i've build one for my friend about 2 years back. he's a $$$$$ guy, RM 300k spent on audio / home-theatre setup is serious shit.......

anyway. the machine is P4 2.4C with ABIT IC7-G. can't remembe RAM size, but of course it's DvD capable, with output from Radeon 9700 to his like RM 20k SANYO (i think) projector.

damn nice the experience. since he wanted 16:9 ratio - had to manually configure for him lor.

mini-ITX board - checked
mini-ITX casing - checked
PSU for mini-ITX casing - checked........but 150w only, from FSP group. Wonders if there's any local shop that sells higher wattage PSU

this is the PSU I have at the moment http://www.fsp-group.com/english/1_product...id=33&proid=384 it came with my VIA EPIA M1000.

now i just need a processor, low profile heatsink, SATA HDD, OS and optical drive.

sniper, Albatron KI690-AM2

it's going to be replacing my EPIA since my EPIA is pretty old now, caps are showing signs of bloat. only has IDE, non-upgradable processor, using DDR and lastly - the damn USB WiFi device refuses to work with it!

still collecting funds for it's other parts.
ending configuration should be using

either the weakest Sempron/Athlon I can find or just my old X2 3600+
512MB - 1GB RAM (it uses DDR2-sodimm).
probably 250GB SATA
1x DVD-ROM (DVD-RW if possible)

oh yeah, and hopefully there's low-profile heatsink around.

the only thing is this - the ITX casing is so small, no way to put additional PCI-E card la.

not sure about the TA690G based board, whether the DVI output i can use for HDMI stuff or not.

see like even the HD3450 that i bought a few days back comes with some audio function, i believe this one should work like the HD3650 where i can convert DVI to HDMI signals.

the more costly part would be the plans for a 32" LCD TV for this unit to pair with.

depends on what casing your HTPC is in la. SFF units / MATX casings have ample space.

oh hey ozak, long time no see.

since you want it look like AV Style, find casing first la. I saw Silverstone have quite a few really nice looking AV / Receiver looking casing.

some of them actually fit widely available components, such as ATX PSU, mATX board and even PCI / PCI-E devices.

nah, way better
http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/enc...re.php?area=usa

have a look. blow your mind away.

HTPC = the computer unit that works with the HT system. ok? settle.

k la k la. enough.

now back to HTPC topic.

the darn thing about mini-ITX casing is that it comes with only 60w - 80w PSU. with the setup i have in mind, lowest i could go is around 115w based on the http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

i might end up having to buy a new HTPC casing that i can fit standard-sized ATX PSU.

if i'm going to be picky on spam, then i can tell you we'll have ghost town.

nmind la. we go back to topic.

I'm eyeing on the one that's around RM 400. sure looks damn classy to match with LCD TV.

I think quite likely I'm going to have to abandon my current mini-ITX casing cos that one no PCI-E expansion. AFAIK 690G video processing / output wouldn't be as good as those on HD3xxx series cards.

furthermore i intend to have X2 series on my HTPC rig and do some folding@home.

which one? as in casing ah? ehh........

i'm thinking of http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/p_c...o=lc17&area=usa

Ozak, some of these casings are actually sold by our forummers. check out Trade Zone or Bulk (I won't name names la, cos later look like i promoting. not good)

edited : oh yes, the pricing is stated on their sales thread. check it out.

This post has been edited by goldfries: May 8 2008, 12:22 AM

not everyone so demanding mah.

people like me, DVD also good already.

that's the thing about AV stuff, people like me found HD / BR to be not much better than DVD - what to do, eyes not clever to see.

on the other hand i have a friend who plopped a few hundred K just for home-theatre system. I setup a PC for him just to watch movies (many years back, using Radeon 9700) and according to this guy the PC is actually better at watching DVD (some bitrate / decoding / whatever la. me not clear). fun experience though, setting 16:9 resolution for projector that's easily 5 times more expensive that his computer (P4 with ABIT IC7-G i think) . those days mana ada wide-LCD yet.

it was a HTPC alright but using tower casing la.

Similar but not the same? Nahhh. The terminology refers to different things in the first place.........

put it this way la.

HTPC = a PC for HT purpose. simple as that. doesn't matter what the size. you put CM Stacker and hook it up to HT system, also HT PC already. silent or not. normally people prefer it to be small la cos big not so nice, kacau the HT feel.

SFF = SFF - small form factor. Not even referring to a PC or it's functionality. It's just saying something of SMALL form. it can be a gaming PC, file server, print server, P2P rig, whatever you can think of. the idea is just to have everything in compact form. that's it.

no need la. play video only what. but if you want to make it into a gaming machine to play on your LCD TV - get a better graphic card la.

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Added on May 9, 2008, 6:13 pmaiyah even onboard also enough ler. depends on how you want it la.

This post has been edited by goldfries: May 9 2008, 06:13 PM

i should go to the one in audiophiles section. they the pros. me just budding HTer.

my plan is to have 512mb only. yes. those look good.

you mean like those SFF from Shuttle? the Shuttle XPC.

my board!

now need to find all the other parts.

btw off-topic

mADmAN, your setup looks like my filesharing / print server

AMD Athlon 2800+ s754
Biostar TForce 6100 s754 (I'm using 6100-M7)
Kingston KVR DDR400 512MB*2 (i'm using 1 stick)

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Added on May 9, 2008, 6:50 pmoh darn. i just realize it's a PCI slot! not PCI-E!

This post has been edited by goldfries: May 9 2008, 06:50 PM