Hey guys, I'm planning to build a HTPC to use with my Sharp 720p LCD TV, it has inbuilt speakers so for the moment, I am going to connect via HDMI, I need some suggestion though.

Budget is RM1500 +/-

Processor - Athlon 64 X2 5200+ RM240

Motherboard - Asus M3A78EMH RM300

Hard Disk - Western Digital 320GB - RM185

RAM - Team Elite DDR2 800 1GB x 2 - RM165

Power Supply - Silverstone ST400 - RM160

DVDRW - Pioneer SATA DVDRW RM110

Wireless keyboard and mouse (looking for those with inbuilt analog mouse joystick)

Logitech EX110 Wireless Desktop - RM125

TV TUNER - Pixel View TV TUNER - RM150

USB WiFi adapter - Belkin Wifi USB - RM90

Total before casing - RM1525

Casing - looking for those which can be put flat down, if possible with media buttons like this HTPC casing

Any cheap HTPC casing around? Looking for those desktop type, which I can put flat down, hence the drives also must be orientated horizontally on that position.

Btw, ATX PSU would fit in MATX casing anot?
Thanks guys

Hi guys, I plan to get a HTPC to put in the living room with a decent 720p LCD TV(already have) . My budget for everything including wireless adapter, wireless keyboard and mouse is RM1500. So what parts do you suggest?

*Edit, this is my opinion, please give your comment.

Processor - Athlon 64 X2 5200+ RM240

Motherboard - Asus M3A78EMH RM300

Hard Disk - Western Digital 320GB - RM185

RAM - Team Elite DDR2 800 1GB x 2 - RM165

Power Supply - Silverstone ST400 - RM160

DVDRW - Pioneer SATA DVDRW RM110

Wireless keyboard and mouse (looking for those with inbuilt analog mouse joystick)

Logitech EX110 Wireless Desktop - RM125

TV TUNER - Pixel View TV TUNER - RM150

USB WiFi adapter - Belkin Wifi USB - RM90

Total before casing - RM1525

Casing - looking for those which can be put flat down, if possible with media buttons like this HTPC casing

Thanks guys

I also have some question regarding the resolution, so we just set to treat display as HDTV? Do we need to set custom resolution?

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Added on June 30, 2008, 3:02 pmI'm confused about resolution, can anyone explain about the resolution? When I connect the PC to TV via HDMI for 720p resolution, does the PC automatic switch resolution? Do I have to set custom resolution? Set option to treat display as HDTV?

Why do I see many resolutions for 720?

1366 x 768, 1360 x 768, 1280 x 720 ?

This post has been edited by karhoe: Jun 30 2008, 03:23 PM

Those so expensive, was thinking of some cheap and small matx casing, maybe around RM100

Ya, actually I am looking for somethign like mini tower.

Guys, is HEC 250W enough for these?

AMD Athlon X2 5200
DDR2 800 1GB x 2
Asus AM780 motherboard with HDMI
SATA DVDRW
320GB HDD
USB device x 2 (wireless keyboard and wifi adapter)

Or should I get Silverstone ST400 ?

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Added on July 14, 2008, 12:50 amDo you have TV Tuner? If you have, probably the only thing you can do is to connect astro video output to your tv tuner video input, there is no way you can use your PC to communicate with the Astro decoder, unless you program the firmware or you can google the Phillips decoder model

This post has been edited by karhoe: Jul 14 2008, 12:50 AM

Guys, AMD 780 vs Geforce 8200, which one better for HTPC

Why need AVR? Well, not going to use AVR

Something like this

Athlon 64 X2 5200+ 2.70 2x512 2000 RM235
Team PC6400 DDR2 800 1Gb x 2 RM160
WD3200KS 320GB SATA 3GB 16MB RM170
GA-MA78GPM-DS2H RM295
Silverstone ST400 RM169
HDMI cable - RM95
Pioneer SATA DVDRW rm100
Aztech WiFi USB - RM50
Genius Keyboard with integrated mouse RM279
XQBOX HTPC 200 - RM300

Total around RM1800

That RM200 can be used to upgrade the casing to CM Media ^^

This post has been edited by karhoe: Aug 1 2008, 12:58 PM

Latest update, just back from LYP, Hauppage Win MCE 150 RM299 at SRI COMPUTERS !, comes with remote, IR blaster ! FULL BOX (but i didnt buy)

Anyway, show off my HTPC







This post has been edited by karhoe: Aug 3 2008, 02:01 AM

Manage to nego for RM250

The RM299 i'm talking about in my previous post is for the hauppage pvr 150 mce tv tuner

This post has been edited by karhoe: Aug 3 2008, 01:08 AM

Nono, I saw the price was 299, but I didn't buy it, lol.

It was actually for my uncle, he's not ready for TV Tuner yet, some other time, just that I wanted to update you guys with the price.

I didn't mention that I bought the 150, sorry for those who misunderstood me

Anyway, the TV Tuner (hauppage 150) uses pci slot, I think I know how it works (but i didnt buy it)

You connect astro output to the tv tuner input, then the IR blaster to the IR port on the astro, then configure it according to this.

http://www.terencey.net/blog/?cat=5

Link to the keyboard I bought
http://www.genius-europe.com/en/produktdet...3&ID=25&ID3=325

This post has been edited by karhoe: Aug 3 2008, 02:04 AM

XQBOX HTPC 200, sold by niclasteoh

http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=662901&hl=

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Added on August 3, 2008, 11:37 amJust split the S-video into two, one into TV, one into HTPC

This post has been edited by karhoe: Aug 3 2008, 11:37 AM

Yes, but you can't use the program to download the guide

In Win XP MCE, there's a program you can use to download the guide from astro website and display in MCE, so you don't have to press the info button on the astro remote, unfortunately this program does not work in Vista, unless you do some tweaking which involves ISS and registry tweak

Nah, I just remembered there's a workaround

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Added on August 7, 2008, 9:39 pmYou need to make sure you actually set both output as independant outputs instead of 'clone' mode. Then you can set different resolution for each monitor, the troublesome thing is you have to drag the window to another screen (as easy as moving the cursor to the right) for things you want to display on the other side, remember to check the option to 'extend' the monitor.

As for the audio, try to reduce the volume level in control panel

This post has been edited by karhoe: Aug 7 2008, 09:39 PM

I think that citibank pc wont have HDMI output, connected to TV via Analog + 3.5 stereo jack

Yeap, go download sample HD clips and trailers

Guys, what you think about the 9300/9400 board in contrast to AMD 790GX ?

I thought MKV is just a format for repackaged x264 files? Such a waste if GPU can't decode it

Not necessary, depends on the casing.