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Sandy Bridge 3D HTPC Build

post #1 of 50
3/4/11 at 11:45am
Thread Starter 
I'm in the process of building an HTPC that is capable of Full 3D Blu-ray Video playback and bit-streaming Blu-ray Audio (DTS-HD, TrueHD, etc.). I'm going for the Sandy Bridge platform and won't be installing a Graphics Card, allowing Intel Sandy Bridge's capabilities of processing 3D Blu-ray Video/Audio.

I'm looking for suggestions to my current component list. Most specifically, I'm looking to avoid overkill - and if there's something that does a better job then what I have selected - I'm open to that suggestion as well.

Here's what I have so far:

- H67 ASUS or Gigabyte Motherboard (Approx. $100)

- Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz ($129.99)

- Antec EarthWatts EA-500D Green 500W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply ($69.99)
#Overkill: I'm wondering if I need anything over 380W.

- G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) ($79.99)
#Overkill: I don't know if 8GB is overkill or not; I figured applications like Media Browser/WMC would run faster/better with more memory.

- Thermaltake Black SECC Japanese steel LANBOX Lite VF6000BWS Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case ($89.99)

- Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive ($39.99)
Media is stored on attached eSata RAID Drives, so just need OS & Media Player Software on Internal

- Rosewill WMC Remote control/Rcvr RRC-127 for Win 7 ($24.99)

- Hauppauge Colossus HD-PVR High Definition H.264 Video Recorder ($129.99)
This one's for recording cable shows in HD .. DVR functions

Approx. $540 without DVR Card ... $670 with DVR Card.
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post #2 of 50
3/4/11 at 11:57am
Happy to help again.

I'll post my opinions again but others can chime in and agree or disagree.

I agree about downgrading the PSU to a 380 or 400 watt version. You won't ever go over even 100 watts.

Agree about the 8GB RAM being overkill. Many on here use 2GB. Some, including myself, use 4GB. Hardly anyone uses 8GB for normal HTPC duties because it just isn't needed. Save that $40 for something else (see below).

The biggest upgrade you could make to this system is to upgrade the WD Blue drive to a Crucial 64GB SATAIII SSD. This will make your system lightening quick (many times more so than any additional RAM could offer). This SSD is on sale right now for $125. The WD Blue is like a V6 in a car. The SSD is like a completely silent jet. And since you are going with Sandy Bridge you might as well take advantage of the SATAIII that it offers.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148361
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post #3 of 50
3/4/11 at 12:20pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

Happy to help again.

I'll post my opinions again but others can chime in and agree or disagree.

I agree about downgrading the PSU to a 380 or 400 watt version. You won't ever go over even 100 watts.

Agree about the 8GB RAM being overkill. Many on here use 2GB. Some, including myself, use 4GB. Hardly anyone uses 8GB for normal HTPC duties because it just isn't needed. Save that $40 for something else (see below).

Fully agreed!! I'm making the 2 following changes:

- G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) ($39.99)
#I'm realizing 8Gb is overkill ... -$40

- Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply ($44.99)
#Don't think I need anything over 380W ... -$25

These 2 components would bring the total down by $65 to $475 without DVR Card.

Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

The biggest upgrade you could make to this system is to upgrade the WD Blue drive to a Crucial 64GB SATAIII SSD. This will make your system lightening quick (many times more so than any additional RAM could offer). This SSD is on sale right now for $125. The WD Blue is like a V6 in a car. The SSD is like a completely silent jet. And since you are going with Sandy Bridge you might as well take advantage of the SATAIII that it offers.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148361

Question for you ... is 64GB enough? I will have the Windows Operating System, any required codecs & decoder software, and players like TMT5, PDVD10 etc. I won't be storing any actual media on it - but it is 3 times the cost of the 500GB HDD. I can appreciate it would be really fast - but for 3 times the cost and a fraction of the space ... is it really worth it?
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post #4 of 50
3/4/11 at 12:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mickey79 View Post

Fully agreed!! I'm making the 2 following changes:

- G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) ($39.99)
#I'm realizing 8Gb is overkill ... -$40

- Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply ($44.99)
#Don't think I need anything over 380W ... -$25

These 2 components would bring the total down by $65 to $475 without DVR Card.



