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Hardware Continued...
Video Card
Quite possibly the most important component in such a build! For those
who are not too familiar with computers or the emerging technology of video
cards in general, there are certain things you'll want to know before buying
your video card. Also, there's absolutely no need to shell out lots of
money on one either and you may even have one lying around that will
actually feature what is needed for high quality playback. Should you go with a card from nVidia or
ATI? Which manufacturer has an edge in this area? Let's go over some of the features you'll want to
look for, as well as recommend some cards that are designed for such a
setup.
I
will start with nVidia simply because their cards do have a strong edge over
those from ATI when it comes to this kind of use. What you'll
definitely want is a card that features PureVideo. All nVidia cards
6200 series and up do sport the feature. So what is PureVideo?
Without getting too technical, it is basically a technology that will
provide the highest quality video playback currently available. These cards will decode
(in hardware) mpeg2, mpeg4 and H264 AVC. This also will result in low
CPU utilization and power consumption. When hooked up to a quality
HDTV, the output is superb and will outperform almost all standalone DVD
players on the market, regardless of price. For me at least, the
difference is like night and day. It's that much better.
nVidia cards also have an edge because setting one up to work with your HDTV
is very easy. Using the nVidia Control Panel,
you can simply run a wizard that will basically set a custom resolution to
fit the screen. Why is this necessary? I'll explain at the end
of the article which will feature some valuable tips.
Now, while I wouldn't use anything but an ATI powered card in my main
desktop rig, I would personally not recommend one for an HTPC setup.
For years now, I've never been a fan of their Catalyst Control Panel and
setting up the card to work well with your HDTV is not as easy as it is with
nVidia.
If
you choose one though, what should you look for in terms of features?
Well, what you'll want is a card that features their own competitive
technology called Avivo. What is it exactly? Basically, it's
ATI's answer to PureVideo. Avivo is a technology built in their cards
that perfects the video and image display experience for those running an
HTPC. Avivo is featured in any of the ATI Radeon X1K products,
ATI All-in-Wonder X1K products, ATI TV Wonder Elite, ATI HDTV Wonder, and
partner products based on ATI Theater 550 PRO and the all new ATI Theater
650 PRO technology. Setting up your HDTV display is done via the
Catalyst Control Center.
Also, what many may not know yet is that there
are a select few cards already out there that feature an HDMI port right on
the card itself. These cards are the perfect choice for a number of
HPTC enthusiasts! Not only will they provide the highest quality video, but you'll have just one cable running from your HTPC to either your
receiver featuring HDMI switching or straight to your TV. A number of
manufacturers such as MSI, ASUS, Sapphire, Powercolor and Visiontek
currently offer some of these alternatives. However, if you choose one
of these cards, you'll want to pay close attention to its features and read
their specifications quite carefully. There are some things you'll
want to take note of before deciding on which to purchase. Again, that
will be covered in our Tips section. There aren't many HDMI cards
currently out there to choose from. However, in my opinion, I think
MSI has the upper hand at this time. They currently have two excellent
cards that will meet the needs of many users, one which happens to
cost well under $100.
Finally, will you need just a video card or
will you also need a quality tuner card in your setup? That all
depends on what your intended purpose is and what you'll want to take
advantage of. Depending on whether you have an over the air signal or
cable signal, you're choice here is very important. More on that
though in the PVR section of the article.
**Update May 2008**
As we all know, technology changes by the day and companies consistently
release new and improved hardware designed for ultimate performance.
That's where this particular update is important because after using a
number of the latest products for such a build, feelings have shifted in
terms of which video card manufacturer I recommend you choose. The new HD 3K series
video cards from AMD/ATI are now an excellent choice for any HTPC build.
Not only are they substantially less expensive that most nVidia-based cards,
but their software has significantly improved and finally offer features
specifically targeted at HTPC
enthusiasts.
**click to enlarge**
Their latest cards, along with their latest
Catalyst Control Panel, offers many additional features for HTPC users that
actually work very well. These cards allow for custom resolutions and
via software, you can enable scaling options to compensate for overscan, one
of the major issues most will face when connecting to their HDTV.
While nVidia has a nice "scaler" to simply this process, the latest cards
from ATI fully support HDTV's and have many additional options to ensure
that perfect resolution for your TV. After recently testing both options,
I now prefer those from AMD/ATI over nVidia. The ability to customize
resolutions is somewhat like the excellent Powerstrip utility.
Basically, you can maintain that 1920x1080 resolution while somewhat
"masking" it to remedy the overscan issue. It works well and I'm
personally able to adjust settings a bit better than I was able to with an nVidia card without the need for third-party software such as Powerstrip.
**click to enlarge**
The HD 3850 series from AMD/ATI is an
excellent option for an HTPC build. Whether you want the best
multimedia playback or are an avid gamer, these cards will certainly satisfy
and cost much less than comparable options from nVidia. When choosing
a video card for such a setup though, you'll want to focus on a couple of
very important things. First, ensure that the enclosure you choose
will support your card of choice. New full-length PCI-E 2.0 cards are
not supported by a number of MicroATX HTPC enclosures. The new enclosure I showed
you earlier from Silverstone does and if you choose this case, you won't
have an issue installing full-length video cards up to 11.5 inches. Second is overall noise. If you want a video
card powerful enough to support a number of uses such as Blu-ray playback
and gaming, you are primarily stuck to active cooling cards. However,
this does not necessarily mean you need to compromise noise for performance.
The Gigabyte 512MB GV-RX385512H Radeon HD3850 shown above is an excellent
choice. This card features an exclusive Zalman fan/heatsink designed
to operate quietly and provide efficient cooling and peace of mind.
