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Guide to Building a HTPC, Workstation and Server - Page 202

post #6031 of 18892
2/5/09 at 4:37am
Gentlemen,

I'm looking for an all-in one solution to pass 1080p content via my Denon AVR4306 receiver. I would like to have this card connected to the HDMI input of my Denon and HDMI output would be pass through.

I have a S21T case with a touch screen display that support 1920x1080. This display gets it's input via standard VGA. Therefore I need a card that has an HDMI and VGA output.

Will this effect HDCP since the VGA channel is unencrypted? Or am I talking sh*t here? (method of use would be clone mode)

The card i'm looking at is:
Sapphire Ultimate HD 4670 512MB GDDR3 PCI-E

It has the interfaces I need, features HDCP and is passively cooled.

Your thoughts on this are appreciated.

Thank you
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post #6032 of 18892
2/5/09 at 5:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

Are you looking for a gaming HTPC? Perhaps you need to make it clear yourself what kind of audio you want to feed to AVR, DD/DTS, multichannel LPCM or Dolby TrueHD/DTS-HD Master Audio.

- Stereo LPCM and DD/DTS: Just connect the internal S/PDIF connector to the graphics card's internal S/PDIF connector. You will get S/PDIF pass-through via HDMI from the graphics card. As you use Reatltek ALC889A audio codec, you don't need a sound card.

- Multichannel LPCM and DD/DTS: You will need two cables, one from graphics card for video, one from the onboard HDMI port for audio. Please read the remark at page 85. As you use NVIDIA HDMI Audio, you don't need a sound card.

- Dolby TrueHD/DTS-HD Master Audio in addition to multichannel LPCM and DD/DTS: You have to buy a HDMI sound card for this purpose. I explained how to connect in the previous post.

This is exactly the information I was looking for...

Thanks much!
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post #6033 of 18892
2/5/09 at 8:23am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Pseudonym View Post

The only thing I'm still wrestling with before I pull the trigger is how to address the heat issues, or whether they even need to be addressed. Some say go ahead with the stock Intel HSF while others suggest Mini Ninja, Shuriken, or Geminii. Any further thoughts on this?

E7400 runs cool and the stock cooler is enough (unless you overclock it with overvoltage). GPU sometimes runs hot if the case ventilation is not good (for example, expansion cards often prevent natural airflow of the Antec case). The simplest and most effective (and cheapest) way to cool down GPU is attach a 40mm fan (such as Scythe mini-Kaze SY124010L) to the chipset heatsink. Ninja Mini with the 80mm fan sitting above the heatsink (blowing air toward the case fans) accelerates natural airflow of the case hence GPU is cooled down effectively (not as effective as a 40mm fan though).
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post #6034 of 18892
2/5/09 at 8:36am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cereal View Post

renethx,

I'm looking to build an HTPC to DVR OTA HDTV and share it with my Xbox360. Is this Nvidia Ion system worth waiting for or should I go ahead with the low-end Intel/Nvidia system you recommended? I'm looking to build by month's end or next month but I can wait.

You don't have to wait for Ion unless you want a pico-ITX system.
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post #6035 of 18892
2/5/09 at 9:03am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by misterthang8124 View Post

renethx, what would you say is a safe idle temperature for a Phenon 8750 triple core? I currently have it overclocked to 2.6ghz and it idles at 35 and 55 load. I raised the voltage to 1.50 and was able to get it stable at 3ghz but the idle temperature raised to 50 degrees. I was afraid to stress it at that temperature so I lowered the speed back down. If it matters, my motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-MA78G-DS3HP it uses a AMD 780G + SB700 chipset.

The CPU temperature should not exceed 71.0°C at any time according to AMD.
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post #6036 of 18892
2/5/09 at 9:06am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by RutgerDB View Post

Gentlemen,

I'm looking for an all-in one solution to pass 1080p content via my Denon AVR4306 receiver. I would like to have this card connected to the HDMI input of my Denon and HDMI output would be pass through.

I have a S21T case with a touch screen display that support 1920x1080. This display gets it's input via standard VGA. Therefore I need a card that has an HDMI and VGA output.

Will this effect HDCP since the VGA channel is unencrypted? Or am I talking sh*t here? (method of use would be clone mode)

The card i'm looking at is:
Sapphire Ultimate HD 4670 512MB GDDR3 PCI-E

It has the interfaces I need, features HDCP and is passively cooled.

Your thoughts on this are appreciated.

Thank you

Are you going to run dual display in Extended desktop mode or Clone mode?
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post #6037 of 18892
2/5/09 at 9:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Pseudonym View Post


The only thing I'm still wrestling with before I pull the trigger is how to address the heat issues, or whether they even need to be addressed. Some say go ahead with the stock Intel HSF while others suggest Mini Ninja, Shuriken, or Geminii. Any further thoughts on this?

Like renethx said, the addon card may restrict airflow a bit, but I am running a similar system and just use two 120mm fans for cooling and a Mini-Ninja fanless on the CPU. I recently stress tested the GPU with Furmark and was quite pleased with the results.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...8#post15723858

Good luck with the build. You'll love it.

