Guide to Building a Home Theater PC
Buyer's Guide to Building a Home Theater PC - October/November 2011
Announcement (updated on October 1, 2011)
Here is the basic plan for "Buyer's Guide to Building a Home Theater PC" (formerly "Recommended HTPC Systems"):
1. Issues and Editions. The guide will be issued every month, on around the 20th day of the month, in the PDF format (a PDF reader is required to read it, such as Adobe Reader [ free download ] or Adobe Acrobat).
2. Asking a Donation! I am asking a donation for the latest issue ( why ). There are two choices:
At this time only a donation by PayPal is accepted. Click the button
then select either one described above, click the PayPal icon and follow the instruction in the loaded page to send a donation. If you don't have a PayPal account, don't worry, click the link "Continue" following "Don't have a PayPal account?" in the page to create an account (it's free) and send money using your credit card or bank account. You will receive a download link instantly. Note that
3. Older Issues will be released free. Older issues will be released for free, either in this thread like the previous "Recommended Systems" or in PDF for download or both. I am planning on releasing a couple of months old issue every couple of months.
4. Have a Question? If you have a question (how to build, how to configure or whatever), please either post it in the thread (yes, please post any question in the thread, hoping that invoke interest in the latest guide
), PM me or email me. I will try to answer it; if I can't, somebody else may be able to help you.
Why do I ask a donation? Maintaining the guide consists of
Among them the most difficult part is the second part because it involves lots of money ($1000 or more per month, not kidding, I consider $1000 is the minimum amount to maintain and keep the guide up to date) and currently it relies heavily on the donations. So please consider making a donation, as much as you can afford, if you think the guide is helpful and want to see it updated for some time to come.
BTW the amount of donations in 2010 is
This is good enough to buy a motherboard per month, but nothing more.
This guide is going to die sooner or later if this continues.
Release Notes
Past Guides in This Thread
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Preface to the Guide - May 11, 2008
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This is a guide to building a HTPC (Home Theater PC), a revised, enlarged version of Core 2 Motherboard Complete List - With Hardware Recommendations for a HD HTPC . In general emphasis is on the aspect of smooth playback of HD contents (including Blu-ray Disc, HD DVD and 1080p H.264 files), hence I added "HD (High Definition)" in the title. The main parts are:
"Hardware Guide" includes a practical selection guide of various hardware components as well as theoretical aspects of hardware if necessary. This part should be helpful to select right components quickly when building a HTPC. "Assembling Guide" is a practical guide to assembling a HTPC. I will choose one of the recommended systems in Part I and give a step-by-step instruction of assembling components. The content of "Software Guide" is still undecided (I welcome suggestions).
There are six appendices:
These are for reference only.
Then follow
__________________
Contents of the Guide
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Main Part
Appendix
Discussion Posts (Click Here)
Buyer's Guide to Building a Home Theater PC - October/November 2011
Announcement (updated on October 1, 2011)
Here is the basic plan for "Buyer's Guide to Building a Home Theater PC" (formerly "Recommended HTPC Systems"):
1. Issues and Editions. The guide will be issued every month, on around the 20th day of the month, in the PDF format (a PDF reader is required to read it, such as Adobe Reader [ free download ] or Adobe Acrobat).
2. Asking a Donation! I am asking a donation for the latest issue ( why ). There are two choices:
- Single issue ($4 USD or more): You can download the current latest issue.
- 4 issues ($10 USD or more): You are eligible to download 4 consecutive issues. For example if you send a donation on April 1st, you can download March (during 4/1-4/20), April (during 4/20-5/20), May (during 5/20-6/20) and June (during 6/20-7/13) issues. How this works: Each donator will be provided with a download link to the issue file, which is valid for 2500 hours = 104 days = 3 months and 2 weeks (for example, April 1 to July 13 if you donate on April 1). I will update the file in the server on around the 20th day of each month and will announce it in this thread. Then you can download the new issue at the link provided. You will use the link repeatedly during the subscription period. So please keep the download link.
At this time only a donation by PayPal is accepted. Click the button
then select either one described above, click the PayPal icon and follow the instruction in the loaded page to send a donation. If you don't have a PayPal account, don't worry, click the link "Continue" following "Don't have a PayPal account?" in the page to create an account (it's free) and send money using your credit card or bank account. You will receive a download link instantly. Note that
- The price field is editable; please change it and donate as much as you can.
- Please add your User Name at AVS Forum in "Add special instructions to merchant" if you want to get my support via PM or posts in the thread. Otherwise I can't identify you with an AVS Forum member unless your user name is the same as your PayPal account holder name.
3. Older Issues will be released free. Older issues will be released for free, either in this thread like the previous "Recommended Systems" or in PDF for download or both. I am planning on releasing a couple of months old issue every couple of months.