Question for you ... is 64GB enough? I will have the Windows Operating System, any required codecs & decoder software, and players like TMT5, PDVD10 etc. I won't be storing any actual media on it - but it is 3 times the cost of the 500GB HDD. I can appreciate it would be really fast - but for 3 times the cost and a fraction of the space ... is it really worth it?

Yes its big enough.

And yes its worth it, imo.

Do you absolutely need it? No.
Will your HTPC be very nice without it? Yes.

But you mentioned that you wanted to add RAM to speed up your system. Well if you really want to not only speed it up but put it in turbo mode then this is how you do it.
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post #5 of 50
3/4/11 at 12:33pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

Yes its big enough.

And yes its worth it, imo.

Do you absolutely need it? No.
Will your HTPC be very nice without it? Yes.

But you mentioned that you wanted to add RAM to speed up your system. Well if you really want to not only speed it up but put it in turbo mode then this is how you do it.

Hmmm ... well I've definitely downgraded the RAM to 4GB. And also the PSU to 380W. It's definitely something to consider. Added cost is bearable - I'll go for it!!

So I guess this is the new lineup so far:

- H67 ASUS or Gigabyte Motherboard (Approx. $100)

- Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz ($129.99)

- G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) ($39.99)

- Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply ($44.99)

- Thermaltake Black SECC Japanese steel LANBOX Lite VF6000BWS Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case ($89.99)

- Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive ($39.99) ..OR.. Crucial 64GB SATAIII SSD ($125)

- Rosewill WMC Remote control/Rcvr RRC-127 for Win 7 ($24.99)

- Hauppauge Colossus HD-PVR High Definition H.264 Video Recorder ($129.99)
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post #6 of 50
3/4/11 at 1:42pm
I disagree about the importance of an SSD drive in a htpc. The SSD shines in fast boot times and in opening applications quickly. Neither of those are important for a htpc. If you use standby for the PC, then you can resume pretty quick anyhow. Maybe you save a second with an SSD here. Application wise, if you use an app like WMC then you have that open all the time anyhow. SSD makes much more sense for regular desktops then for htpcs.
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post #7 of 50
3/4/11 at 1:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rico66 View Post
I disagree about the importance of an SSD drive in a htpc. The SSD shines in fast boot times and in opening applications quickly. Neither of those are important for a htpc. If you use standby for the PC, then you can resume pretty quick anyhow. Maybe you save a second with an SSD here. Application wise, if you use an app like WMC then you have that open all the time anyhow. SSD makes much more sense for regular desktops then for htpcs.
When did I say it was important? I think I made it pretty clear that it was nice to have but by no means essential.
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post #8 of 50
3/4/11 at 3:12pm
Thread Starter 
I kinda do agree with Rico66 on this one; although I understand your point as well Assassin. I think it's more so adding chrome to your shine rather then adding the wheels themselves.

Considering it's 3 times the cost, I'm going to skip on the SSD and just go with the $40 500Gb Sata 6.0Gb/s drive. It will keep my budget very friendly.

I do plan on using standby; I don't believe I will be shutting down the HTPC at all. I actually still have to work out a few software things because this is my first foray into HTPC ... I plan on using the Media Browser / Windows Media Center and for 3D Blu-ray most like TMT5.

Thanks!
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post #9 of 50
3/4/11 at 5:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rico66 View Post

I disagree about the importance of an SSD drive in a htpc. The SSD shines in fast boot times and in opening applications quickly. Neither of those are important for a htpc. If you use standby for the PC, then you can resume pretty quick anyhow. Maybe you save a second with an SSD here. Application wise, if you use an app like WMC then you have that open all the time anyhow. SSD makes much more sense for regular desktops then for htpcs.

If you can afford it and don't need significant storage an SSD is a luxury worth going for.
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post #10 of 50
3/4/11 at 5:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mickey79 View Post

I kinda do agree with Rico66 on this one; although I understand your point as well Assassin. I think it's more so adding chrome to your shine rather then adding the wheels themselves.

Considering it's 3 times the cost, I'm going to skip on the SSD and just go with the $40 500Gb Sata 6.0Gb/s drive. It will keep my budget very friendly.

