both PowerDVD 7 and the latest Intervideo WinDVD are able to play HD DVD

where can i get the Xbox Add on? and roughly how much (does it come with the remote and King Kong HD DVD ) ?

Yes, there are shops selling HD DVD player, but you might have to place an order. One at KLCC and another one .. (need to go back and check my KL 2006 AV show catalogues and name cards)

is that Coolermater Elite 336 or 330?

thanx

I am looking for a HPTC casing for ma HTPC. And i am not paying RM300 for a barebone Silverstone casing

I think i am heading to Lowyat today to look for decent looking casing today at least two optical drive bays

This post has been edited by g5sim: Mar 17 2009, 06:58 AM

found this nice yet affordable - Cooler Master Casing floating around at Lowyat. Cooler Master Elite 360. RM130 (without power supply unit)

http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.ph...product_id=2898

i saw the PC on/off button and the regular media controller (next, forward etc). Will go to the shop again and note down the model number. I saw it at Challenger The Mines

couldnt find it at LYN



the GEnius wireless keyboard/mouse/remote control = RM99 at THe Mines

thats the problem. i was rushing and didnt note the the model number or snap a photo of the damn thing. There were so many of them. I willl go there again and take down the model number

i saw a mouse, the keyboard, a remote and a USB adapter. I assume the USB thingy is the infra red adapter for the keyboard/mouse/remote

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Added on March 18, 2009, 5:19 pmcan u detach the remote control from the keyboard?

http://www.genius-europe.com/en/produktdet...0&ID=25&ID3=325

This post has been edited by g5sim: Mar 18 2009, 05:19 PM

hmm, i thought the price that i saw at Challenger was RM99. Strange! Need to reconfirm.

have one xbox 360 universal remote control. dunno how to use. dun have Xbox 360

AMD 7750 black edition - RM240
M3A78-EM mobo - RM300
Corsair 4GB DD2 gaming - You might dont want do waste money on the 4th gig of RAM. Check the spec of the MOBO. You might want to get a 2G and a 1G. - RM120
1TB WD Green - RM380
Silverstone SGO2 casing - RM299
Silverston ST 400 PSU - RM189
Vista Home PremIUM - FOC (Pirate )
M'soft wireless keyboard/mouse - RM70
Pioneer DVDROM - RM90

Total = RM1688

My comments: Your Casing and PSU = 30% of your total HTPC cost I suggest you trim down that cost. Get a Cooler Master ELite 360 HTPC casing for RM130 (two DVD Bays) can be put horizontal or vertical. Cooler Master 460watt PSU = RM159 (total RM289)

Your choice of CPU. I suggest you go for the X2 5600 (2.9gh) at RM245 instead of the 7750. DUN BE FOOLED by the bigger number. The 7750 = RM245 but guess what. Its a 2.7gh processor

ASUS MA378-EM has a built in HD3200 graphic. It also has a OPTICAL digital out. I suggest you take into consideration your sound system when choosing your MOBO. If for example, you have a DVD player and have used the OPTICAL input of your sound system and your sound system has a COXIAL Digital Input, you might want to go for ASUS MA378-PRO. It may not have a a DISPLAY PORT - port, but it has a COXIAL Digital out.

Also, if your HTPC is to be placed at the living room, you need to check if your Casing can fit your TV Rack for example.

An important note is that, make sure that your casing can support add on card without additional hardware. Some casing will require you to buy a riser if you want to add in PCI Express VGA card for example.

Or you can try this spec


Processor - AMD X2 5600+ 2.9gh - $245.00
Motherboard - M3A78 EM HDMI (Optical digital out) - $300.00
RAM - Kingston PC 5300 - 2gb DDR2-800 - $70.00
Graphic - Built in (ATI HD 3200) - $-
Hardisk - WD 320GB - $160.00
Optical Drive - Pioneer 20x - $90.00
Casing - Cooler Master 360 - $130.00
Keyboard/mouse - Genius MCE wireless (w/ Remote Control) - $-
Monitor - TV - monitor not required - $-
18CM Fan - Icute - $15.00
PSU - Cooler Master Extreme 460watt - $150.00

Total - $1,160.00

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Added on March 22, 2009, 1:23 pmby the way, i am importing a the LG BD/HD DVD combo retail optical drive for USD109. The retail box comes with a PowerDVD software. I am still in the process of getting confirmation if it can play BD/HD DVD. or else i am downgrading to the OEM version for few USDs cheaper

This post has been edited by g5sim: Mar 22 2009, 01:23 PM

check my post, you can get them at LYP The price <> lah

OMG !! you evil devil !!!

Newegg is having a sale on the Retail box just few dollars more expensive than the OEM version.

you wannna bulk?

if not i am buying via Maybank AMEX

hehe tell you what, you can try Windows 7 for free. Once its finalized, you will be able to have access to upgrade and the license will be valid until at least 2010 by that time. Vista Home Premium should be much more cheaper or maybe a Media Center edition of Windows 7 will be available. Windows 7 Beta has Media Center built in.

as for the spec. its actually the spec for the one that i am getting probably this week. I plan to play Windows 7 Beta with it

The MOBO has only one digital out - OPTICAL. PRO on the other hand has a COXIAL digital output. They are also updated versions of the MOBO. The number 3 is replaced with number 4 None of the MOBO has both Optical and COXIAL out put.