David
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post #6038 of 18892
2/5/09 at 10:10am
Hi, My system is using AMD be5000, GA-78gm-s2h, 2gb ddr2, am I ok with this system, or do i need to add a video card? If i do, any suggestion?

thanks
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post #6039 of 18892
2/5/09 at 10:40am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by andy12 View Post

am I ok with this system

Depending on your purpose ...
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post #6040 of 18892
2/5/09 at 11:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Pseudonym View Post

The only thing I'm still wrestling with before I pull the trigger is how to address the heat issues, or whether they even need to be addressed. Some say go ahead with the stock Intel HSF while others suggest Mini Ninja, Shuriken, or Geminii. Any further thoughts on this?

I have always been of the put the biggest heatsink you can fit in the case on the processor, especially in a HTPC. The more surface area you have, the less air flow that you need to keep it cool. The less air flow, means less fans, which means less noise. Noise is the biggest issue with HTPCs (in my opinion). Everything is limited by that particular issue (well that and ascetics). My case can fit a full ninja, thus, I have a full ninja on my CPU. While it was the biggest pain in the @%$ to fit it on there, I essentially was able to remove the need for a fan on the CPU since the ninja winds up pushed right up against the exhaust fan on the back of the case which pulls air through the CPU heatsink... One less fan is usually 2-4 db overall drop in noise level from a HTPC, which can significant reduction.
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post #6041 of 18892
2/5/09 at 11:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

Power consumption at idle/video playback is roughly

- E5200/G45: 55W/75W
- E5200/GeForce 9400: 55W/70W
- 5050e/AMD 780G: 45W/75W
- 5050e/AMD 780G/HD 4550: 50W/85W
- 7750/AMD 780G: 70W/100W
- 7750/GeForce 8200: 70W/100W

Replacing a 3.5" HDD by a 2.5" HDD reduces power consumption by 5W. (But if you use a quad-core processor and a gaming card, the effort will be meaningless.)

How do the 2.5" HDD compare to the WD Caviar Green hard drives?
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post #6042 of 18892
2/5/09 at 12:16pm
My 2-1/2 year old ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe 939 has died on me (a bad pci card slot; which I see is not an uncommon problem for this board). I had 2g mushkin eXtreme 184-pin/ddr 500 memory and an AMD athlon 64 x2 4200+ manchester 2.2g (939) processor. All housed in a Zalman htpc case (atx); Seasonic 500w p/s; 2 WD Caviar SE16 320G drives.

Questions:
1. stick with a socket 939 board in order to save the memory and the processor
or
2. ditch the 939 and go with a newer board/cpu set up?

While orginally configured to handle HD, I have thrown in the towel and use dedicated HD and BluRay players. So the htpc is used primarily for SD dvd playback via TT and a GeForce 6600GT video card, music server duty and other light media stuff (NO gaming).

If I go the route of a new mobo/cpu combination, any recommendations with this existing pile of stuff?

For SD dvd playback, is it worth upgrading the video card while I am in the rebuilding mode?

thanks much.
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post #6043 of 18892
2/5/09 at 2:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

You don't have to wait for Ion unless you want a pico-ITX system.

Thanks, renethx, I read the review links you posted and there are some drawbacks to the system that I didn't like either.
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post #6044 of 18892
2/5/09 at 5:54pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tabalt View Post

How do the 2.5" HDD compare to the WD Caviar Green hard drives?

Check this page and this page.
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post #6045 of 18892
2/5/09 at 5:59pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jxo View Post

My 2-1/2 year old ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe 939 has died on me (a bad pci card slot; which I see is not an uncommon problem for this board). I had 2g mushkin eXtreme 184-pin/ddr 500 memory and an AMD athlon 64 x2 4200+ manchester 2.2g (939) processor. All housed in a Zalman htpc case (atx); Seasonic 500w p/s; 2 WD Caviar SE16 320G drives.

Questions:
1. stick with a socket 939 board in order to save the memory and the processor
or
2. ditch the 939 and go with a newer board/cpu set up?

While orginally configured to handle HD, I have thrown in the towel and use dedicated HD and BluRay players. So the htpc is used primarily for SD dvd playback via TT and a GeForce 6600GT video card, music server duty and other light media stuff (NO gaming).

If I go the route of a new mobo/cpu combination, any recommendations with this existing pile of stuff?

For SD dvd playback, is it worth upgrading the video card while I am in the rebuilding mode?

thanks much.

The current standards are Socket 775 (Intel)/Socket AM2+ (AMD) and DDR2 SDRAM. So if you build a new system, you have to buy a mb, a CPU and memory. If you want to use your CPU and memory, you have to look for a Socket 939 mb at eBay.

You can continue to use other components. If you are statisfied with SD PQ and are not going to play HD contents, you don't have to buy a new graphics card.
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post #6046 of 18892
2/5/09 at 6:31pm
I am in the middle of deciding what component will be used for my HTPC. I keep hearing people talking about playing blue ray at 24fps. From what I know ati 4670 cannot properly play 24fps and nvidia 9 series can. However ATI support lpcm 8 channel audio via HDMI while nvidia 9 don't. How important it is for HTPC to be able to properly play material atm24 fps? Is blue ray the only video material that required to be play at 24fps? Is that mean that if I get Ati 4670, when I play blue ray movies, the picture would not be as good as if I get nvidia?