I do plan on using standby; I don't believe I will be shutting down the HTPC at all. I actually still have to work out a few software things because this is my first foray into HTPC ... I plan on using the Media Browser / Windows Media Center and for 3D Blu-ray most like TMT5.

Thanks!

It is pretty pricey but I won't build a pc without one anymore.

My wife has a system and the only thing in it is a 40gb ssd and she still has some space left. No you can't install your games on one that small. But it will do windows and your apps no problem.

I recently built an htpc with a 500gb blue drive. After using it I got frustrated at how slow it was. Broke up the raid 0 that was in my main rig and put a c300 64gb ssd I had in the htpc.

But like I said all my pc's have them so using one without it is hard now.
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post #11 of 50
3/4/11 at 5:50pm
Looks like its SSD 3, No SSD 2.

Edit: I think the bottom line its that if a typical pc is fast enough for you then stay with a standard hard drive like the wd blue which is an excellent choice. But if you want to push it to the next level then get the ssd. There really is no wrong answer here.

Don't lose site of the fact that in either scenario its a great build.
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post #12 of 50
3/4/11 at 7:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by babgvant View Post

If you can afford it and don't need significant storage an SSD is a luxury worth going for.

Yepp, that's it. BTW, I do have an SSD in my desktop machine, where I can definitely feel the difference, but for my htpc it would be just shiny wheels (which I might still put in at some stage ).
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post #13 of 50
3/4/11 at 7:59pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

Looks like its SSD 3, No SSD 2.

Edit: I think the bottom line its that if a typical pc is fast enough for you then stay with a standard hard drive like the wd blue which is an excellent choice. But if you want to push it to the next level then get the ssd. There really is no wrong answer here.

Don't lose site of the fact that in either scenario its a great build.

I do completely agree with you guys - and believe it or not, I do like to be at the cutting edge which is why I've actually been holding off my build for Intel's Sandy Bridge.

I think at the end of the day it's coming down to budget. I would honestly love to have the SSD but I for what I'll be using the HTPC for - I just can't seem to justify the additional $100.

I think the route for me to take would be to get the 500GB $39 WD Blue right now to get my HTPC up & running - and perhaps at some point later down the road I can upgrade to an SSD. Like you pointed out - it's a good build either way - and even if I replace the HDD with the SSD at some point - there will always be use for the HDD. No byte space ever goes wasted :P

I'm still not frozen on the Case. I like it - but I don't know if it's the absolute final one for me. I wouldn't mind some suggestions. I'm looking for a MicroATX which can definitely take a full size PCI Express Card cause the Colossus Video Recorder Card is a regular PCIe 1x card. I do like the "Cube" style but I'm not married to it.


Thanks guys - appreciate all the advice here.
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post #14 of 50
3/4/11 at 8:23pm
does anyone have any experience with a momentus xt drive in their htpc? reports of firmware issues aside, it seems like it would be a good compromise of ssd vs non-ssd given that the 4gb of nand cache would allow for fast startup of the relatively few programs that run regularly on a typical htpc. plus you get a decent amount of space for whatever else you'd like.
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post #15 of 50
3/4/11 at 9:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by glc001 View Post

does anyone have any experience with a momentus xt drive in their htpc? reports of firmware issues aside, it seems like it would be a good compromise of ssd vs non-ssd given that the 4gb of nand cache would allow for fast startup of the relatively few programs that run regularly on a typical htpc. plus you get a decent amount of space for whatever else you'd like.

IMHO, NO. They really only good to help boost performance on something like a laptop that can only have 1 HHD and needs a lot of data storage space locally. They cost about the same as a SSD (granted they have a lot more storage space but you're better off getting that from a separate HDD where you can get 2-4times the space for nearly half the price) and 4GB isn't space to store as much stuff that you'd want to load faster. The mechanical HDD portion will then give less performance than current 3.5" green drives. It would be a good compromise when it comes to power saving, space (as you can fit 2 in the same space as 1 3.5" HDD or it takes up the same space most SSDs) and heat generation.
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post #16 of 50
3/4/11 at 9:44pm
Get the ssd. It's the best thing you can do for your pc (even htpc).
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post #17 of 50
3/4/11 at 9:58pm
This looks similar to what I will be doing. Does anyone have any good guesses as to when the mini-itx H67 boards will be shipping?
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post #18 of 50
3/5/11 at 5:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mickey79 View Post

I do completely agree with you guys - and believe it or not, I do like to be at the cutting edge which is why I've actually been holding off my build for Intel's Sandy Bridge.

