http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/products/p...3217&lid=783239

It's without the monitor, that's why RM1999

I've heard of such problems but I do not have a gpu acceleration capable card to try it out. Try messing around with ATI control panel or Nvidia Control panel and obviously the one you need to mess with are the video playback settings, whichever one your card belongs to.

Bro, do you mean if i am able to play a 1080p file smooth on my LCD monitor, it should be able to show smoothly on my 40" Full HD TV?

Ever played games at 1024x768 on a 30" monitor? It's fast, right? It's the same thing, yes it should be able to show smoothly. If you don't believe me, try this. Downscale a 1080p video by making your video screen smaller. Task manager should display the same processing power used compared to running it full screen.

Any info on availability and price/promo for this type of PC at PCFair in Penang? Anyone please share info.

For Acer X1200 and X3200 to be specific (both have internal power supply). Here are the links:

If no such model in Malaysia, an equivalent small form factor from Acer (with internal power supply) will do.


http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/acer-aspi...7-33229227.html

http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/acer-aspi...7-33351909.html

This post has been edited by Spade: Dec 6 2008, 12:09 PM

no sign of it in malaysia

What I meant is not really exact model. What I want is just the same small form factor like that.

Wowow.. i usually though HTPC is something like home player size...but this really a big one...

I have a mini tower HTPC as well. I don't put it near the TV but at the far corner. Just need to have the remote censor in front of the TV that's all. No need to showcase the HTPC

Remote censor ? can u explain on your design of your mini tower HTPC ???

I now planning to get a tv-card to hog from my computer to a TV , use it for monitor purpose for 1 stage.

After that then i will build a real HTPC using the card as well but i wonder whether did those ATI 4630 card also can output to TV or not ?

I actually bought 780G for my uncle HTPC. Performance is ok, can run AERO, no prob, can watch 720p (mkv) no prob.

http://karhoe.net/content/view/122/5/

BUT, when it comes to 1080p, the pc (don't know which part) overheat and power off. It just can't handle 1080p MKV files. It's the first revision 1.0 btw

---

Added on December 23, 2008, 1:37 pmLet's say I can fix the heat issue, when watching 1080p MKV, the video and audio can't even sync together

This post has been edited by karhoe: Dec 23 2008, 01:37 PM

Hi Guyz, after doing some research over the net i have come to this decision.
If you wan ur HTPC purely for movie, you choose either nvidia 8200 or nvidia 9200.

An onboard graphic is good enough to cater for your need.....from the research it is proven that 8200 can playback hi-def movie such as blu ray more smoothly compare to 780G. if you are up to some gaming you can choose 780G. Graphic in 780G is betta but video is betta in 8200/9200 series.

for the heat issue, some of the 780G do suffer this problem but is not all...

This is my recent built, it is pretty cheap but is more than enough.

AMD X2 5200 = RM 195
XFX nvidia 8200 = RM305
4GB ram = rm120 (ram is too cheap so decide to grab another 2 GB)
Casing = rm150 (if you are building a HTPC go for small form factor)
HDD = Free

if you see here it is pretty cheap to built a solid HTPC....

Actually, for new graphic cards, like the ATI 4000 series, it has onboard Realtek soundchip, so it can decode audio as well and does not need to connect to a discrete soundcard.

SHARP56:
I would suggest you to get a M-ATX board with latest AMD chipset..i think 790xx something. It's sufficient for your purpose and has everything built in, optical digital out, coaxial digital out and HDMI. The one thing about HTPC is to look small and sexy. Get a small matching casing as well.

Playing 1080p files should not be a problem as long as ur CPU can handle it. Decoding 1080p MKV does not depends on the GPU.

I've just built a similar specs PC for my relative..(Gigabyte MA78GPM-DS2H). I think this will suit ur need fairly well...as long as u don't try to do hardcore gaming on it ( u can always add a better GPU latter).

This post has been edited by Matrix: Dec 23 2008, 02:17 PM

there is a lot of card are providing it....
but honestly if you are using purely for movie there is no point to waste more money on the graphic that you don't utilize....
a onboard graphic card shud be sufficient for you....it has all wat you need

For casing, I recommend Aopen G326 sold by rockrock, RM165 only, a true SFF

790 already have MATX? Last I know they were still in ATX and the MATX ones cost a bomb. Be warned again, 780G cannot handle 1080p mkv rips

yeah, my E2180 (2G dual core) can decode 1080p smoothly without Video chipset assistance (not much assist with palia intel chipset..hehe) , but lappy's 1.6G dual core is stuttering....

but I think the latest Graphics cards can do hardware decode and leave the proc at 5-10% utilization.. not sure yet but will be getting a HDMI HD audio outputtable video card soon..

Yep, the 780G and 8200 actually helps decode, Nowadays, integrated graphic is very powerful...but Intel still sucks at this...LOL.

Intel may have the better CPU, but in terms of value chipset, AMD and Nvidia still rules supreme. Can't beat em for value.

I'm using an ATI HD 4850 to output to my LCD TV via HDMI...it has onboard realtek chip for the sound. Good enuff for most purpose. U r going to connect to a receiver directly or to TV?

780G chipset comes with ATI HD3200 already which is ok for mkv. I just bought an Asus M3A78 and with Phenom X3 8450, 4gb kingston value ram, 500GB hdd and a new casing for around RM1.2k. I use back my existing ATI HD3450 and SB x-fi extreme music. I got the 3450 for RM100 only and it carries 5.1 Audio over HDMI. Cheap HTPC solution Output to my 720p projector using DVI-to-HDMI converter and everything is well.

Actually you don't really need a fast CPU to watch MKV, you can always make use of ur GPU for video processing. Make use of DXVA and you can watch 720p mkv files with less than 5% cpu power. I use ffdshow paired with MPC HC and cpu usage is around 20%.

I would've gotten a board with 780G chipset if it weren't because it's m-atx. Nowadays you can pair the onboard ATI HD3200 with say my HD3450 and you get a HYBRID CROSSFIRE. Good enough for lot's of games out there

This post has been edited by toytoy: Dec 23 2008, 04:00 PM

Yeap....toytoy point out a very good idea here....

HTPC should be cheap cheap cheap!!! and effiecient.