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Assassin's Simple/Beginner HTPC Buying Guide - Page 103

post #3061 of 15485
4/11/11 at 7:37pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by joeydrunk View Post

I think the scores are stupid, you could have the best components on the face of the earth except for one area and get a low score. It should be an average. But I guess also,a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. I get 6.9 with the I3 550, 6gb RAM and gtx 460. I'd be interested just out of curiosity to know if someone has the same build as me with a higher or lower score? Anybody?

Totally agree. Who cares about the scores????

You aren't going to get a good "score" with the integraded graphics.

And the integrated graphics is plenty good for HTPC uses. Playing 1080p is not that intensive that it needs a discrete card.
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

post #3062 of 15485
4/11/11 at 7:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

Totally agree. Who cares about the scores????

You aren't going to get a good "score" with the integraded graphics.

And the integrated graphics is plenty good for HTPC uses. Playing 1080p is not that intensive that it needs a discrete card.

Yah the benchmarks are totally wack. My gtx 460 gets a 7.5. So I could have 3 580's and still only get a 7.9

Its just an idea of what you got but can fluctuate a lot between similar systems.
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post #3063 of 15485
4/11/11 at 7:40pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by car421 View Post

Well, finally some pics.
Here is the parts list:
Case - nMEDIAPC Black Aluminum / Acrylic / Steel HTPC 5000B - 69.99 at Newegg
P/S - Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W - 39.99 at Amazon
MOBO - ASUS LGA 1156/ Intel H55/ DDR3 2133OC- mATX Motherboard P7H55-M Pro - 99.99 at Amazon
Processor - Intel i3 Processor i3-540 3.06GHz - 119.99 at Amazon
HD - Western Digital 2 TB Caviar Green SATA Intellipower 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive WD20EARS - 79.99 at Amazon
Memory - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBNQ - 44.99 at Newegg
OS - Windows 7 upgrade family 3 pack - 123.99 at Amazon

Pics of the parts:


I took out the DVD player because just as others have stated the door on the case is a poor design. No big deal as I still use a stand alone BR player and everything that I rip will be done on my laptop and transfered over the network to the HTPC.
The 3 case fans are silent and my fish tank makes more noise than the HTPC.

GREAT pics!!!!

I will be adding them to the front page very soon! Congrats on a great build! It looks very similar to a build that I am probably going to be doing for my little brother soon.
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post #3064 of 15485
4/11/11 at 7:48pm
Thread Starter 
Just noticed that we are over 100 pages and 160,000+ views in about 100 days!!!!!!!
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post #3065 of 15485
4/11/11 at 7:53pm
Can anyone measure from the case to the top of either CPU fan or CPU itself. Also to the top of their ram if you have Ripjaw (big heat sinks) or normal style ram.

Dont know if it will fit in my case.

Thanks
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post #3066 of 15485
4/11/11 at 8:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Danarama View Post

Can anyone measure from the case to the top of either CPU fan or CPU itself. Also to the top of their ram if you have Ripjaw (big heat sinks) or normal style ram.

Dont know if it will fit in my case.

Thanks

I am building an HTPC, here are some measurements:

The distance from the top surface of the motherboard, to the top surface of the CPU cooler fan housing (i3 2100 w/stock fan) is 54mm.

The distance from the inner bottom surface of the case to the top surface of the motherboard (because the MB rests on standoffs) is 7mm.

Given the two measurements stated above, to accommodate a motherboard and the i3 2100 with stock cooler, a case would need to have a distance of at least 61mm from the bottom inner surface of the case to the top inner surface of the case. But I think you would want at least a few millimeters extra wiggle room.

It was mentioned earlier in this thread that the low power draw version of the i3 ("t" version?) might have a more compact stock cooler. So perhaps that could accommodate a shorter space. I don't have a measurement for that cooler.

Also, the distance from the top surface of the motherboard to the top surface of the memory (Corsair XMS3 w/ short heat risers) is 35mm.
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post #3067 of 15485
4/11/11 at 8:33pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Danarama View Post

Can anyone measure from the case to the top of either CPU fan or CPU itself. Also to the top of their ram if you have Ripjaw (big heat sinks) or normal style ram.

Dont know if it will fit in my case.

Thanks

Intel i3 clarkdale and i3 2100 CPU fan is 60mm tall. Intel i3 2100t fan is shorter although I am not sure how much.

