New HTPC in the works. (The hardware)

I’ve been thinking about building a PC for my TV for quite some time now, and now I finaly got the money to go through with it.. Up until now, I’ve always just partialy upgraded my PC’s, but in this one every thing is going to be shiny new (exept maybe not the PSU). So here are the parts that I’ve just ordered, read on..

The case:

Antec – Fusion Black 430 1×5.25″ bay

Shop: Newegg.com Review: SPCR.com

Antec Fusion 430 Black

• Dimensions: Width: Height: Depth:
• Available in black and silver
• Aluminium front bezel
• Volume-knob, two-lines display and IR-reciever in front
• 1x FireWire, 2xUSB and mic+headset on the front
• Rubber grommet for the HD’s for silent operation
• Two 120mm fans for quiet cooling
• PSU rated at 430 watt with 80 % and better efficiency.
• Separate chambers design (much like the Antech P18x and the likes)

The CPU-cooler:

Scythe – “Ninja Mini” for socket 478, 775, 754, 939, 940 and AM2.

Shop: Newegg Review: SilentPCReview

Scythe Ninja Mini - (photo:Newegg)

• Shorter than the original Ninja (though equaly wide). It will just fit the Antec Fusion.
• Hopefully it will cool the CPU without a fan (the exhaust-fans in the Fusion will be right beside it.)

The North-bridge-cooler:

Thermalright HR-05/IFX Chipset Cooler – Retail

Skop: Newegg Review: XSReviews

Thermalright North-bridge cooler (photo:Newegg)

• Heat-pipe design
• Has mounting for optional 80mm fan (though I plan on running it passive)

The mobo:

Gigabyte – mATX AMD AM2+ 780G 4xDDR2 – GA-MA78GM-S2H

Shop: Newegg.com Review: www.ocworkbench.com

Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H

• Supports AM2 and AM2+ CPU’s
• Sports the new IGP from AMD/ATI: 780G
• 780G equals almost an ATI HD3400 in performance
• VGA, DVI and HDMI ports at the back
• 6 Sata, 8 Usb and 2 firewire
• Seems to be a popular board for HTPC building.

The CPU:

AMD Athlon X2 4850e 2.5GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 45W

Shop: Newegg

AMD Athlon X2 4850E (photo:Newegg)

• Dual Core
• Energy efficient, only 45 W
• Cheap

The RAM sticks:

Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM 800 (PC2 6400)

Shop: Newegg

Kingston 4GB (2x2GB) (photo:Newegg)

• Cheap, an it works (hopefully)

The HD:

Western Digital – 2.5″ Scorpio 160GB 8MB 5400rpm – WD1600BEVS
Shop: Newegg Review: SilentPCReview.com (review of the 120 GB model)

WD Scorpio 2.5-inch SATA

• It’s a notebook drive, so the power it draws are almost half of that of a normal 3.5″ drive.
• Less power = less heat = less fan noise
• It’s quiet, but reasonably quick.
• And I plan on suspend it to quiet the drive even more.

The DVD-drive:

LG – DVD+RW 20×8x SATA Black Retail – GH20NS10

Shop: newegg

LG DVD-RW SATA Black Retail

• Sata
• The posts from club.cdfreaks.com suggest that it performs quite well as a burner
• I plan on swapping this out for a Bluray/HD-DVD reader/writer later on.

The keyboard:

Microsoft IR Wireless Mini Keyboard – Black 83 Normal Keys 33 Function Keys

Shop: Newegg

Microsoft IR Wireless Keyboard (photo:Newegg)

• Double function: Keyboard and remote
• Cheap, and I even got a hold of an open-box item for about half price!
• I’ve got the norwegian layout, since I’m.. ..norwegian..

Tags: DIY, HTPC, Newegg.com, silentpcreview.com