most importantly a clean look. With a laptop setup, you have external components daisy chained and scattered around the laptop. With a computer, you just have one, nice looking box. Also, the ATI X1x00 series score very high on the HQV DVD Benchmark test, another reason to not use the old laptop.

 

[saturnine]

My PC is used as a HTPC

Thermaltake Tsunami case
ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe
4200 X2 AM2 @ 2.7ghz - (Paid $360 a little over a month ago, now $175ish

)
2gb Corsair 6400C4 DDR2
Seasonic 600W S12
EVGA 7900GTX
ATI TV Wonder Elite
Zalman 9500 AM2
X-Fi Fatal1ty
WD 74gb Raptor, 160gb Seagate, WD 300gb
Plextor 712SA
Windows XP x64

The Raptor is by far the loudest component..

 

[Konig]

If i want a good audio server, how do i improve the power filtering and limit the noises in the internal casing? Does a ups battery help?

 

[tschanrm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Konig If i want a good audio server, how do i improve the power filtering and limit the noises in the internal casing? Does a ups battery help?

Unless you're in an area with poor power, you generally do not need a power conditioner. A UPS battery would only benefit you for prevention of data corruption. What I feel is more beneficial in terms of power filtering is to make sure you have a solid PSU and a solid motherboard. Very few people look at the number of power phases a motherboard has. Look for a motherboard that has at least a 3 power phases. You will know by looking next to the CPU, as there will be six or nine power mosfets (some cheaper ones may only have three power mosfets).

If you want to lower noise levels inside a pc, the easiest thing to do is decouple moving parts from the physical case. For fans, this usually involves replacing metals screws with rubber grommets. Some people literally suspend their hard drive in their pc. I feel this causes too great a risk of your hard drive overheating. A better solution is to buy hard drive heatsinks that feature rubber feet on the outside of the heatsink. This keeps your drive cool, and the rubber dampens most of the hard drive noise from resonating through the case.

The type of case material also determines the amount of noise you will hear. Plastic works well at dampening noise, but it is ugly. A brushed aluminum-frame case looks nice, but is the worst in terms noise resonance. A solid steel-frame case is good at reducing resonance noise, but they are heavy and usually have cheap looking designs.

Also, you can reduce noise by buying a low power processor. Many people use AMD Turion processors in their HTPC. Other people buy Athlon 64's and undervolt them (to reduce power consumption). Buying a processor that doesn't generate a lot of heat allows you to use a slower & quiter heatsink/fan combo.

If you're looking to build a quiet HTPC, check out www.silentpcreview.com . There is a wealth of knowledge there about building quiet, stable pc's.

 

[pomdomz]

Mine is htpc/file server - made from mostly spares

AMD 3000+ 939 "winchester"
DFI NF4 INFINITY
512mb ddr 3200 generic ram
gf2 mx400 64mb pci gfx card
Chaintech AV710 sound card -> Zhaolu D2.0 (ad1852) -> VAL M20 MKII Book shelves
40gig WD ide hdd
200gig Seagate Sata
250gig WD SataII
Tagan 550W modular Psu
Silverstone LC17 case
Niveus Remote

 

[soloz2]

here's my HTPC specs:

AMD Opteron 148 (2.2Ghz... ran it at 3Ghz when I had it in my main rig)
Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe mobo
1gb OCZ Platinum Rev. 2 TCCD (2-2-2-5 1T)
MSI 6600GT
Creative Audigy 2 ZS Gamer
Seagate 160gb SATAII hd (really really need another drive!)
Haupauge WINTV PVR-150 TV Tuner
Samsung DVD-RW DL
Sunbeam Nuuo 550w psu
Windows XP Pro
Antec mini tower case
cooling: Freezer64 pro cpu and zalman vf900 gpu

basically everything is hand-me-downs from my main rig:
Opteron 165 @ 2.8Ghz 24/7 (3Ghz capable)
DFI Lanparty Expert mobo
2gb G.skill DDR500 RAM
Asus 7900GT TOP edition @ 700/1650 volt modded
X-Fi Xtreme Music
2x WD 16mb cache 74 raptors in RAID 0 system drive
2x Seagate 80gb SATA in RAID 0 for storage
Sony DVD-ROM
Plextor DVD-RW DL
Windows XP Pro
custom modded CM stacker 101 case
cooling: custom water... apogee cpu block, maze 4 gpu block, mcp655 pump, black ice stealth 360 rad, masterkleer 7/16" ID tubing

 

