Time to spec another PC! HTPC this time...

Percy1983

By definition a matx board will use less power than an atx if you really want to push it, I guess it depends what expansion slots maybe useful for the future which as you would imagine is usually TV cards for a HTPC and maybe a sound card but you already have that covered.

irisandalex

Right, TV tuner time then!

Any tips? I have terrestrial and satellite outputs available, so freesat or freeview.

Want the tuner to be HD capable.

Percy1983

I wouldn't go anywhere but black gold, with that they where to only one to offer a product with the tuners I wanted.

http://shop.blackgold.tv/epages/BT3159.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT3159/Categories/%22Retail%20Products%22/PCIe_Tuner_Products

I will admit they aren't cheap, I am running a BGT3600 which is 4 tuners.

They do have a few models with different mixes of tuners.

There is plenty of cheaper tuners out there but as soon as you want HD the price goes up.

irisandalex

Thanks....

Will my ten year old power supply work with a modern motherboard, or have standards changed?

Percy1983

Its worth checking connections, you probably have a 20pin motherboard connection to which you will need a converter for 24pin, you may not have the 4 or 8pin processor connector either.

As it is you are looking low power consumption for power output shouldn't be an issue but its worth checking, but it is worth noting a decent new one will probably be more efficient.

irisandalex

The processor on the old one does have a four pin connector, same as my newer PC.

The motherboard is only 20 pin as you say though.... Off to ebay I go!

irisandalex

Hmmm, reading further using the old PSU might be a bad idea.

It is a 220W supply, giving a max of 15A to the 3.33v line, 5A to the 12v line.

Sounds like that might not be enough for a modern system.

This seems like a decent bet:
http://www.ebuyer.com/247713-be-quiet-pure-power-bqt-l7-300w-psu-bn103

irisandalex

Asrock A75M A75 Socket FM1 7.1 Channel HD Audio mATX Motherboar
£46.47

AMD Llano A6 A3500 2.1GHz Socket FM1 3MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor
£55.02

Be Quiet Pure Power L7 300W PSU
£28.20

Kingston 4GB DDR3 1333MHz Memory Module Non-ECC CL9 1.5V
£16.86

Will use my existing SATA HDD, IDE optical drive, PCI DVB-T card and case.

Black Gold don't do a card that matches what I want for a sensible price, so will try the well reviewed TBS 6891 dual DVB-S2 PCIe card for £90.

Total: £236.75. Bit more than I expected.....

Any comments or suggestions before I order? Things I've forgotten?

Percy1983

Just a thought for the ide to sata problem, instead of using an adapter you can get a new drive for £12.

An extension of the above thought, £45-£50 gets you a blu-ray drive to which this HTPC will be freesat HD + Blu-ray then, of course you could always add that later.

Be Quiet are very good PSUs so good choice there and as you say the reviews of the TV card look favourable so go for it.

I will say you have come in a lot cheaper than my HTPC, with that I got giddy and spent £135 on a case!

Just another product I will recommend, it might be useful.

http://www.ebuyer.com/250233-xenta-wireless-mini-keyboard-with-touchpad-and-multimedia-keys-usb-pkb-1720

Both me and my brother are running them on HTPCs and the are just right, it is around the same size as a 360 controller.

irisandalex

I remembered my drive is SATA, I had to buy an adapter to get it in the old machine...

Won't bother with blue ray as we have none!

Thanks for the reassurance regarding the PSU. When I saw they are the biggest seller in Germany that gave me some reassurance!

Good thought regarding the remote keyboard, I guess the old kworld remote I have won't be supported by Windows Media Centre.

I might not bother with the freesat for now, as our projector is only 720p, maybe freeview sd is good enough for another few months.
Unless I decide F1 this year is so exciting I need to get German RTL.....

I was wondering if I should have spent a bit more on higher spec RAM., but couldn't be bothered to do any more research.