Ripjaws are 40mm tall.

Ripjaws X are also 40mm tall.
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post #3068 of 15485
4/11/11 at 8:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by whiteboy714 View Post

Yah the benchmarks are totally wack. My gtx 460 gets a 7.5. So I could have 3 580's and still only get a 7.9

Its just an idea of what you got but can fluctuate a lot between similar systems.

ive got a i7 870 on a p55 with gtx 460 1gb and ive got 7.7 on top 4 entries in win7 pro except hd - which is a wd 1tb 7200rpm sataIII 6gbps thats 5.9... so i get 5.9...

oh well
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post #3069 of 15485
4/11/11 at 8:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

Intel i3 clarkdale and i3 2100 CPU fan is 60mm tall. Intel i3 2100t fan is shorter although I am not sure how much.

Ripjaws are 40mm tall.

Ripjaws X are also 40mm tall.

I wonder if the 60mm measure includes the full length of the mounting pins, which actually end up protruding a bit under the board when mounted? Because my cooler/fan when mounted is rising 54mm from the motherboard surface. Or else perhaps there are some differences in the CPU cooler/fan combos that Intel is providing, or the mounting plate height on various motherboards.

Edit: I was just thinking maybe your 60mm measure includes the height of the motherboard from the bottom case surface? In that way, the 60mm aligns with the 61mm total height I provided, give or take a mm.
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post #3070 of 15485
4/11/11 at 8:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by freonchill View Post


ive got a i7 870 on a p55 with gtx 460 1gb and ive got 7.7 on top 4 entries in win7 pro except hd - which is a wd 1tb 7200rpm sataIII 6gbps thats 5.9... so i get 5.9...

oh well

I use 5900rpm and get higher than that, so what gives?
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post #3071 of 15485
4/11/11 at 8:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by whiteboy714 View Post


Yah the benchmarks are totally wack. My gtx 460 gets a 7.5. So I could have 3 580's and still only get a 7.9

Its just an idea of what you got but can fluctuate a lot between similar systems.

How did you conclude that 3 580's would only bring you to7.9?
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post #3072 of 15485
4/11/11 at 9:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by freonchill View Post

ive got a i7 870 on a p55 with gtx 460 1gb and ive got 7.7 on top 4 entries in win7 pro except hd - which is a wd 1tb 7200rpm sataIII 6gbps thats 5.9... so i get 5.9...

oh well

I believe all regular hdd's give 5.9. Unless maybe if it was really bad.

Quote:
Originally Posted by joeydrunk View Post

How did you conclude that 3 580's would only bring you to7.9?

I believe 7.9 is the best score.
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post #3073 of 15485
4/11/11 at 9:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by indio22 View Post

I wonder if the 60mm measure includes the full length of the mounting pins, which actually end up protruding a bit under the board when mounted? Because my cooler/fan when mounted is rising 54mm from the motherboard surface. Or else perhaps there are some differences in the CPU cooler/fan combos that Intel is providing, or the mounting plate height on various motherboards.

Edit: I was just thinking maybe your 60mm measure includes the height of the motherboard from the bottom case surface? In that way, the 60mm aligns with the 61mm total height I provided, give or take a mm.

Thank you very much, helps alot. I believe i have 70mm to play with, otherwise its about 57cm haha. will see once the supplier gets back.

If it can fit in the case its all good as there are vents above the fan
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post #3074 of 15485
4/11/11 at 9:53pm
ugh! I spent days setting up this htpc using a small monitor. tonight I move it over to my TV and there is no signal from the HDMI on the motherboard. All the drivers are installed, damn thing just doesn't work.

I don't think there is anything special I need to do to get HDMI out on this board, is there?

Motherboard: GA-H67MA-UD2H-B3
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post #3075 of 15485
4/12/11 at 5:23am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by CitznFish View Post

ugh! I spent days setting up this htpc using a small monitor. tonight I move it over to my TV and there is no signal from the HDMI on the motherboard. All the drivers are installed, damn thing just doesn't work.

I don't think there is anything special I need to do to get HDMI out on this board, is there?

Motherboard: GA-H67MA-UD2H-B3

What HDTV do you have? Look at the manual and see if there are directions about connecting a PC to it.

