HTPC in NSK2400. Need help with MB and CPU.

prostetnic · Post by **prostetnic** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 9:14 am

Iâ€™m going to build an entertainment/HTPC for myself and I need some help choosing components. Iâ€™m aware Iâ€™m not the only one in this situation but I really need some help with chose of MB and CPU.
The main use will be DVD player and PVR
This is what I have chosen so far but Iâ€™m open for suggestions.

NSK2400 (or Fusion ) [Stylish silent and cheep]
500 GB Western Digital SE16 hard drive [Big capacity and silent]
Some passive 7600GT video card with Dual DVI. Possibly Gigabyte GeForce 7600GT
Hauppauge WinTV PVR-150 Low Profile [already bought this one]
I need help choosing a MB with optical SP/DIF connector, a CPU to go with that and a CPU heat sink that will fit and preferably be passive.

I am not very up to date regarding CPUs so I don't know whatâ€™s best from a power consumption/price point of view.,

Please help me

stromgald · Post by **stromgald** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 1:48 pm

I'm building a very similar system but with an HDTV card instead. For a power consumption/price, you'll probably have to go with an Athlon64. The new Intel Core 2 Duo pack more performance for the same heat output as AMD chips, but the Intel CPUs are more expensive. They also don't have as many mATX boards for Core 2 Duo so it'll be harder to find a good one with SP/DIF connector.

Depending on your price range, I'd get something between the Athlon64 3500+ and the Athlon64 X2 4200+. Anything in that range should be plenty for just DVD playing and PVR. A motherboard from ASUS, ASRock, or Gigabyte should perform well. Try to get an AM2 motherboard and processor for future upgradability

To cool it passively, you should consider an XP-120. Its a big, low profile heatsink and if you sit it next to one of the 120mm exhasut fans, it might provide enough cooling for the CPU.

prostetnic · Post by **prostetnic** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 3:10 pm

Thanks a lot for your suggestions

I tried to look through the homepages of different the MB manufacturer you suggested but ended up with a sore head. I had no idea it would be so hard to find a micro atx with optical SPDIF.

I found Asus - M2N-VM/DH but I cant see if it is a optical or coax SPDIF. Does anyone have any experience of this MB and can tell me if the SPDIF is optical or not.

I will continue my search tomorrow when my head is fresh.

stromgald · Post by **stromgald** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 3:31 pm

prostetnic wrote:Thanks a lot for your suggestions

I tried to look through the homepages of different the MB manufacturer you suggested but ended up with a sore head. I had no idea it would be so hard to find a micro atx with optical SPDIF.

I found Asus - M2N-VM/DH but I cant see if it is a optical or coax SPDIF. Does anyone have any experience of this MB and can tell me if the SPDIF is optical or not.

I will continue my search tomorrow when my head is fresh.

Go to www.newegg.com. Look up AMD compatible mATX motherboards. They have some good pictures that will show the SPDIF connector if there is one. I rarely try the motherboard's websites. I think only Gigabyte has decent pictures and specs.

jackylman · Post by **jackylman** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 4:24 pm

The ABIT NF-M2 nView has S/PDIF.

For a CPU, I would go for a single-core Athlon (prob 3500), unless you want to do more than one CPU-intensive task at a time (encoding, decoding). Another option would be to seek out an X2 EE (low-power dual-core model), but that would be more expensive.

roystarman · Post by **roystarman** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 4:37 pm

The 2 motherborads (ASUS and the ABIT) one both have a built in 6150 graphics. This is probably good enough for basic HDTV. Both have DVI outputs. They also both have sound. Finally the ASUS has a 10 dollar dongle you ahve to buy to get optical out. There is no OPtic in or out as in the ABIT board. The ABIt board seems to be a bit more overclockable if that is your interest. The problem with Mivro ATX MOBOS is that you quickly use up all the slots. You have already taken up all of yours with a dual bay video card and one of thos PVR cards. If you need the ASUS dongle and also the ASUS TV out then you are probally out of slots on the MOBO and or the case.

prostetnic · Post by **prostetnic** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 1:55 am

Hi and thanks for all your support!

I guess I could go with coax s/pdif since I don't want to loose the extra slot place.
I have two reasons why I hesitate to use the onboard graphics, 1 I read an article about the pros of NVIDIA PureVideoand the 6150 seems to be missing a few of the features and 2 I would prefer to have dual DVI since it will be hooked up to my projector and I would like to save some lamp hours. On the other hand thereâ€™s a loot of money to save if I go with the onboard graphics.