I think at the end of the day it's coming down to budget. I would honestly love to have the SSD but I for what I'll be using the HTPC for - I just can't seem to justify the additional $100.

I think the route for me to take would be to get the 500GB $39 WD Blue right now to get my HTPC up & running - and perhaps at some point later down the road I can upgrade to an SSD. Like you pointed out - it's a good build either way - and even if I replace the HDD with the SSD at some point - there will always be use for the HDD. No byte space ever goes wasted :P

I'm still not frozen on the Case. I like it - but I don't know if it's the absolute final one for me. I wouldn't mind some suggestions. I'm looking for a MicroATX which can definitely take a full size PCI Express Card cause the Colossus Video Recorder Card is a regular PCIe 1x card. I do like the "Cube" style but I'm not married to it.


Thanks guys - appreciate all the advice here.

This is one of my favorite cases.
http://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Al...ies/B0036WTDGQ

And it looks like you shaved $80 or so off your original budget. So actually a SSD would only by $40 additional.

Sorry, just had to.
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post #19 of 50
3/5/11 at 6:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

This is one of my favorite cases.
http://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Al...ies/B0036WTDGQ

And it looks like you shaved $80 or so off your original budget. So actually a SSD would only by $40 additional.

Sorry, just had to.

Actually if you didn't buy the blue drive your cost would be the exact same as your original budget.
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post #20 of 50
3/5/11 at 6:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

Actually if you didn't buy the blue drive your cost would be the exact same as your original budget.

Wouldn't he need more than 64 gb of storage in his system?

Are Solid state drives going to be available with 500gb storage and reasonable cost at some point?
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post #21 of 50
3/5/11 at 8:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cablemidget View Post

Wouldn't he need more than 64 gb of storage in his system?

Are Solid state drives going to be available with 500gb storage and reasonable cost at some point?

At a reasonable price no, it will be a while.

But my htpc has a 40gb ssd in it. And its plenty of room, this is with Win7 64 too.
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post #22 of 50
3/5/11 at 8:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cablemidget View Post

Wouldn't he need more than 64 gb of storage in his system?

Are Solid state drives going to be available with 500gb storage and reasonable cost at some point?

No. This is what he said...

Quote:
Originally Posted by mickey79 View Post

Media is stored on attached eSata RAID Drives, so just need OS & Media Player Software on Internal

So for his situation a SATAIII SSD makes perfect sense.
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post #23 of 50
3/5/11 at 9:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

No. This is what he said...



So for his situation a SATAIII SSD makes perfect sense.

I knew i was missing something...always that darn fine print.
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post #24 of 50
3/5/11 at 11:42am
Put me in the SSD camp. I haven't built my HTPC yet either but it is going to look EXTREMELY similar to this one and it will definitely have a SSD in it. It was mentioned that the real value is seen when opening apps. Well, I plan on running 7MC as the main HT application, but it is going to be launching XBMC (in lieu of MediaBrowser), Netflix, Hulu, etc. There are lots of apps that will still be launching. On my laptop where I have been testing things so far, it takes approximately 4-6 seconds for 7MC to launch one of these apps. I'm hoping that with a SSD, that lag will be shortened up and make the user experience much more enjoyable.
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post #25 of 50
3/5/11 at 11:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mbbransc View Post

Put me in the SSD camp. I haven't built my HTPC yet either but it is going to look EXTREMELY similar to this one and it will definitely have a SSD in it. It was mentioned that the real value is seen when opening apps. Well, I plan on running 7MC as the main HT application, but it is going to be launching XBMC (in lieu of MediaBrowser), Netflix, Hulu, etc. There are lots of apps that will still be launching. On my laptop where I have been testing things so far, it takes approximately 4-6 seconds for 7MC to launch one of these apps. I'm hoping that with a SSD, that lag will be shortened up and make the user experience much more enjoyable.