I am currently on a Z680 speaker that has one COXIAL and one Optical inputs. Coxial is used by my DVD player. So i have to get the EM version. The board is micro style (but ATX compatible) - smaller than PRO. I went to LYP the other day to view the items first hands before finalizing my specs

The LG optical drive is not just a BD ROM. its a combo Blu-ray and HD DVD ROM. Hidef HD DVD titles are selling at $6 at many websites now vs <>$20 for Blu-ray. You get this, you can what ever that you want thats available on HD DVD in HD DVD and everything else BD. There is no point spending 4x on BD when you can get the same title on HD DVD on the cheap

Anyhow, at least one shop in LYP is selling Panasonic BD burner at <>RM600.

The Cooler Master Elite 360 can support full size GC with no problem. http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?product_id=2898



http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/upload/pro...0.jpg?303404956

Need to check on X2 7750 vs X2 5600 AGAIN!!

This post has been edited by g5sim: Mar 23 2009, 01:45 AM

X2 7750 vs X2 5600 comparison:

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/Produc...5E13076,00.html

Model Number - Frequency - CMOS Technology - Total Dedicated - L2 Cache - L3 Cache - Packaging - Thermal Design Power

7750 2.7 GHz 65nm SOI 1MB 2MB socket AM2+ 95W
7550 2.5 GHz 65nm SOI 1MB 2MB socket AM2+ 95W
6000 3.1 GHz 65nm SOI 1MB N/A socket AM2 89W
5800 3.0 GHz 65nm SOI 1MB N/A socket AM2 89W
5600 2.9 GHz 65nm SOI 1MB N/A socket AM2 65W
5400 2.8 GHz 65nm SOI 1MB N/A socket AM2 65W
5200 2.7 GHz 65nm SOI 1MB N/A socket AM2 65W

Definition on Thermal Design Power

The Thermal Design Power (TDP) (sometimes called Thermal Design Point) represents the maximum amount of power the cooling system in a computer is required to dissipate. For example, a laptop's CPU cooling system may be designed for a 20 W TDP, which means that it can dissipate (either via an active cooling method such as a fan, a passive cooling method via natural convection, via heat radiation or all three modes of heat transfer) 20 watts of heat without exceeding the maximum junction temperature for the chip. The TDP is typically not the most power the chip could ever draw (such as by a power virus), but rather the maximum power that it would draw when running real applications. This ensures the computer will be able to handle essentially all applications without exceeding its thermal envelope, or requiring a cooling system for the maximum theoretical power, which would cost more and achieve no real benefit.

Since the definition of "real applications" and the safety margins vary between manufacturers, TDP values between different manufacturers cannot be accurately compared. While a processor with a TDP of 100 W will almost certainly use more power at full load than a processor with a 10 W TDP, it may or may not use more power than a processor from a different manufacturer that has a 90 W TDP. Additionally, TDPs are often specified for families of processors, with the low-end models using significantly less power than those at the high end of the family.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_Design_Power

The Thermal Design Power (TDP) is the average maximum power a processor can dissipate while running commercially available software. TDP is primarily used as a guideline for manufacturers of thermal solutions (heatsinks/fans, etc) which tells them how much heat their solution should dissipate. TDP is not the maximum power the CPU may generate - there may be periods of time when the CPU dissipates more power than designed, in which case either the CPU temperature will rise closer to the maximum, or special CPU circuitry will activate and add idle cycles or reduce CPU frequency with the intent of reducing the amount of generated power.

TDP is usually 20% - 30% lower than the CPU maximum power dissipation.

http://www.cpu-world.com/Glossary/T/Therma...ower_(TDP).html
------------------------------------

So from the spec, i assume that the 7750 processor generate more heat than the X2 5600. Power and performance wise, i am not looking for a super computer. Just enough to support everything for the next 5-7 years

My current computer is still running strong and still can new PC games and it is 5y old

zomg, i need to check the price again. i swear i saw RM99

problem probem. Windows 7 can recognise my Microsoft wireless adapter but keyboard mouse not working

trying them on my XP system now ..

ASUS MA378 MOBO drivers exe files all not supported

Audio however can run without installing ASUS driver

DVD cannot play

hmm nothing works in playing HD DVD in Windows 7 . Any idea?

i am trying Airsoft TotalMedia theater in a short while but PowerDVD 7 Ultra's update patch is not working on WIndows 7. PowerDVD 8 only works on BD. WinDVD 8 only supports BD.

havent tried WIndows 7 Media Center yet

ideas?

hehe = its okay now

i can watch HD DVD on Windows 7 on my Xbox 360 HD DVD add on. I am using PowerDVD 7 Ultra with SlySoft's AnyDVD installed That RedFox Logo of AnyDVD is sooo cunning ... i mean cute

pictures mana?

the led display with the Casing or you put in yourself to the optical drive bay?

your sound card and graphic card VELI EXPENSIVE, VELI EXPENSIVE!

This post has been edited by g5sim: Mar 27 2009, 10:14 AM

tell us about the audio connector on your "normal desktop". stereo out? Optical Toslink out? Coxial out? HDMI out?