Can someone please explain to me?
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post #6047 of 18892
2/5/09 at 6:36pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by rotelmania View Post

I am in the middle of deciding what component will be used for my HTPC. I keep hearing people talking about playing blue ray at 24fps. From what I know ati 4670 cannot properly play 24fps and nvidia 9 series can. However ATI support lpcm 8 channel audio via HDMI while nvidia 9 don't. How important it is for HTPC to be able to properly play material atm24 fps? Is blue ray the only video material that required to be play at 24fps? Is that mean that if I get Ati 4670, when I play blue ray movies, the picture would not be as good as if I get nvidia?

Where are you living? It looks like most people in NTSC countries don't notice difference between 60Hz and 24Hz.
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post #6048 of 18892
2/5/09 at 6:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

Where are you living? It looks like most people in NTSC countries don't notice difference between 60Hz and 24Hz.

I live in US. thanks.
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post #6049 of 18892
2/5/09 at 7:59pm
I love the 8200 with an added video card. It enables me to feed two displays and a Xonar HDAV separately.

I'm looking for a similar setup for XP but using just a video card. I have not been able to determine if these type have simultaneous output in all three. Or is another 8200 mother board purchase a more intelligent path. Thanks.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814141086
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post #6050 of 18892
2/5/09 at 8:15pm
I've successfully built HTPC thanks to this thread and renethx!
Everything is working smooth, even blu-ray playback.
renethx, can you post you PayPal email address? so I can transfer couple of bucks as a sign of appreciation for your help and time you spent helping all of us.
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post #6051 of 18892
2/5/09 at 8:19pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Davinleeds View Post

I love the 8200 with an added video card. It enables me to feed two displays and a Xonar HDAV separately.

I'm looking for a similar setup for XP but using just a video card. I have not been able to determine if these type have simultaneous output in all three. Or is another 8200 mother board purchase a more intelligent path. Thanks.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814141086

GeForce GPU supports up to two displays at a time. You will need two GPUs for three displays (including Xonar HDAV1.3)
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post #6052 of 18892
2/5/09 at 8:31pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by micko_escalade View Post

I've successfully built HTPC thanks to this thread and renethx!
Everything is working smooth, even blu-ray playback.
renethx, can you post you PayPal email address? so I can transfer couple of bucks as a sign of appreciation for your help and time you spent helping all of us.

Here.
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post #6053 of 18892
2/5/09 at 8:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

Here.

Appreciation sent!
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post #6054 of 18892
2/5/09 at 8:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

GeForce GPU supports up to two displays at a time. You will need two GPUs for three displays (including Xonar HDAV1.3)

Thanks. Do any of the 8xxx/9xxx IGPs offer simultaneous out at dvi/hdmi?
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post #6055 of 18892
2/5/09 at 8:44pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Davinleeds View Post

Thanks. Do any of the 8xxx/9xxx IGPs offer simultaneous out at dvi/hdmi?

IIRC 8200/8300 supports clone mode. 9300/9400 does not support simultaneous use of DVI and HDMI.
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post #6056 of 18892
2/5/09 at 8:49pm
Clone is not good for BD. Dualview has worked great but takes a little operator interaction. So another 8200 looks better.
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post #6057 of 18892
2/5/09 at 8:53pm
i want to know if i buy AMD Phenom II x3 core cpu 2.6 Mhz will it make a difference at all when i am encoding or not.

i want to know AMd Phenom II x3 720 vs. AMD Phemon II x4 925. Which one is faster? because right now i am using 9850 BE and i want to upgrade faster cpu but i dont know which one i should buy i am using for encoding.
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post #6058 of 18892
2/5/09 at 8:58pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by audionewer View Post

i want to know if i buy AMD Phenom II x3 core cpu 2.6 Mhz will it make a difference at all when i am encoding or not.

i want to know AMd Phenom II x3 720 vs. AMD Phemon II x4 925. Which one is faster? because right now i am using 9850 BE and i want to upgrade faster cpu but i dont know which one i should buy i am using for encoding.

Make a difference from what?

Clearly II X4 925 2.8GHz is faster than II X3 720 2.8GHz (I mean faster in encoding).
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post #6059 of 18892
2/5/09 at 9:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

Make a difference from what?

Clearly II X4 925 2.8GHz is faster than II X3 720 2.8GHz (I mean faster in encoding).

i mean cache, speed of the cpu or just the cores of the cpu.
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post #6060 of 18892
2/5/09 at 9:15pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by audionewer View Post

i mean cache, speed of the cpu or just the cores of the cpu.

So you mean L3 cache, right? I guess nobody (other than AMD engineers) has been tested Propus/Rana/Regor yet. Processors without L3 chache are called Athlon X4 6xx (Propus), Athlon X3 4xx (Rana) and Athlon X2 2xx (Regor).
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