Plus its completely silent, cool, and cool. (Yes that's 2 types of cool).
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post #26 of 50
3/5/11 at 12:31pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mbbransc View Post

Put me in the SSD camp. I haven't built my HTPC yet either but it is going to look EXTREMELY similar to this one and it will definitely have a SSD in it. It was mentioned that the real value is seen when opening apps. Well, I plan on running 7MC as the main HT application, but it is going to be launching XBMC (in lieu of MediaBrowser), Netflix, Hulu, etc. There are lots of apps that will still be launching. On my laptop where I have been testing things so far, it takes approximately 4-6 seconds for 7MC to launch one of these apps. I'm hoping that with a SSD, that lag will be shortened up and make the user experience much more enjoyable.

What is 7MC?
Software was going to be my 2nd set of questions. I've never built an HTPC before. What kind of software should I be looking at?

I'm imagining, W7 64-bit OS. I was told Media Browser is a neat way to go for Media Library. One of my main concern is ... Whenever I start up the HTPC, will I have to navigate through Windows to get to a Media Library? Is it possible to just start up at the Media Library every time?

Secondly, I'll have a mix of media, mostly MKVs, M2TSs and ISOs. Is there one software that can play them all from the media library?

Thanks!!
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post #27 of 50
3/5/11 at 12:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mickey79 View Post

What is 7MC?
Software was going to be my 2nd set of questions. I've never built an HTPC before. What kind of software should I be looking at?

I'm imagining, W7 64-bit OS. I was told Media Browser is a neat way to go for Media Library. One of my main concern is ... Whenever I start up the HTPC, will I have to navigate through Windows to get to a Media Library? Is it possible to just start up at the Media Library every time?

Secondly, I'll have a mix of media, mostly MKVs, M2TSs and ISOs. Is there one software that can play them all from the media library?

Thanks!!

7MC = Windows 7 Media Center

No, you cannot boot directly to your media as far as I know. You startup your HTPC and then open mediabrowser/7MC (mediabrowser runs from within 7MC).

Yes, mediabrowser is very cool and a great way to play your movies.

Yes, mediabrowser and a few codecs should allow you to play all those file types.

Keep us updated on your SSD decision.
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post #28 of 50
3/5/11 at 12:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mickey79 View Post

What is 7MC?
Software was going to be my 2nd set of questions. I've never built an HTPC before. What kind of software should I be looking at?

I'm imagining, W7 64-bit OS. I was told Media Browser is a neat way to go for Media Library. One of my main concern is ... Whenever I start up the HTPC, will I have to navigate through Windows to get to a Media Library? Is it possible to just start up at the Media Library every time?

Secondly, I'll have a mix of media, mostly MKVs, M2TSs and ISOs. Is there one software that can play them all from the media library?

Thanks!!

7MC=Windows 7 Media Center, VMC= Vista Media center, WMC=windows media center(also what MCE 2005-XP's version of media center was referred to).

You can setup your HTPC to go into 7MC after boot up or just use the MCE/green button on the remote to launch it. My Movies and Media Browser IIRC by default will launch into their menus in 7MC after boot up.

7MC can natively play almost anything (may require codecs for some file typse) however you'll need an external player for BD, players like TMT can also play just about anything(I only use it for BD/HD DVD ISOs). Media library addins like My Movies and Media Browser will have settings for which play to use for each file type so you just click on the play icon w/ the remote and it will launch the movie in whatever player it's setup for.
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post #29 of 50
3/5/11 at 1:00pm
I'm another HTPC user with a SSD drive (120GB with about 30GB used). I do have a completely silent PC which has an external 120W picoPSU and all my TV recordings are moved to my Windows Home Server. The TV recordings are initially on the SSD so I do need some free local disc space but a 60GB drive should be fine. I have rips of my DVDs and Blu-rays on my WHS box and I use 7MC, mediabrowser and TMT5 to play everything
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post #30 of 50
3/5/11 at 6:42pm
+1 on overall concept. My existing rig is starting to flake, and it was probably an overkill build. I like the idea of making a just-right-sized build with new and less power hungry technology.

One question on your graphics choice. You call out the Blu Ray HD audio formats (TrueHD or DTS HD MA), but I could not locate any documentation on the Intel H67 chipset's ability to deliver these formats to an AVR for playback. Are you intending to pass the HD audio to your Receiver? If so, do you know if the Intel chipset can do this?
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