Advice on Upcoming HTPC Build

[shotty53]

I plan on building a new HTPC within the next few months. I just wanted a second opinion on what i plan on ordering before i do.

Plans for use:
No gaming, have another pc for that. Just want something to playback BluRay, store my backups/NAS, and be able to transcode and act as a media server for my PS3.

Here is a list of the components.
ARK 4U-500-CA Black 4U Rackmount Case

MSI 880GM-E35 AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana 3.2GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model

LG WH10LS30 10X Blu-ray Burner - LightScribe Support

I have a spare PSU Corsair 650watt Modular PSU which i think should be enough, but then again, i will be adding more HDD over time.

For the HDD i was going to get the WD Greens, but have been reading that they are not the best choice for this type of build.

I also plan on changing up the Fans/Heatsinks to more effiecient/quieter ones.

My main question is if the CPU would work on this build as well as the onboard video.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[jinjuku]

I would go with an AMD Brazos based platform. Fanless, HD GPU, low power dual core CPU (18 watts TPD). The CPU is integrated onto the mainboard. $140... Can't beat that.

2 GB RAM is all you will need.

 

[sholling]

I'd do my burning on another PC and use the PS3 for Blu-Ray playback. That only leaves the requirement for a media server (and possibly a player) and for that you can either go with a NAS device or go with a silent mini-PC with an external hard drive or RAID enclosure. You can pick up a 2-drive RAID1 NAS device with a built-in DLNA server for $100 plus the drives or a very serviceable 4-drive RAID5 NAS device for $350 plus drives.

If you still want a HTPC then I'd go with jinjuku advice but there is no reason for a burner. You can store 40+ BDs on a $100 2TB drive.

 

[krzywica]

I would go with an AMD Brazos based platform. Fanless, HD GPU, low power dual core CPU (18 watts TPD). The CPU is integrated onto the mainboard. $140... Can't beat that.

2 GB RAM is all you will need.

Will Brazos be able to decode HD video for the PS3 stream? IDK....

 

[jinjuku]

Will Brazos be able to decode HD video for the PS3 stream? IDK....

In modern systems the CPU doesn't do the decode. The GPU does. CPU decode was in the days of the P4.

The GPU is based on the Radeon 6XXX series. I seriously doubt there will be a problem.

 

[krzywica]

In modern systems the CPU doesn't do the decode. The GPU does. CPU decode was in the days of the P4.

The GPU is based on the Radeon 6XXX series. I seriously doubt there will be a problem.

Your misunderstanding the OP. I know what DXVA is.

He is using a media decoding application (PS3 Mediaserver) to decode the video that the PS3 requests and send it to the PS3. This application does not support DXVA and GPGPU.

 

[jinjuku]

Your misunderstanding the OP. I know what DXVA is.

He is using a media decoding application (PS3 Mediaserver) to decode the video that the PS3 requests and send it to the PS3. This application does not support DXVA and GPGPU.

Got it. Sorry. Yep some media streamers expect the decode to happen at the backend. They simply play the streamed output.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Two tasks are a bit harder to do on htpc:
BluRay Playback and Video Transcoding
Your selected mobo with HDMI has onboard 4xxx series video card, which doesn't support lossless master HD sound pass-thru, only 7.1 Multichannel PCM. Honestly the difference isn't big at all, but you won't see the fancy logos on you receiver while playing BluRays.
To fix that I'd rec adding cheap AMD 5xxx or 6xxx series video card with hdmi out like this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121377
or like this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161376

Whats the difference - I dunno.


According PS3 MediaServer minimum rec config calls for "heavy CPU (minimum good dual core, eg 2.6GHz Core2Duo)"
http://www.ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507&p=39334#p39334

but I think that AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana should be sufficient at-least for 720p
as it according to Anandtech could do 58fps for h.264 720p recording encoding.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3937/amds-fall-refresh-new-phenom-ii-and-athlon-ii-cpus-balance-price-and-performance/4

 

[shotty53]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500006
I currently have the ZOTAC ZT-88TES3P-FCP GeForce 8800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card and a quad core 2.83ghz cpu on my gaming rig and have no problems with the transcoding of 1080p mkv's to my ps3. I also planned to use this for BluRay playback because the ps3 is in my bedroom and this machine would be in the family room. I don't want an external for my NAS. I figured, at the price they are, i could just incorporate it to the HTPC.

I figured since my pc is 2.83ghzx4, the 3.2ghzx3 would be more than enough. As for the sound, i don't have a surround setup, just a 2 channel speaker setup using an onkyo preamp/receiver(cant remember off the top of my head) and amp. So lossless sound isn't a must. But then again, i guess prepping for the future would be smart. Thanx again for the help guys. Any more info would be great. And yeah, i will be using PS3 Media Server.