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Gaming HTPC - help needed

post #1 of 12
10/8/11 at 6:41pm
Thread Starter 
I'm upgrading my old computer to gaming HTPC.
Requirements:
- Play movies/music
- Play multiplayer FPS games - BF3 mostly. good framerates appreciated since I'm a good player
- May be play future single player games
- Be future proff for 4+ years
- Be as silent as possible


Available parts:
Video: ATI 5870 1GB
HDD: SSD (OS,games) + several HDD (media)
Audio: Sound Blaster Xtreme Gamer
TV: LG 55LX9500
PSU: Corsair HX650W
Mouse wired (gaming): Logitech MX518

New parts:
Case: LIAN LI Black Aluminum PC-C60B ATX Media Center / HTPC Case
Motherboard: Gigabyte's Z68XP-UD3
CPU: i5 2500K
CPU cooler: ????
Memory: 8 GB DDR3 - what brand and type?
Mouse wireless (HTPC): Logitech MX Air
Keyboard wireless: ????
BlueRay drive with 3D support: ????

Any comments or suggestion on above components?
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post #2 of 12
10/8/11 at 8:57pm
Good luck on being "future proof" for 4+ years. With any PC setup 2-3yrs is about as good as you're going to get, and with a mid-range setup you're going to get even less than that.

Bump up your videocard to a 6950 or a GTX 470 (you can go SLI if needed). I would have said GTX 570, but since you're doing HTPC double duty that particular card can't do bitstreaming.
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post #3 of 12
10/9/11 at 1:55am
To help fill in some of your ????:

CPU cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
Wireless KB: Logitech Illuminated K800

Those are two of the best products out there in their respective categories.
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post #4 of 12
10/9/11 at 10:26am
Will the 212+ fit into the C60b though? I have a Silverstone case that is very similar to the C60b and I don't think a cooler that big will fit.
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post #5 of 12
10/9/11 at 12:59pm
It seems you're right. In a NewEgg review of that case someone had this to say:
Quote:
Other Thoughts: When 140mm top ventilation cover removed, able to run a COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus heatsink. The copper nipps stick out of the top a little bit. It actually looks very nice if you're not concerned about extra dust getting in your case.

It's not as if the Lian is a mini tower. I guess the 212+ is a lot bigger than I thought.
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post #6 of 12
10/9/11 at 3:01pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveFi View Post

Good luck on being "future proof" for 4+ years. With any PC setup 2-3yrs is about as good as you're going to get, and with a mid-range setup you're going to get even less than that.

Bump up your videocard to a 6950 or a GTX 470 (you can go SLI if needed). I would have said GTX 570, but since you're doing HTPC double duty that particular card can't do bitstreaming.


Actually, 5870 is faster then 6950. Not sure about GTX 470. Regarding future proofing you are right. I probably would need to upgrade a videocard within couple of years. But I hope CPU MB and memory will do just fine for 4 years.
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post #7 of 12
10/9/11 at 3:02pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by joeblow View Post

To help fill in some of your ????:

CPU cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
Wireless KB: Logitech Illuminated K800

Those are two of the best products out there in their respective categories.

This Logitech illuminated looks good. And it seems heatsink doesn't fit into the case Though case is quite big for HTPC.
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post #8 of 12
10/13/11 at 9:19pm
It's not the cheapest heatsink, but it does well in my HTPC that I also use for big screen gaming: ZALMAN CNPS 9700 NT

It should fit in your case no problem. I have it in a nMediaPC HTPC 2000 which is equivolent to a 4U server chassis with an i5 2500k OCed to 4.6 with no issues. Pretty much whisper quite when doing HTPC stuff and still pretty quiet compared to my AMD card when things heat up.

If you are looking for something cheaper, there are plenty of decent air coolers out there. Just read the reviews and should be able to figure it out.

Cheers!
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post #9 of 12
10/13/11 at 9:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by almalino View Post

Actually, 5870 is faster then 6950.

No it's not. The 6950 is a little bit faster, but you also get better features like tesselation and such, plus it scales better in crossfire configs. Go with a 6950 over a 5870.
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post #10 of 12
10/13/11 at 9:47pm
The 5870 is faster then the 6950 but less efficient. But I would get a 6950 at this pt in time since the 5xxx are older cards and EOL. I would still rec to wait for the next gen, esp Nvidia. When getting ATi you will have to put up with some driver and game issues that seems to be less with Nvidia cards going from pass exp.
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post #11 of 12
10/14/11 at 12:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tinker View Post

The 5870 is faster then the 6950 but less efficient. But I would get a 6950 at this pt in time since the 5xxx are older cards and EOL. I would still rec to wait for the next gen, esp Nvidia. When getting ATi you will have to put up with some driver and game issues that seems to be less with Nvidia cards going from pass exp.

Crossfire 2gb 6950 with an overclock will net near 60fps in battlefield 3, witcher 2, and metro 2033 on ultra settings. Love it so far and would highly recommend it. But the driver problems are so true. Freaken Rage...
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post #12 of 12
10/14/11 at 2:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stuup1dmofo View Post

Crossfire 2gb 6950 with an overclock will net near 60fps in battlefield 3, witcher 2, and metro 2033 on ultra settings. Love it so far and would highly recommend it. But the driver problems are so true. Freaken Rage...

I was running BF3 beta Metro with three 5870s non OC'd and getting around a constant 170fps at 1920x1200 with blur and some post proc disabled and everything else max'd. But with Caspian I was down to 40fps min and max'd at 120fps. The CPU help with BF3, all the cores were being used on my i7/920 @ 4.2ghz and 12g mem.

ADD: I would dump the 5870s in a heart beat when NVidia releases their next gen cards if they are better then the current GTX5xx series. ATi/AMD suxs when it come to drivers and game support.
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