HTCP spec - want to check PSU&mobo before ordering

FrankGrimes

Hi,

I'm building a HTPC for a friend (big €2,500 budget) and I'm almost ready to order the components. There's plenty of other components on my full list (discussing the htpc aspects in the htpc forum), but here's a link to the main 'PC' components.

The 2 main things I'd like opinions on are the PSU and the mobo - given that this will be a HTPC running HD content (through a 2400 XT gfx card) and no gaming, are these under or overkill or about right?

Are Seagate hard-drives quieter than Samsung Spinpoints? Any need for more than 2GB ram? Thanks.


114450 2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB SATA2 16MB 7200RPM [ SPECIAL OFFER ]
324815 ABIT AW9D-MAX, I975X, Socket-775,SATAII, Silent Otes,2xGbLAN,DDR2,ATX, 2xPCI-Ex16
334571 Crucial DDR2 BallistiX PC8500 2048MB CL5 ,Kit w/two matched BallistiX 128Megx64
338084 Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0GHz 1333Mhz Socket LGA775, 4MB, BOXED w/fan
326769 NorthQ 4300GP-FL, 400W Fanless, 70mm Backup fan, 4xSATA, ATX, PCI-E, 20/24pin
330857 Zalman HD160XT HTPC Black, mATX/ATX, 7" touch display, Aluminium (without PSU)

FrankGrimes

Just bumping to see if there's any opinions on the PSU and mobo linked below before I order?

Am a little concerned the PSU does not have enough watts at 400W, but silence is a priority for this build, so unless I can find a very quiet one above 400W, I'd go with the one below.

Main concern with the mobo is if it will be problematic for S3 Standby or not.

TerrorFirmer

Power supply is a poor quality one, despite the price. Fanless PSU's are dodgey enough in my opinion without using a NorthQ on top of that.

Look at something like this - cheaper, far more reliable, and probably almost as quiet.

Also if silence is a priority I assume you'll be looking at 3rd party CPU cooler as well - something like this

That said I don't really opt for silence myself so I'm sure someone else can give you better recommendations on coolers and psu's.

The 2400XT is a great choice for a HTPC machine.

Also, I don't see how a mobo could affect s3 standby? In what sense?

Also you are throwing away money in this build in a way. You don't need that ram for a HTPC...or such an expensive processor.

Anti

Stay away from ocz psu's too. They are absolute junk. Very poorly made, and cheap components.

A 520w corsair or 500w seasonic would be your best bet. They are more expensive, but are worth it in the long run.

TerrorFirmer

Regarding ocz, I've owned a few, never had any problems, and bought them on recommendations on Guru3d and also from reviews - which seem to indicate their nothing exceptional but a solid, reliable psu. Why do you think they're junk?

Anti

Because i have had 2 of them and both were unreliable. They got too hot, were very noisy. And they are rebranded NorthQ psu's iirc.

PogMoThoin

Ocz psu's used to be made by Fortron, but not any more AFAIK

Anti

thats the ones.

TerrorFirmer

Really? I didn't know that. They seem to do pretty well though in reviews though? So it is only the older ones that are dodgey?

Anti

Most site i use give ocz pretty bad reviews. hocp, guru3d, exp ( on the psu's that is ) The ram is fine.

FrankGrimes

Thanks for the advice lads.

I've changed the psu to this Corsair 520w, which seems to get very good reviews. I think the 4 SATA connections will be fine cos I'll have one DVD drive, and 2, maybe 3 HDDs.

In relation to CPU cooler - I was planning on going for this quiet Zalman fan one, but if this one will do as good a job while being silent, it would seem to be the right choice, but if the fan is ultra quiet there may not be much in it.

I've dropped the RAM down a level to this, but as budget is not an issue, I don't want to go lower.

Would the E6750 more than do HTPC duties, including high-definition playback both from Blu-ray discs and hard-disk? I really want to be certain this machine will cruise with whatever is thrown at it, so if the E6850 is needed to guarantee this, the extra €70 is worth it, but likewise, if the extra power will be redundant I won't waste the money.

Windows Media Center has some very quirkty behaviour with S3 standby (particularly awkward to get it to wakeup for recording and go back to sleep afterward properly), and some mobos are more suitable than others.

TerrorFirmer

If you don't mind I'd like to see some negative reviews regarding OCZ's latest Psu's. (and given that you said they were absolute junk, by negative I mean just that, conclusions that they are junk) I can supply any number of reviews that say the StealthXStream and GameXStream psu's are solid, reliable and efficient and value for the money from respectable sites. I've also owned 2, and never had any problems. I just don't think it's fair to dismiss them so quickly and give them a rep they don't really deserve. That said I've only been seriously building the last year or two so as to their quality before that I really don't know and wouldn't claim to, but I'm coming from the point of view of someone whose first OCZ Product was the GameXStream.