If not try these steps:
Right click on the desktop and under displays see if you need to detect or select your display.
Make sure your HDMI is connected to HDMI 1.
Rename that HDMI to PC if you can.
Set the PC to your TV's native resolution. You may have to google this.
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post #3076 of 15485
4/12/11 at 5:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by CitznFish View Post

ugh! I spent days setting up this htpc using a small monitor. tonight I move it over to my TV and there is no signal from the HDMI on the motherboard. All the drivers are installed, damn thing just doesn't work.

I don't think there is anything special I need to do to get HDMI out on this board, is there?

Motherboard: GA-H67MA-UD2H-B3

This sounds like it might be an HDCP handshake issue. What HDTV model do you have? Can you provide a link to (or re-post) your HTPC parts list?

I installed windows and set everything up on a my PC monitor, keyboard and mouse and then plugged the HTPC into my AVR using HDMI and bingo... no issues at all.
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post #3077 of 15485
4/12/11 at 7:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

This sounds like it might be an HDCP handshake issue. What HDTV model do you have? Can you provide a link to (or re-post) your HTPC parts list?

I installed windows and set everything up on a my PC monitor, keyboard and mouse and then plugged the HTPC into my AVR using HDMI and bingo... no issues at all.

With the gigabyte mb and intel hd graphics once you install the drivers there should be an option under"sound" to make intel hd audio the default. This needs to be selected for hdmi. However when I install the drivers I am never presented this option. No hdmi is enabled. Can't even test it on a tv since it's like there is no hdmi at all. See this other thread for more details on my issue.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1328107
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post #3078 of 15485
4/12/11 at 7:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by CitznFish View Post

With the gigabyte mb and intel hd graphics once you install the drivers there should be an option under"sound" to make intel hd audio the default. This needs to be selected for hdmi. However when I install the drivers I am never presented this option. No hdmi is enabled. Can't even test it on a tv since it's like there is no hdmi at all. See this other thread for more details on my issue.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1328107

Maybe try a different HDMI cable?

Or see if the one you are using is firmly plugged in?

Over the years I've found that I've spent considerable time ferreting out an "issue" only to find it was a bad or unplugged cable.
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post #3079 of 15485
4/12/11 at 8:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

Maybe try a different HDMI cable?

Or see if the one you are using is firmly plugged in?

Over the years I've found that I've spent considerable time ferreting out an "issue" only to find it was a bad or unplugged cable.

so you're saying that a bad cable would make the installation of the drivers not show up as an option? The cable has to be plugged into the TV and my PC in order for the drivers to install correctly? Or to be seen by the system?
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post #3080 of 15485
4/12/11 at 9:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by CitznFish View Post

so you're saying that a bad cable would make the installation of the drivers not show up as an option? The cable has to be plugged into the TV and my PC in order for the drivers to install correctly? Or to be seen by the system?

Who knows? He's just throwing stuff out there to try out.
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post #3081 of 15485
4/12/11 at 9:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by whiteboy714 View Post

Who knows? He's just throwing stuff out there to try out.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

Maybe try a different HDMI cable?

Or see if the one you are using is firmly plugged in?

Over the years I've found that I've spent considerable time ferreting out an "issue" only to find it was a bad or unplugged cable.

Quote:
Originally Posted by CitznFish View Post

With the gigabyte mb and intel hd graphics once you install the drivers there should be an option under"sound" to make intel hd audio the default. This needs to be selected for hdmi. However when I install the drivers I am never presented this option. No hdmi is enabled. Can't even test it on a tv since it's like there is no hdmi at all. See this other thread for more details on my issue.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1328107

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

This sounds like it might be an HDCP handshake issue. What HDTV model do you have? Can you provide a link to (or re-post) your HTPC parts list?

I installed windows and set everything up on a my PC monitor, keyboard and mouse and then plugged the HTPC into my AVR using HDMI and bingo... no issues at all.


Problem solved.

I didn't have just one bad HDMI cable, I had two! I decided to swap out a cable I was currently using on an HD DVD player that I new worked and it worked for the PC. What are the odds of having 2 NEW cables that are bad? Unbelievable.

Now I need to clean up all this hair I had been pulling out and figure out how to correct the overscan on the TV (easy peasy I'm sure )

Thanks for the help guys
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post #3082 of 15485
4/12/11 at 9:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by citznfish View Post

problem solved.

i didn't have just one bad hdmi cable, i had two! i decided to swap out a cable i was currently using on an hd dvd player that i new worked and it worked for the pc. What are the odds of having 2 new cables that are bad? Unbelievable.