[muckluck]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soloz2 here's my HTPC specs: AMD Opteron 148 (2.2Ghz... ran it at 3Ghz when I had it in my main rig) Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe mobo 1gb OCZ Platinum Rev. 2 TCCD (2-2-2-5 1T) MSI 6600GT Creative Audigy 2 ZS Gamer Seagate 160gb SATAII hd (really really need another drive!) Haupauge WINTV PVR-150 TV Tuner Samsung DVD-RW DL Sunbeam Nuuo 550w psu Windows XP Pro Antec mini tower case cooling: Freezer64 pro cpu and zalman vf900 gpu basically everything is hand-me-downs from my main rig: Opteron 165 @ 2.8Ghz 24/7 (3Ghz capable) DFI Lanparty Expert mobo 2gb G.skill DDR500 RAM Asus 7900GT TOP edition @ 700/1650 volt modded X-Fi Xtreme Music 2x WD 16mb cache 74 raptors in RAID 0 system drive 2x Seagate 80gb SATA in RAID 0 for storage Sony DVD-ROM Plextor DVD-RW DL Windows XP Pro custom modded CM stacker 101 case cooling: custom water... apogee cpu block, maze 4 gpu block, mcp655 pump, black ice stealth 360 rad, masterkleer 7/16" ID tubing

Why are you running opterons? Just curious...

 

[soloz2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by muckluck Why are you running opterons? Just curious...

couple reasons...
1. they have 1mb cache per core where many regular athlons only have 512kb (they all have less now)
2. they tend to OC better. I also tried to pick my steppings carefully. I have a fairly decent stepping opty 148 and when I had it in my main rig and water cooled it was 100% prime95 12+ hours stable at 3+Ghz. My 165 dual core is the best stepping you can get and I run it 24/7 at 2.8Ghz (1Ghz OC) with a mere .025v increase in vcore. I can run both cores at 3Ghz if I want.

but the 148 is basically a 3700+SD core and the 165 doesn't have any athlon with the same specs but at stock speeds it is closest to a 3800+X2. As I am currently running it, it is comparable to an FX-62

 

[soloz2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saturnine The Raptor is by far the loudest component..

is that one of the older 8mb cache raptors? the newer ones are quieter... and I've got 2 in RAID and even when loading/seaking I can't hear them over my fans

 

[GoRedwings19]

I am using:

4800x2, asus a8n32-sli, 7800gt, 2x1gb ram, 2 hitachi deskstar 250gb, xfi music extreme, seasonic s12-600, 3x 120mm SilentX fans, 3x akasa amber 120mm fans, dell 20 inch widescreen and a panasonic 42inch plasma display.

 

[skudmunky]

3000+ Athlon 64 (venice core), Chaintech VNF4 Motherboard, Gig of corsair value ram (2x512) Sound Blaster Live! 24 bit (sadly), Geforce 6800Gs (overclocks well), Fortron Source 400 watt PSU, Western Digital 40, 80, and 250 gig IDE and Sata drives.

Housed in a Thermaltake Tsunami with a Coolermaster 120mm fan, a generic 120mm fan, a noisy as hell side 92mm fan (I use speedfan to turn it down) and a Zalman 9500 AM2 for the CPU heatsink.

Probably going to buy a X2 CPU soon, what with the awesome price cuts.

edit, forgot a component

 

[sdheda]

I am still trying to figure out how I am going to output the sound, but I am going for a 2.1 setup since it is for my bedroom. I will either hook-up my M-audio transit->presonus central station->amp or ESI Juli@->amp.

I am using MediaPortal, and controlling everything through a Microsoft MCE Remote.

Sony 27" CRT
MB:Asus P4P800-VM
CPU: Intel P4 3.0E with Zalman CNPS7000-AlCu
MEM: 2x512MB Kingston HyperX
GPU: ATI X800Pro with Zalman VF-700Cu
SOUND: ESI Juli@ or M-audio Transit->presonus central station.
TUNER: Hauppauge PVR-150 (1045)
HDD: Seagate 160GB
CASE: Antec NSK2400

I also plan on putting together a media server, but right now I am concentrating on getting the HTPC setup properly.

 

[JSTpt1022]

MB: Asus P5WD2-E Premium
CPU: Intel Pentium D940
MEM: 1028 Corsair Dual Channel TWINX Pro
GPU: ATI X1900 All-in Wonder
SOUND: E-MU 1820M
HDD: WD Caviar SE16 250GB SATA II
DVD: Plextor PX-716SA
CASE: Antec P180
PS: Antec NEO HE 500

 

[slwiser]

I am using a Dell 8100 purchased in Sept 2001. Updated video and sound and Adaptec USB cards, added memory to 1 gigs and updated processor to 2.8 ghz P4. Other than that it is completely standard. Oh! changed out the harddrive to a larger model and added external USB drive and USB hub.