Home Theater PC Build [March 09]
Amos Ngai on Friday, March 27, 2009 at 3:44PM Each week, GW will detail a computer build suited for your budget. The first week of the month will feature the Ultimate Gamer build, Enthusiast Gamer for the second week, Mainstream Gamer on the third week and a Home Theater build on the last week.
System: Home Theater
Max Budget: $1500.00 CDN
Actual Price: $1273.41 CDN with options
Note that the price does not include additional costs such as taxes, shipping and the HDTV.
With commercial HDTVs boasting resolutions of up to 1920 x 1080 pixels, it's no wonder more and more people are enjoying the PC experience right from their living room. This month's home theater build will focus on a "green" PC if you will. Characteristics include a quiet, cool and lower power setup that is capable of running HD content at 1080p. Gaming is possible on this rig but will mostly be limited to older games. Don't expect to play Crysis on this setup.
Inexpensive, the 45 watt AMD Athlon X2 processors are great choices for HTPC setups due to their low power requirements. In fact, these CPUs can be passively cooled with adequate case ventilation. Operating at 2.6 GHz, the 5050e has sufficient muscle for productivity, light gaming and 1080p Blu-ray movies. HD encoding is possible with this dual-core CPU but don't expect stellar performance.
Foxconn may not be a household name but it is well-respected among computer enthusiasts. For less than $100, you get a board that is well laid-out design, has plenty of on-board connections and sports great integrated graphics. This integrated graphics processor dubbed the Radeon HD 3200 is capable of offloading 1080p content from the CPU in order to ensure maximum smoothness on HD video playback. While the HD 3200 is one of the best IGPs available, the gaming experience is still restricted to older titles such as Quake 4 or Unreal Tournament 2004.
Those looking for a bit more oomph than what the integrated video can provide can look into the Sapphire Radeon HD 4550. The 4550 is roughly twice as fast as the 3200 but with that said, don't be expecting to play the latest games. In fact, the 4550 is a great card to smooth out the older games where the 3200 has troubles. Another benefit of using dedicated video would be freeing up the main memory pool of which the 3200 uses up to 512 MB. This Sapphire card includes a low-profile bracket which is necessary in this build as the case only accepts half-height cards.
For the memory, 4 GB of Corsair XMS DDR2 800 MHz RAM modules graces its presence in this build. For low power HTPC applications, 1066 MHz memory is unnecessary as there will be no overclocking. Reliable and cool operating RAM takes precedence when factoring HTPC memory considerations of which the Corsairs truly deliver. Another reason why I prefer Corsair products is their excellent customer service (having dealt with them myself).
Western Digital's Caviar Green hard drive isn't going to win any benchmark tests. However, the areas where it excels is its low heat output and power consumption. Rotating at around 5400 RPM, the Caviar Green drives are sufficient for HTPC applications such as streaming video and storing your music collection.
The Auzentech Forte sound card is not necessary as both the 3200 and 4550 can deliver 7.1 PCM audio through HDMI. However, for audiophiles seeking gaming features such EAX and Dolby Digital Live, the Forte card is necessary as the HDMI audio on the 3200/4550 do not support such features. Another great feature with the Forte is the integrated headphone amplifier. Simply said, coupled with a high-end set of cans, the audio quality is fantastic. Auzentech includes a low-profile bracket with the Forte which is necessary as this case only accepts half-height cards.
Using just a plain old DVD drive in this build would be disgrace considering what the HTPC hardware is capable of. The LG Blu-ray writer is hefty on price but it does allow one to burn HD videos on to writeable Blu-ray discs for those days you're offloading family videos from your HD camcorder. And yes, the writer can handle regular Blu-ray movies. For those who have a Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive collecting dust, the computer is also capable of playing HD-DVDs as long as you have the proper software.
I am a proponent of aesthetics when it comes to my electronics. The Lian Li PC-C37B is chosen for this build for a number of reasons. First off, the case looks like it belongs in a home theater setup. About half the height of an audio receiver (think of a tall DVD player), the case features simple lines with a minimalist appearance. Construction-wise, it is made of aluminum hence it is very light. It being made by Lian Li inherently makes this a high quality (and expensive) case. Having owned a Lian Li case, I can attest to the previous statement. The innards can accommodate a micro ATX motherboard, two 3.5" drives, an optical drive and a standard size ATX power suppy. A single 70 mm is included for cooling and has built-in brackets for a total of 5 fans. Keep in mind that this chasis is able to accept half-height expansion cards so plan your purchases accordingly.
The Corsair HX 520W is a bit of an overkill for this setup but the primary reason why this power supply was chosen is due to its modular cabling. High-quality modular PSUs that meet the 80 PLUS standard and is affordable are hard to come by. Modular cabling is especially important in small enclosures as you want to minimize airflow restrictions. As mentioned, this power unit is 80 PLUS certified meaning it is 80% electrically efficient (the other 20% is wasted as heat). This results in lower electricity use and bills.
Please keep in mind that the parts I choose may differ from what you would pick. That’s what makes PC building so fun! Everyone is entitled to their decision and this subjectivity is why two computers built among computer enthusiasts is rarely the same. Moreever, these builds may aid those unfamiliar with the latest in computer technology but still want the best within their budget. During your research, you may find something else you prefer or a part that’s even better. If you do, let us know in the comments!
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