4. Have a Question? If you have a question (how to build, how to configure or whatever), please either post it in the thread (yes, please post any question in the thread, hoping that invoke interest in the latest guide
Why do I ask a donation? Maintaining the guide consists of
- Research latest hardware components;
- Acquire key hardware components and do lots of experiments;
- Write the information obtained in a readable form, that requires lots of time, meditation and inspiration (not kidding).
Among them the most difficult part is the second part because it involves lots of money ($1000 or more per month, not kidding, I consider $1000 is the minimum amount to maintain and keep the guide up to date) and currently it relies heavily on the donations. So please consider making a donation, as much as you can afford, if you think the guide is helpful and want to see it updated for some time to come.
BTW the amount of donations in 2010 is
- October 16 2010 - November 15 2010: $60
- September 16 2010 - October 15 2010: $85
- August 16 2010 - September 15 2010: $145
This is good enough to buy a motherboard per month, but nothing more.
Release Notes
- October/November 2011 Issue: Released on December 11, 2011.
- Sandy Bridge-E LGA 2011 systems took the place of 3-year-old Bloomfield LGA 1366 systems.
- All systems were reexamined and nearly half of the systems were updated or completely changed because of new hardware components and price change of many components.
Sample (21 pages):
- August/September 2011 Issue: Released on October 1, 2011.
- The low-end and mid-range systems are restructured.
- Nearly half of the systems were updated or completely changed because of new hardware components and price change of many components.
- June/July 2011 Issue: Released on July 14, 2011. The June issue has been delayed because of the delay of the May issue. So I decided to combine the June and July issues.
- AMD A-Series APU (Llano) systems took place of all the Socket AM3 systems in the low-end and mid-range AMD systems.
- Nearly half of the systems were updated because of new hardware components (new AMD 990FX/990X/SB950 chipset motherboards, new X58/ICH10R chipset motherboards etc.) and price change of many components.
- May 2011 Issue: Released on June 3, 2011.
- All LGA 775 systems were replaced by LGA 1155 systems finally.
- Intel Z68 chipset motherboards are used in place of P67 in many systems.
- Standard Mini-ITX and Budget/Low-End microATX/ATX systems were completely re-organized reflecting the recent release of Pentium Sandy Bridge processor.
- 15-bay server systems are now using an Intel processor and Intel-brand motherboard (one reason for that is Intel Gb LAN).
- 20-24 bay server systems have more processor/motherboard options.
- April 2011 Issue ( free download ): Released on April 23, 2011.
- All Radeon HD 5xxx cards were replaced by the latest Radeon HD 6xxx.
- Several older motherboards and SSDs were replaced by new ones.
- A Xeon LGA 1155 workstation was added.
- Server systems were streamlined and divided into two categories: Server I (12 and 15-drive systems) and Server II (20 and 24-drive systems).
- March 2011 Issue ( free download ): Released on March 21, 2011.
- Every Intel LGA 1156 (Clarkdale and Lynnfield) system was replaced by a LGA 1155 (Sandy Bridge) system.
- "Intel for 3D" (Clarkdale + a discrete graphics) systems were removed because Sandy Bridge supports 3D.
- A LGA 1366 workstation was added.
- Rocket 620 SATA controller card in a couple of server systems was replaced by Rosewill RC-211 because Rocket 620 BIOS disables other controller's BIOS.
- February 2011 Issue ( free download ): The initial version released on February 23, 2011, the final version released on March 4, 2011.
- An AMD E-350 APU system was added in the mini-ITX system ("Budge Mini-ITX System").
- Intel High-End/Premium/Ultimate Systems and Workstation were all updated (i.e. Lynnfield systems were revived) because Intel recalled Intel 6 Series chipsets .
- Minor changes in the server systems (new motherboards, a new SATA 6.0Gbps controller card) for better cost/performance.
- Every single system was reviewed and components were replaced if necessary.
- January 2011 Issue ( free download ): Issued on January 20, 2011. As Intel Sandy Bridge quad-core processors were released on January 9, mainly Intel High-End/Premium/Ultimate Systems were updated.
- December 2010 Issue ( free download ): Issued on January 5, 2011. This is the first PDF version of the Buyer's Guide. 80 pages in US letter. Almost every section of the June 2010 issue was updated. This issue is also posted here .
