After months of researching and waiting for the casing to arrive, I have finally completed my first HTPC.

Background
Previously I have been using media players to watch movies, pictures etc through my TV. I had used the Western Digital and AC Ryan media players. All are good for the price. After a while, I decided to build a proper HTPC, partly inspired by what I can do with XBMC.

During the planning stage, these are the criteria of the HTPC I wanted.

1. Casing that can fit into my AV cabinet.
2. Silent.
3. Capable of playing all kind of formats up to 1080p without any problem via HDMI.
4. 5.1 Surround sound capable via optical output.
4. Able to run 24x7.
5. Sufficient storage area.
6. Nice GUI - thus I came about using XBMC.
7. Within a certain budget (very important )

After much research, these are the final components of the built :

Core i3 540
GIGABYTE H55M-USB3
CORSAIR PC1333 (4GB)
CM 500W SILENT PRO M ( A/M/80+ )
Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000
Wireless Comfort Desktop 3000
2.5" SATA 320GB
3.5" SATA 1.5 TB
3.5" SATA 2.0 TB
Liteon BluRay Rom
Silverstone GD05 casing

The Components



My first option was actually Core i3 530. But recently the price of Core i3 540 dropped a bit. It is faster than the Core i3 530 but with the same TDP of 73 watt.



I chose the H55M board because it has a built in GPU that can easily play up to 1080p. This way I don't need to any discreet GPU thus avoiding additional heat generated (and money). Normally I won't go wrong with Gigabyte plus the blue motherboard looks cool.



Perfect size for my AV cabinet. Lots of ventilation. Looks very simple and neat. Lots of good reviews. I had to wait for quite some time for this casing. Had to email Inter-Asia Technology Sdn Bhd a couple of time to check when is it coming. Thank you Mr Marcus Ong for the help !



Actually I wanted to have a PSU which is less than 450W (again, to reduce heat and noise). Finally settled with this Cooler Master PSU. Reason is it is the cheapest modular PSU around i can find. The cable must be modular design because I can reduce the wires that goes into the GD05 casing thus improving the airflow inside.



For input I chose this Microsoft Wireless Desktop 3000 (and a Hauppauge MC remote control kit that i finally found during my last trip to Singapore). I choose 2.4Ghz wireless desktop over Bluetooth connection because I find that the Bluetooth connection is not that good when you have a lot of electronic stuff around.

The Build

Motherboard and PSU goes in first....


CPU and fan locked and ready to roll.....


4GB of RAM. Plenty for a HTPC, but helps a lot.


Connector wires neatly attached to the motherboard..


Wires/cables from the PSU all connected nicely


All 3 hard disks attached.


Final step to put the HDD and Bluray ROM. All SATA cables connected.


The Final Product






Hope this is informative for you guys.

Update 1st March 2011 : I am selling this HTPC. If you are interested, please check out : http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1773623

My Trade List:
http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopi...&#entry35401147

This post has been edited by tbob87: Mar 1 2011, 04:47 PM

I saw the link. It's mostly to tell what items/components you are using for your home theater. I was looking for a place to post specific on HTPC. Just wanted to share the HTPC build for people to have some ideas if they are planning to build one.

Any ideas ?

Thanks.

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Added on October 2, 2010, 11:33 amI am using the DA1200ES. Excellent AV receiver and very good to listen to as normal amp (can't afford to have 2 amps ). Planning to sell it though in the future.

For speakers, I am using the B&W 600 series.

rgds,

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Added on October 2, 2010, 11:35 amHave been looking for specific HTPC thread in this forum to post, but can't find one. Can you/anybody help ?

Thanks.

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Added on October 2, 2010, 11:39 amThanks for the feedback. Currently I spend less time listening to music. But will consider it when the time comes (though for pure hifi music I will try to avoid HTPC and stick to the old CD player and stereo amp).

Using Win 7. I use XBMC for the HTPC GUI. You can use it on Linux as well if you don't want to spend money on Win 7 OS.

rgds,

This post has been edited by tbob87: Oct 2 2010, 11:39 AM

My pleasure.

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Added on October 3, 2010, 9:46 pmMany thanks for the pointers.

This post has been edited by tbob87: Oct 3 2010, 09:46 PM

I assume HD audio here means uncompressed HD audio. I was informed that the motherboard can bitstream Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD-MA over HDMI. Have not had the opportunity to try it out coz have yet to install the sofware (that came with the Bluray ROM) plus my AV amp does not do Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD-MA.

I found it in Singapore. Could not find any in Malaysia. Even in Singapore I found only 1 shop selling it.

rgds,

You can connect it directly to the PSU.
With my setup, the casing has 3 fans. Only the fan for the CPU I connect to the mobo. The 3 fans runs with power directly from the PSU (you use the connector with 4 pins). I don't use the SYS_FAN.

Hope that helps

Dharma. Quite stable for a beta.

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Added on October 7, 2010, 3:33 pmI think you can buy the 3 pin fan to 4 pin connector adapter. The fans I got with the GD05 casing uses the 4 pin connector.

This post has been edited by tbob87: Oct 7 2010, 03:33 PM

Yup. Modular PSU is much recommended.

You can check Viewnet. When I check this week, they have listed in in their pricelist. It is about RM10 cheaper now.

All in all, I am very happy with the casing.

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Added on October 13, 2010, 11:07 pmInitially yes.
The Bluray software bundled with the LiteOn drive, PowerDVD 8, was really crap. When played, the pictures were black n white with funny horizontal line. Can't watch the movie. Problem still persist even when I installed the patch.

Then I got myself PoverDVD 10. Now I can play the bluray discs without any problems.

This post has been edited by tbob87: Oct 13 2010, 11:07 PM

About rm2000. I recommend you check the pricelist guide for lowyat shops as the component price always change.

I have not tried it yet.

I only use PowerDVD to bitstream the HD audio when watching blu rays.

Hi,
The cabinet is custom made. That is the only way I can get one that fits my required measurement.

rgds.

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Added on January 16, 2011, 9:52 pmYup. Can't argue with that. That is what you get when you place the AV setup in a living room. If only I have a proper Home Theater room...

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Added on February 15, 2011, 10:48 pmThinking of letting go of this HTPC. Any offer for takers ?

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Added on March 1, 2011, 4:48 pmI am selling this HTPC. If you are interested, please check out : http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1773623



This post has been edited by tbob87: Mar 1 2011, 04:48 PM