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Help me build my new Home Theater PC
Josh:
4wd,
I thank you for the detailed responses. As you can see in my listing at the start of this topic, I have decided on the 9950 125W phenom when i first made the pick. That seems to be the best bang for the buck.
My big concern, now that several have pointed this out, is the graphics card. Is it really going to help me to get an additional card for this system given its intended use? I am not much of a gamer and even when I do game, its on my PS3 or on my workstation computer which can handle most games I am into at a decent frame rate (not top end framerates or resolutions, I dont need the best of the best when it comes to that).
Thoughts?
Davidtheo:
Why go Integrated with the graphics I think it is a bad idea, By not Integrating them you can get a better graphics card and update when needed.
phillfri:
I am presently building an HTPC myself, and my investigations have brought me to pretty much the same conclusions as 4wd on this subject.
I went with the GA-MA78GM-2SH with the AMD 4850e X2 processor, albeit I'm shooting for a generic mATX case (steal, not aluminum) with a Seasonic SFX 350w 80 Plus power supply and a Gyration remote control. This combo is more than enough to handle an HTPC scenario and will still allow me to use the unit for other purposes if I've a need to.
Stay away from the Seagate 750 and 1000 gb hard drives. Failure rates have been very high on these units (read up at Newegg) and they run hot as hell - which means you'll need good cooling and fans make noise. I bought a 750GB Seagate for an external backup unit and I had to put it in an enclosure with a fan. You can burn your fingers if you touch one of those things after they've been running for awhile!
f0dder:
Why go Integrated with the graphics I think it is a bad idea, By not Integrating them you can get a better graphics card and update when needed.-Davidtheo (November 06, 2008, 03:30 AM)
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If the integrated solution is (more than) adequate for his HD en/decode needs, why waste money and space (and noise and heat and reduced airflow) on a discrete solution?
4wd:
My big concern, now that several have pointed this out, is the graphics card. Is it really going to help me to get an additional card for this system given its intended use? I am not much of a gamer and even when I do game, its on my PS3 or on my workstation computer which can handle most games I am into at a decent frame rate (not top end framerates or resolutions, I dont need the best of the best when it comes to that).-Josh (November 06, 2008, 02:42 AM)
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There's nothing wrong with the integrated GPU for your purpose - which is, as you have said from the very first post, is for a HTPC.
The AMD 790G is more than capable, as indeed was the AMD 780G (which I have), the AMD 740G and the AMD 690G - all of which did not have the benefit of dedicated DDR3 that the AMD 790G has.
I don't know why everyone suddenly thinks you want to play games on it.
Why go Integrated with the graphics I think it is a bad idea, By not Integrating them you can get a better graphics card and update when needed.-Davidtheo (November 06, 2008, 03:30 AM)
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There's nothing wrong with the integrated GPU for the purpose Josh wants to use it for BUT if he did find that it wasn't up to scratch for it's intended purpose, (unlikely), then the motherboard also has 2 16xPCIe slots.
Honestly, besides Josh, did anyone look at what the board is capable of?
I'd buy one tomorrow if I could sneak it past the wife.
If the integrated solution is (more than) adequate for his HD en/decode needs, why waste money and space (and noise and heat and reduced airflow) on a discrete solution?-f0dder (November 06, 2008, 04:00 AM)
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Exactly right.
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