gusangora Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 Hello, advise needed on building a new HTPC with Vista Home Premium operating system. I want it to be near silent but with excellent video/TV and my kids will want to play games. My thoughts so far: M/B ASUS P5W DH Deluxe (noise?) - open to options Intel Core2 Duo E6600 - cooling? GPU - XFX GeForce 7950GT fanless - should I be getting 8800? How noisy are 8800? RAM - 2g 800 TV tuner: DNTV Live! Dual Hybrid PCI-Express S2 or DNTV Live! QuattroS - I have no need for satellite or more than 2 tv tuners, but don't mind an extra $80 if the Quattro is a better card Sound - onboard S/PDIF out to AV Reveiver Any advice appreciated, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renura Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 TV tuner: DNTV Live! Dual Hybrid PCI-Express S2 or DNTV Live! QuattroS - I have no need for satellite or more than 2 tv tuners, but don't mind an extra $80 if the Quattro is a better card If you don't require the two satellite TV tuners, go for the Dual Hybrid. The DVB-T/Hybrid tuners are exactly the same as those on the QuattroS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gusangora Posted February 6, 2007 Author Share Posted February 6, 2007 Done! Also, forgot to mention DVD drive. These have been noisy in my systems before - can anyone recommend a quiet DVD drive (does not need to be a burner). Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djOS Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Done!Also, forgot to mention DVD drive. These have been noisy in my systems before - can anyone recommend a quiet DVD drive (does not need to be a burner). Steve For $40 you can buy the Pioneer 111D Dual format/layer Burner these days (eg from MSY in Melbourne) and it 's available in black. PS. it's very quiet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sold Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Hello,advise needed on building a new HTPC with Vista Home Premium operating system. I want it to be near silent but with excellent video/TV and my kids will want to play games. My thoughts so far: M/B ASUS P5W DH Deluxe (noise?) - open to options It's a fairly expensive option, however if you are going to be making use of all the features then the price isn't too bad. It's passively cooled so you don't have to be concerned with noise. Intel Core2 Duo E6600 - cooling? Cooling really depends on the case you are using. The Scythe Ninja is probably the best 'silent' cooler around but its hight means you can't use it in most HTPC style cases. Otherwise Thermalright make some nice lower profile coolers. As for DVD drives the Pioneer A11XL is the quietest around but you can only get them in beige now AFAIK. So I'd go with the 111D as recommended above and then you can cross flash it to an A11XL which lets you use the quiet drive function if you want. Also what resolution display will this all be hooked up to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gusangora Posted February 6, 2007 Author Share Posted February 6, 2007 The display will be a Sony 70" SXRD RPTV (1920x1080p). Steve I haven't done much research into motherboards. Basically, it will need minimum 2 x PCIe, decent onboard sound, and fanless. The TV arrives this week so I am in a hurry (the last TV developed a major problem). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianW1503559681 Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Head on over to XPMediaCenter, their forums have lots of info re: media centre PC's & Vista etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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