How much RAM do I need? Would 512 be to little?

--rex- · Post by **--rex-** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 2:11 am

I am going a similar track and thinking of using the Antec NSK 2400

I was thinking of one large 200 GB Seagate HD, a Gigabyte 7600 GT silent pipe II graphics if it will fit in, and a Hi Def TV tunere vard such as a Compro Videomate T300 it it fits. I will use sound out frm the motherboard, not too fussed about that.

I do not understand the discussion on Optical and SPDIF.

Planning on SATA HD and PCIE graphics. How many and what type of slotrs do i need on MB and in back of the case for this with TV Tuner card (is this both TV in and TV out) GB 7600GT Silent Pipe II GC and wahtrever else is essential

How do you think the NSK2400 compares in build and features and size to fit components and quietness with the similarly priced Silverstone full ATX LC10 and the cheaper full ATX Silverstone LC17

roystarman · Post by **roystarman** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 2:54 am

I guess I could go with coax s/pdif since I don't want to loose the extra slot place.
I have two reasons why I hesitate to use the onboard graphics, 1 I read an article about the pros of NVIDIA PureVideo and the 6150 seems to be missing a few of the features and 2 I would prefer to have dual DVI since it will be hooked up to my projector and I would like to save some lamp hours. On the other hand thereâ€™s a loot of money to save if I go with the onboard graphics.

The ABIT card has SPDIF in and out on the back already. The ASUS one has a dongle that provides S-video or componet video out but no SPDIF unless you buy another dongle.

The ABIT would use one less slot since it already has SPDIF on the real panel. You could try the onboard video first and see how it works. But if you are planning a dual monitor setup then an video card would probably be required.

prostetnic · Post by **prostetnic** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 2:41 pm

Ok Ill think I'll be going with a AM2 MB (probably M2N-VM DH)

Which is the most power efficient cpu for my application any suggestions. Prise is not my highest priority but I'm trying to keep it down.
Something between the Athlon64 3500+ and the Athlon64 X2 4200+was sugested by stromgald.

And finally Iâ€™m kind of lost when it comes to DDR2 RAM so what is best performance/cost right now?

You have all been very helpful so I'm hoping you will share your wisdom a little while longer

stromgald · Post by **stromgald** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 4:15 pm

prostetnic wrote: Which is the most power efficient cpu for my application any suggestions. Prise is not my highest priority but I'm trying to keep it down.
Something between the Athlon64 3500+ and the Athlon64 X2 4200+was sugested by stromgald.

And finally Iâ€™m kind of lost when it comes to DDR2 RAM so what is best performance/cost right now?

The most power efficient (i.e. performance/Watt) AM2 CPU would be the Athlon64 x2 3800+ EE or 4200+ EE, where EE stands for energy efficient. They're harder to find and more expensive than the plain Athlon64 x2s. The only place that I know that carries them is www.mwave.com, but that's in the US. Not sure about Sweeden though.

I'm not sure if you really need all that power for a HTPC. An Athlon64 3500+ (single core) should be powerful enough for most HTPC applications and would be about half the price. The heat output or TDP is about the same I think so you get much better performance/watt, but at a much higher price.

A better option for you may be an Athlon64 3500+ EE (single core). Single core energy efficient versions of AMD processors were introduced, but other than news articles and technical specs, I haven't seen them at all.

peterson · Post by **peterson** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 12:21 am

Have you checked the DFI INFINITY C51PV-M2/G?

prostetnic · Post by **prostetnic** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 6:24 am

The INFINITY C51PV-M2/G seems to have a good spec but I have two problems with it.
1) I dont think it will fit, it's slightly bigger than micro ATX
2) I dont think I can buy it in sweden

Stromgald I have trubble finding EE products is it the same as the 35W cpu?

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 6:41 am

I have trubble finding EE products is it the same as the 35W cpu?

yes

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 10:42 pm

If money is no object, you can find vendors in the US that will sell the 35w EE SFF versions.. but they're over double the price of the 65w EE versions that i've seen.. so personally i'd probably settle for the 65w. Still less than the standard 90w versions.

I too like the NF-M2.. but my only issue with it is that it has the Pci-e 1x right next to the 16x.. which means if you have a dual slot vga cooler, you lose the 1x - which means a no to pci-e dual hdtv tuners which i'd definitly be looking for.

