Designing an HTPC build

I’m about to build a home theatre PC (HTPC) that’s to be ideally less than a thousand dollars Australian. So here are the requirements:

• Small form factor (i.e. mini-ITX)
• Quiet
• Must play HD videos
• Must be able to record videos such that it can replace the TV Tuner / DVD recorder unit.
• Receives DVB-T

Looking around at what’s available, there doesn’t seem to be too many choices which would obviously make the decisions easier.

But there is one basic question that needs to be answered: The age old question of do I want to go with Intel, or AMD? (And there’s also VIA). So there’s the typical old Socket 775 Intel boards, AMD boards on the 6 series chipset, and VIA’s EPIA. Having had a chat to Richard, he suggested a build based on an AMD 7 series chipset, which sports quite a decent onboard Radeon HD graphics. reviews are OK too. Why not Intel’s Atom? Well it’s a little limited in power – I was hoping for something that’s a bit faster than 1.6(6) GHz. The AMD is a socket based motherboard, and also meant that I could upgrade the CPU if needed (although that never happens).

Why not Intel S775? Because they come with Intel Graphics. Why not the brand new Nvidia Ion chipset? It looks really good, especially that Zotac board. But unfortunately it didn’t come with a PCI Express slot which I would need for the TV card.

The final specs after the break!

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