HDMI or VGA?

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turb

881 posts

Ultimate Geek

#107018 5-Aug-2012 13:12

I'm just starting to cost out a HTPC - prompted by a wish to get out of Sky's clutches!

This is what I think I need:

A case
A power supply
A mobo with enough SATA connections for 2 drives
A boot drive (ssd 120gb)
A data drive
A CPU (how fast?)
Some RAM (1gb enough?)
A TV card able to record 2 channels of terrestrial freeviewHD.
A video card. Does it matter what the video card connection is? Is HDMI any better? The TV has VGA and 3 HDMI connections and is full HD.

oh and I realise the mobo needs to have enough slots for all the cards.
And a remote, which seems to often come with the tv card.
And an OS and assorted software.
I have a decent long range keyboard and mouse already.

Am I missing anything?

Interests: HTPC, Web App authoring.

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#667771 5-Aug-2012 13:19

Probably no need to have a seperate Data and OS drive and also onboard graphics will be fine in most instances. Maybe look at a mini-ITX setup using either Intel i3-2120 or AMD equivalent?

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boby55

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#667772 5-Aug-2012 13:20

Defiantly go HDMI over vga. But if you don't need to carry audio over the HDMI cable as well you could get a video card with DVI only and use a DVI - HDMI cable.

mthredgo

80 posts

Master Geek

#667784 5-Aug-2012 14:11

RAM is cheap. 1Gb is really not enough.

With 1Gb you'll be disk thrashing as virtual memory kicks in (which won't be so bad on your SSD, but still it will slow things down)

I built mine with 16Gb, a 120Gb SSD drive and a 2Gb data drive. 16Gb is probably overkill, but with memory priced under $100 for an 8GB stick why would you use anything smaller than an 8Gb stick.

mthredgo

80 posts

Master Geek

#667785 5-Aug-2012 14:14

And you ask if you're missing anything - a BluRay Drive. Internal BluRay writers are not that expensive. And with a quad layer disk they will write about 128Gb on a single disk (not that I can find the blank quad layer disks anywhere yet).

kama

30 posts

Geek

#667786 5-Aug-2012 14:19

On my equipment analog vga produces a fuzzy picture. Even with the better rated, heavier vga cable for higher resolutions. Analog audio is a different story.

sbiddle

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#667788 5-Aug-2012 14:32

My current system uses a Hudson M1 AMD board. Cheap as chips with integrated CPU and video.

Gilco2

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#667790 5-Aug-2012 14:54

turb: I'm just starting to cost out a HTPC - prompted by a wish to get out of Sky's clutches!

This is what I think I need:

A case
A power supply
A mobo with enough SATA connections for 2 drives
A boot drive (ssd 120gb)
A data drive
A CPU (how fast?)
Some RAM (1gb enough?)
A TV card able to record 2 channels of terrestrial freeviewHD.
A video card. Does it matter what the video card connection is? Is HDMI any better? The TV has VGA and 3 HDMI connections and is full HD.

oh and I realise the mobo needs to have enough slots for all the cards.
And a remote, which seems to often come with the tv card.
And an OS and assorted software.
I have a decent long range keyboard and mouse already.

Am I missing anything?

Definitetly HDMI and it also makes it easier altering bios setting. Using VGA just wont display bios properly on my Sony 26 inch tv but does with hDMI.
I only have 2GB memory and has been no problem yet. When I bought it DDR3 was expensive. I use a 120GB laptop hard drive for my OS so if Windows fails I dont lose the data as well. Of course if my data drive fails I lose that and then would backup from backup drive.
I use an Intel i3 2120 processor and onboard graphics with no problem.
I also use Avermedia Trinity card for FreeviewUHF and Freeview Satellite.
I would also recommend Blu ray drive as they arent expensive and you can watch blu ray as well then.

HTPC Intel Pentium G3258 cpu, Gigabyte H97n-wifi motherboard, , 8GB DDR3 ram, onboard graphics. Hauppuage HVR 5500 tuner, Silverstone LC16M case, Windows 10 pro 64 bit using Nextpvr and Kodi

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freitasm

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#667806 5-Aug-2012 15:48

For a HTPC you MUST USE HDMI. It's the only way you will get HD video on your TV, as well as high quality sound. Also if you use something like iTunes it will only play HD movies if it's a protected HDMI output - VGA will not work on that.

kiwijunglist

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#669216 7-Aug-2012 18:55

I'd recommend

Intel i3-2100
Cheap Motherboard with Onboard GPU
1x4GB Cheap RAM
HVR2200 / HVR2210
3TB WD30EZRX
64 or 128GB SSD
Antec NSK2480 Case (lncludes PSU)
MCE Compatible IR Receiver + Remote

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

khull

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#669245 7-Aug-2012 20:11

I have optical out to a decoder for DTS audio which for me is a must.

Perhaps you might consider if your TV has no optical out. No point having good picture if you have tiny sound through your speakers

turb

881 posts

Ultimate Geek

#669385 8-Aug-2012 08:06

That looks like a nice setup. Time for an intensive PriceSpy session I think

I have a funny old SFF HP from work under my telly, and tried out XBMC on linux on it last night - that looks like the way to go, although as a DOS/windows user of many years' standing, using linux makes me feel like I'm using chopsticks instead of a spoon - I like it, I know it's good for me, but sometimes I get cramp!

Thanks everyone for the ideas.

Interests: HTPC, Web App authoring.

turb

881 posts

Ultimate Geek

#669402 8-Aug-2012 08:35

Do I need the "MCE Compatible IR Receiver + Remote" if the TV card comes with a remote?

Interests: HTPC, Web App authoring.

kiwijunglist

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#669507 8-Aug-2012 11:03

No you don't need if TV card includes a remote

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

turb

881 posts

Ultimate Geek

#669553 8-Aug-2012 12:07

I'm looking at this mobo:http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=834304

Asus P8H61-M Pro

Micro ATX, HDMI, On board graphics

Look about right?

It only has PCIe slots, not PCI - is that likely to be an issue? I can't think what other cards I might put in, but for me the whole point of an HTPC is the flexibility!

Interests: HTPC, Web App authoring.

kiwijunglist

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#669567 8-Aug-2012 12:36

Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H
http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=1165805 - $120
mATX / GFX / HD Audio / PCI-E / PCI / USB3.0 / 6xSATA

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

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