Now i need to clean up all this hair i had been pulling out and figure out how to correct the overscan on the tv (easy peasy i'm sure )

thanks for the help guys

bingo!!

BTW, if the device isn't plugged in (or bad cable) then Windows won't recognize it as being there so you cannot set it up. When I set up my HTPC remotely or have it directly plugged into my pc monitor, the HDMI options don't show at all in the driver set up dialog box.
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post #3083 of 15485
4/12/11 at 11:18am
I started a build over the weekend using mostly parts found on first page of this thread. It's pretty straight forward, no surprises. I bought some parts on newegg, some on amazon and some locally, which has currently totalled $556 for parts, shipping and tax. Here's what I'm working on putting together:

Case: Silverstone GDO5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...erstone%20gd05
PSU: Silverstone 400w
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-060-_-Product
MB: ASUS P8H67-M LE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-712-_-Product
Core I3-2100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-078-_-Product
RAM: Kingston 4GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-166-_-Product
Samsung DVD burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-175-_-Product
HDD: Samsung F4 2TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-245-_-Product
Windows 7 64bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-754-_-Product
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post #3084 of 15485
4/12/11 at 11:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jawhog View Post

I started a build over the weekend using mostly parts found on first page of this thread. It's pretty straight forward, no surprises. I bought some parts on newegg, some on amazon and some locally, which has currently totalled $556 for parts, shipping and tax. Here's what I'm working on putting together:

Case: Silverstone GDO5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...erstone%20gd05
PSU: Silverstone 400w
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-060-_-Product
MB: ASUS P8H67-M LE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-712-_-Product
Core I3-2100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-078-_-Product
RAM: Kingston 4GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-166-_-Product
Samsung DVD burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-175-_-Product
HDD: Samsung F4 2TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-245-_-Product
Windows 7 64bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-754-_-Product

Sounds similar to my build I wrapped up on Monday (well, I'm still setting it up). I made a thread about it with pics if youare interested.

Good luck!
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post #3085 of 15485
4/12/11 at 11:50am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mbbransc View Post

Sounds similar to my build I wrapped up on Monday (well, I'm still setting it up). I made a thread about it with pics if youare interested.

Good luck!

Awesome build and pics!!!

Do you mind if I add them to the first page???
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post #3086 of 15485
4/12/11 at 12:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

Awesome build and pics!!!

Do you mind if I add them to the first page???

Of course not!! As I mentioned, it wouldn't have happened if not for you. In fact, PM me the info for a donation! I think you deserve a tip!
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post #3087 of 15485
4/12/11 at 12:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

Awesome build and pics!!!

Do you mind if I add them to the first page???

Guess I need to take mine apart and take better pictures so I can have it on the first page! The ones I took earlier with my cell weren't very good quality.
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post #3088 of 15485
4/12/11 at 1:32pm
Thread Starter 
Quicklinked car421 and mbbransc builds on the first page!!!

Congrats on your builds and your HTPCs!!!!!!!

Sammy2 get yours ready and I'll add it too!

Edit: Just noticed that we have 11 builds now on the first page!

You guys are animals!!! I love it!
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post #3089 of 15485
4/12/11 at 2:36pm
I just finished my HTPC build! It was my first computer build, ever, and it was so easy. I'm glad Assassin and Sammy talked me into doing it. I ended up going with a sandybridge build, and I'm glad I did. I couldn't have done it without this forum, or this thread. Thanks Assassin and Sammy for the pep talk and for answering my questions!

BTW - If you are reading this thread and wondering if you are capable of building one, it was a piece of cake - really.

I didn't take any pics, but I may switch to internal wifi, so I do then I'll snap off some photos when I open the case.
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post #3090 of 15485
4/12/11 at 2:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wsumarine View Post

I just finished my HTPC build! It was my first computer build, ever, and it was so easy. I'm glad Assassin and Sammy talked me into doing it. I ended up going with a sandybridge build, and I'm glad I did. I couldn't have done it without this forum, or this thread. Thanks Assassin and Sammy for the pep talk and for answering my questions!

BTW - If you are reading this thread and wondering if you are capable of building one, it was a piece of cake - really.

I didn't take any pics, but I may switch to internal wifi, so I do then I'll snap off some photos when I open the case.

Nice. That was quick. It seems just the other day that you were on the fence about doing it. Have you booted it up and got Windows installed yet? What's next?
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