Ideally i'd like to see a configuration of x16, x1 x1, PCI, which would mean an add-on sound card if needed, and at least one dual HDTV tuner. Thats me, though

PsyDuck · Post by **PsyDuck** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 2:21 am

How about the Core 2Duo Mobile? You can find the T7200 at a lot lower prices than the 3800+ EE SFF.
The drawback seems to be the lack of motherboards, but there are a couple of socket 479 motherboards and most of them seems to be compatible with socket 478 heatsinks.

prostetnic · Post by **prostetnic** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 12:53 am

I was convinced not to use Asus - M2N-VM/DH so I have chosen Abit NF-M2 nView insted. This is what I have decided on.

NF-M2 nView
Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (65W)
Kingston DDR2 667MHz 2x512MB
Zalman CNPS9500 (will need modifying to fit in nsk2400)
WD5000KS SE16 Caviar 500GB HDD
GIGABYTE GeForce 7600GT Silent Pipe II (May take some modification of the top of NSK2400 case to fit according to some reports)

The reason that I don't go with the XP120 heat sink is that its next to impossible to get hold of the remounting for AM2 (AM2-RM Rev B) in Sweden.

Please give any comments on this setup, I will place the order today or tomorow if I dont get any feedback. Please stop me from buying anything stupid!

jan555 · Post by **jan555** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 4:04 am

Did you consider MoDT platform? I am using Gigabyte GA-8I945GMMFY-RH, which has no overclocking capabilities at all, but its function and stability is just perfect and it is surprisingly cheap.

To be more factual, this my system actually consists from:
- Gigabyte GA-8I945GMMFY-RH
- Core Duo T2600 with Thermalright XP-90C fanless
- 2x 1 Gig DDR667
- 2x WD3200YS in RAID1 (AAM enabled)
- Gainward Bliss-7982 (7600GT fanless)
- NSK2400 with Seasonic S12-430, 2x slowed-down Noctua 120 fans and dampening

This combination is running really silent, cool, stable and power-effective also and it is fast enough for everything I really need.

Comprehensive review of the mobo is http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=3883

PsyDuck · Post by **PsyDuck** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 4:58 am

Jan555: Would be nice with some photos of your setup in the "General Gallery"

Edit: Already answered my original question in the "Silent VGA" subforum

//Psy

autoboy · Post by **autoboy** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 9:28 am

Everything looks great to me. That is a great setup and I think you will be happy with it. However, if you are only planning on standard definition TV and DVDs, the 6150 supports all the purevideo features and will be fast enough for all standard def material. Check the purevideo feature list again and you will see. It works great for high def content as well as long as it is progressive scan material like 720p. It only starts to have problems with 1080i material because it needs to be deinterlaced which takes more processing. Most downloaded material is progressive scan as well so if you torrent lots of shows it will have no problem with those shows. You can save some money now on the 7600GT and upgrade later when you want to go high def. Also, you will need a HDCP capable graphics card for HD-DVD and BluRay and the cards out now are considerably more expensive than the regular models. Personally, if I didn't have high def now, I would wait for the DX10 cards from Nvidia based off the new Geforce 8800. There will be some 7600GT (or 7300GS which will be the purevideo sweet spot for DX10 cards IMO) equivalent card coming out soon with improved purevideo performance and HDCP. But, the 7600GT is a great card now if that is what you decide.

prostetnic · Post by **prostetnic** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 2:37 pm

autoboy wrote:Everything looks great to me. That is a great setup and I think you will be happy with it. However, if you are only planning on standard definition TV and DVDs, the 6150 supports all the purevideo features and will be fast enough for all standard def material. Check the purevideo feature list again and you will see. It works great for high def content as well as long as it is progressive scan material like 720p. It only starts to have problems with 1080i material because it needs to be deinterlaced which takes more processing. Most downloaded material is progressive scan as well so if you torrent lots of shows it will have no problem with those shows. You can save some money now on the 7600GT and upgrade later when you want to go high def. Also, you will need a HDCP capable graphics card for HD-DVD and BluRay and the cards out now are considerably more expensive than the regular models. Personally, if I didn't have high def now, I would wait for the DX10 cards from Nvidia based off the new Geforce 8800. There will be some 7600GT (or 7300GS which will be the purevideo sweet spot for DX10 cards IMO) equivalent card coming out soon with improved purevideo performance and HDCP. But, the 7600GT is a great card now if that is what you decide.

Thanks for yor great advice I will probably reconsidder if going with the 7600gt is the right way to go.