Solved! Looking for a good mobo and chip for a htpc

[hogbuoy]

I'm building a HTPC around a ceton card. I have an eclipse mother board laying around and a radeon HD5770 video card and I was wondering if this would be a good foundation for a HTPC. If so which intel chip would work best.

 

[rwpritchett]

Are you going to be playing games? Any other spare parts?

You could build a low power, quiet HTPC for a lot less without going the s1366 Intel route. CPU alone will cost you ~$300.

 

[rwpritchett]

Also: budget?

 

[hogbuoy]

I hear ya, I'm considering using the same equipment that was featured in the August issue of Maximum PC. But I already have the card and mobo. I know and would be fine . I already ordered the case with an ATX form factor,

 

[rwpritchett]

Well, it's plenty powerful enough for HTPC duties. You may find it challenging to keep it cool while maintaining silence. If you want to stick with the s1366 board, get the cheapest s1366 processor you can find and a very quiet heatsink to go with it. You may need to explore undervolting/underclocking to keep temps/noise down.

I still think you should dump the X58 eclipse motherboard on eBay and put the money from that (and the money that would go to a s1366 CPU) towards a setup more geared towards HTPC duties.

 

[ceacea25]

the ASRock A330ION will play up to 1080p smoothely, and costs hundreds less than any other setup. It is minimalistic but meets all the needs of an htpc.

 

[TerFar]

I'm building a HTPC around a ceton card. I have an eclipse mother board laying around and a radeon HD5770 video card and I was wondering if this would be a good foundation for a HTPC. If so which intel chip would work best.

That combo is more than sufficient - if not overkill - for an HTPC, but your problem is going to be noise. Personally, I use a minimalist Jetway mini-TOP JBC600C993-52W-BW fitted with a Mementous XL hybrid drive and 4GB DDR3-1066 memory It is running Win 7 x64 with VLC media player connected to an HT Receiver and 42" Panasonic HD TV. It works perfectly, is whisper quiet and uses minimal power (around 30W average measured at the mains socket).

Terry

http/www.jetway.com.tw/jw/barebone_view.asp?productid=760&proname=JBC600C99352W-BW%20(Mini-top)