Sound Card
Your sound card happens to be your second most
important component in an HTPC build. You'll want quality sound and a
card that is designed for such a build. Also, you'll be quite
surprised as to how affordable high quality PC sound can be.
When choosing your sound card, you'll
definitely want one that features either coaxial or optical output.
Unfortunately, there aren't many cards out there designed this way and with
these kind of features. Most sound cards nowadays are targeted
primarily at gamers and fail to provide such outputs.
Fortunately though, there are a select few
companies out there that offer some excellent options to please this unique
crowd.
AuzenTech happens to be one of them, and the X-Plosion
(reviewed here) is an excellent choice! This card, kindly provided by
Geeks.com, is now priced under $100 and its sound quality is quite
exceptional. The card is also one of the very few to feature both
coaxial and digital out without the need for an external expansion box.
This card is currently setup in my main HTPC rig and I'm just thoroughly
impressed with both its quality and performance. If for some reason
these cards don't do it for you, you may also want to look at some of the
options from M-Audio which have cards that feature coaxial outputs and
feature 24-bit digital audio.
If you're on a really tight budget and don't
want to spend the money on a quality sound card, you might want to consider
a motherboard that features built-in sound with optical output. There
aren't many out there, so you'll want to do some research and find those
boards that do offer at least an SPDIF out feature.
**Update May 2008**
Since this article was posted, Auzentech has released a couple of new sound
cards that should be just as impressive for such use.
They not only have a "Cinema" version of the
popular X-Plosion, but have also managed to release a sound card based on
Creative's own X-Fi chipset appropriately named as the X-Fi Prelude 7.1.
While most of the added features are just a gimmick, any sound card from
Auzentech is an excellent choice for HTPC use. They provide
exceptional sound and quality and built primarily for such use. Spend your
hard-earned money wisely though and the release of additional products means
that older products cost much less and will perform just as well for such
use.
Motherboard
Your motherboard also happens to be a key
component in an HTPC build. However, this is one area that I find will
be entirely up to the user and not a product that I can provide too much
insight on. Basically, it all comes down to what your intended use
will be. What I would like to emphasize on this article though is that
you do not need to build a top of the line system to experience all that an HTPC has to offer. In fact, I'm sure that those who have upgraded
their systems and have spare parts available will find that they will do
just fine in an HTPC environment. Unless you're a hardcore gamer
that will primarily use the system for gaming, you do not
need to spend extra money on parts that will honestly not help much in terms
of performance.
When choosing a motherboard, you first want to
determine whether you will need an ATX or MicroATX motherboard. This
will go back to the chassis of choice and what it will support. If
you're looking to build a small form factor PC that will blend in best with
your A/V components, you may want to consider motherboards of the MicroATX
variety. A MicroATX motherboard doesn't
necessarily mean lower performance. In fact, most MicroATX
motherboards are not only designed to provide maximum performance, but also
designed with the HTPC user in mind.
There are a select few motherboard
manufacturers that design MicroATX cases to please the HTPC enthusiast.
However, I've found that one of the most recommended happens to be those
boards from Biostar. There are many reasons why I recommend these
excellent boards for such a build. For example, my HTPC happens to
sport a TFORCE 6100-939 motherboard from Biostar. While an older
generation board, I find it to be one of the very best options for an HTPC
setup. Why? Well, there are many reasons. For one,
the board will support PCI-E video cards, meaning that you can purchase one
of the new HDMI cards currently on the market. Second, you don't have
DDR2 memory slots so you can pop in some of your quality spare DDR memory
modules. Third, the board will support dual core AMD processors,
providing a higher level of performance. Finally, is the excellent
BIOS that these boards do sport. Whether you're a novice or advanced
user, these boards are designed to allow almost any user to overclock them
quite easily. They feature some pre-set overclock settings that are
practically fail-proof and are capable of overclocking your system up to
35%. However, if your an advanced user, you also have full control of
your CPU, Memory and Voltage settings for an even higher level of
performance. This older board is hard to come by, but if you can grab
one, I highly recommend it. They also have some nice socket AM2 boards
for those who don't have spare parts and plan on building one from scratch. At roughly only $70, this board
will honestly suffice. On top of that, the board also features some
impressive onboard audio and ships with an PCI bracket allowing SPDIF
optical out, which happens to provide some very decent surround sound.
**Update May 2008**
Plenty has changed since the initial release of this article, especially
when it comes to your choice of motherboards. MicroATX boards now
feature plenty of extras that many building such a system would find quite
useful. In addition, the latest boards offer support for both dual and
quad core processors for ultimate performance and in most cases, a requirement
in order to play back Blu-ray/HD media.
**click to enlarge**
While Biostar does still offer some suitable
boards for an HTPC build, other respected manufactures have released a
number of boards that are designed for such use and are highly recommended.
There are two particular features that such a board should offer, one of
which many MicroATX boards fail to feature. The first is Firewire
support. If you want to take advantage of higher transfer speeds and
TV capture capabilities demonstrated in this article, Firewire support is
essential. Fortunately, there are some motherboards currently in the
market that do offer such a common feature out of the box. The second feature is somewhat new and that is eSATA support. Having a board with
eSATA support means that you can take full advantage of external storage
capabilities in order to store a large media collection consisting of movies, pictures
and music. Two motherboards come to mind, featured in the pics above.
Both the Abit I-N73HD and the Gigabyte GA-73PVM-S2H are excellent choices.
In addition to supporting both dual and quad core processors, they both have
Firewire support and the Gigabyte board even has eSATA support as well.
While I prefer Abit boards, the smaller Gigabyte board has everything you
can possibly ask for in a motherboard. Also, like the Abit board shown above, it has HDMI
output capabilities. However, I strongly don't recommend onboard video
for most setups.
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