HTPC based on AMD 780G

verix · Post by **verix** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 11:45 pm

A year ago, I built a solid 690G-based HTPC from the help on this forum. I recently gave it to a friend so I'd like to build a new one, capable of Blu-ray at 1080p and based on the well-reviewed 780G chipset. Price would be foremost consideration, then noise output and power consumption. Prices from Newegg.

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H, $100
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ AM2, $70
Cooler: Arctic Alpine 7, $14
Memory: Kingston 2GB DDR2 667 (PC2 5300), $40
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB SATA, $70
Wireless: Gigabyte GN-WP01GS wireless NIC, $17
Case: ~$60
Total = $371

How does it look? Is the CPU or RAM overkill for an HTPC?

Regarding the case, I'm not sure what's available here (in Hong Kong). I'll probably buy whatever looks good and see if the PSU is loud or not.

Appreciate any input, thanks.

loimlo · Post by **loimlo** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 1:48 am

If you are really fond of seagate, at least get a 7200.11. 7200.10 is by far the noisiest drive in the world.

JoeWPgh · Post by **JoeWPgh** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 2:09 am

If you have $50 of wiggle room in your budget, look at the BE-2400. It's roughly the same in CPU power, but at a cooler 45 watts (+ $30). This CPU is easily, passively, cooled with a Mini Ninja (+ $20).

If money is that tight, I'd skip the Alpine 7 and stick with the stock cooler. The Alpine 7 isn't all that quiet.

verix · Post by **verix** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 5:25 am

loimlo wrote:If you are really fond of seagate, at least get a 7200.11. 7200.10 is by far the noisiest drive in the world.

I have another 7200.10 and it seemed OK. I guess I'll try the equivalent WD or Samsung for a change.

JoeWPgh wrote:If you have $50 of wiggle room in your budget, look at the BE-2400. It's roughly the same in CPU power, but at a cooler 45 watts (+ $30). This CPU is easily, passively, cooled with a Mini Ninja (+ $20).

If money is that tight, I'd skip the Alpine 7 and stick with the stock cooler. The Alpine 7 isn't all that quiet.

I didn't notice the BE-2400 in the CPU price lists here but I'll definitely keep an eye for it. Roughly $400 (USD) is my budget. But since it should last 6-7 years, a few bucks more isn't a serious investment.

Thanks for your comments. Additional input welcome, and I'll update the thread with the final setup.

verix · Post by **verix** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 12:01 pm

According to Tom's Hardware, even a Sempron 3200+ was able to decode Blu-ray. So a CPU like the AMD Athlon 64 LE-1640 AM2 45W would be fine? I think a Mini Ninja could also work with it.

verix · Post by **verix** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 3:09 am

I went hunting around for a 45W CPU and there were none. One place offered the BE-2300 but it had to be special ordered. Oh well.

So I was thinking find a regular 65W CPU and undervolt it. Now to scour the forums to find what CPU undervolts the best...

nitram_tpr · Post by **nitram_tpr** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 3:56 am

I have just built a system with this motherboard.
I used an AMD BE2350 CPU coupled with a mini ninja that is passively cooled, works a treat. Make sure your case is big enough for the mini ninja though, it's the biggest mini thing I have ever seen!
I did try out the stock AMD cooler and this worked a treat as well, the fan had to be running, but it did stay quiet(ish)

2 gig of ram is perfect, but get PC 6400 (DDR800).

I can't comment on the HD as I don't use one, I used a Samsung SpinPoint HD501LJ. Not too bad, should have got a WD though I think

I used a Netgear Wireless NIC, worked fine, double the price of the gigabyte one you have listed, I wish I could have got a wireless nic that cheap

verix · Post by **verix** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 6:39 am

Hi nitram_tpr. I've also bought all my parts. It still amazes me that so much CPU can be bought for so little nowadays.

I got a stick of DDR2 667 instead of 800 and realized my mistake afterwards. They don't offer returns or exchanges here. But I'm not too concerned since according to other forums, the performance increase would have been unnoticeable. WD drives are about the same price as Samsung's here, so I just went with the WD.

Final parts list:

Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ AM2
Kingston 2GB DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) RAM
Western Digital 250GB 16MB SATA HD
Buffalo High Speed Wireless PCI adapter
OK-looking, generic multimedia case from GTR with stock PSU

I didn't see the Mini Ninja anywhere so I'll try the stock cooler first and work from there...

Thanks to AMD, this is a perfect time to build an HTPC. Looking forward to assembly and undervolting!

nitram_tpr · Post by **nitram_tpr** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 7:50 am

A little advice....

1. If you bought 2 sticks of ram (1 gig each) only install one stick till Vista is installed.
2. upon first boot up it will give you a prompt about the SATA settings, select NO for the AHCI settings for SATA. Let the machine have the SATA set to IDE for the initial install, you can go into the BIOS and change it later.

Once you have Vista installed, install the WIFI card, then don't do anything else until you have run Windows Update all the way to SP1. it takes an age. The initial Windows Update put 64 downloads in the list, then another few, then SP1

Once you have SP1 in, then install all the other software.

Good luck and enjoy the board. The stock cooler will run fairly quietly when plugged into the motherboard, the AMD coolers run quiet cool

antifro · Post by **antifro** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 10:01 am

Wow I cant believe nobody from spcr forum hasnt mentioned anything about a PSU yet.

Your HTPC should be silent and I'm not sure how quiet or even how dependable your PSU will be. Go for seasonic's 300 watt offerings.