Past Guides in This Thread
- Buyer's Guide to Building a HTPC – December 2010 Edition
- Recommended HTPC Systems – June 2010 Edition
- Recommended HTPC Systems – March 2010 Edition
- Recommended HTPC Systems – January 2010 Edition
- Recommended HTPC Systems – November 2009 Edition
- Recommended HTPC Systems – September 2009 Edition
_____________________________
Preface to the Guide - May 11, 2008
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
This is a guide to building a HTPC (Home Theater PC), a revised, enlarged version of Core 2 Motherboard Complete List - With Hardware Recommendations for a HD HTPC . In general emphasis is on the aspect of smooth playback of HD contents (including Blu-ray Disc, HD DVD and 1080p H.264 files), hence I added "HD (High Definition)" in the title. The main parts are:
- Part I. Hardware Guide
- Part II. Assembling Guide (under construction)
- Part III. Software Guide (under construction)
"Hardware Guide" includes a practical selection guide of various hardware components as well as theoretical aspects of hardware if necessary. This part should be helpful to select right components quickly when building a HTPC. "Assembling Guide" is a practical guide to assembling a HTPC. I will choose one of the recommended systems in Part I and give a step-by-step instruction of assembling components. The content of "Software Guide" is still undecided (I welcome suggestions).
There are six appendices:
- Appendix I. Overview of Intel CPU
- Appendix II. Overview of AMD CPU
- Appendix III. Complete List of Core 2 Motherboards
- Appendix IV. Complete List of AM2 Motherboards
- Appendix V. Motherboard Naming Rules
- Appendix VI. List of Bandwidth
These are for reference only.
Then follow
__________________
Contents of the Guide
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Main Part
- Hardware Guide (Page 1)
- Introduction (under construction)
- Recommended Systems
- Peripheral Components
- MicroATX System
- ATX System
- Home Media Server
- CPU and CPU Cooler
- Motherboard
- Intel Platform
- AMD Platform
- Memory
- Graphics Device
- Sound Device
- HDD
- Optical Drive
- TV Tuner
- PSU
- Case
- Input Devices
- Assembling Guide (Page 2) (under construction)
- Software Guide (Page 3) (under construction)
Appendix
- Intel Processors – An Overview (Page 4)
- Contents
- Preface
- History
- P6 Microarchitecture
- NetBurst Microarchitecture
- Mobile Microarchitecture
- Core Microarchitecture
- Atom Microarchitecture
- Nehalem Microarchitecture
- AMD Processors – An Overview (Page 5)
- Contents
- Preface
- History
- K5 Processor
- K6 Processor
- K7 Processor
- K8 Processor
- K10 Processor
- Core 2 Motherboards – A Complete List of (Page 6)
- Contents
- Preface
- Overview of Recent Chipsets for the Intel Platform
- Intel 865 Chipset Motherboards
- Intel 945/946 Express Chipset Motherboards
- Intel 975X Express Chipset Motherboards
- Intel 965 Express Chipset Motherboards
- Intel 3 Series Chipset Motherboards
- Intel 4 Series Chipset Motherboards
- Intel Tylersburg & Ibexpeak Chipset Motherboards
- NVIDIA nForce4 Series for Intel Chipset Motherboards
- NVIDIA nForce 500 Series for Intel Chipset Motherboards
- NVIDIA nForce 600i Series Chipset Motherboards
- NVIDIA nForce 700i Series Chipset Motherboards
- NVIDIA GeForce 7-Series GPU and nForce 6-Series MCP Motherboards
- NVIDIA GeForce 8-Series mGPU Motherboards
- ATI Chipset Motherboards
- SiS Chipset Motherboards
- VIA Chipset Motherboards
- Mobile Intel 945 Express Chipset Motherboards
- Mobile Intel 965 Express Chipset Motherboards
- AM2 Motherboards – A Complete List of (Page 7)
- Contents
- Preface
- Overview of Recent Chipsets for the AMD Platform
- AMD 480 Series Chipset Motherboards
- AMD 580 Series Chipset Motherboards
- AMD 690 Series Chipset Motherboards
- AMD 7-Series Chipset Motherboards
- AMD 8-Series Chipset Motherboards
- NVIDIA nForce3 Series Chipset Motherboards
- NVIDIA nForce4 Series for AMD Chipset Motherboards
- NVIDIA nForce 500 Series for AMD Chipset Motherboards
- NVIDIA nForce 600a Series Chipset Motherboards
- NVIDIA nForce 700a Series Chipset Motherboards
- NVIDIA GeForce 6-Series GPU and nForce4 Series MCP Motherboards
- NVIDIA GeForce 7-Series GPU and nForce 6-Series MCP Motherboards
- NVIDIA GeForce 8-Series mGPU Motherboards
- SiS Chipset Motherboards
- ULi Chipset Motherboards
- VIA Chipset Motherboards
- Naming Rules of Motherboards (Page 8)
- List of Bandwidth (Page 8)
- MSI K8NGM2-FID: The Definitive Guide (page 9)
Discussion Posts (Click Here)