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Media Center PC - September 2008

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Author: Koen Crijns 09/17/2008

Media Center PC

Configuration

AMD Phenom X3 8750 AMD Phenom X3 8750 Processors
In order to use all that the AMD 780G chipset offers, installing a Phenom CPU is obligatory. This is caused by the fast HyperTransport 3.0 bus demanding a Phenom to be able to apply post processing on video playback. We choose the entry model Phenom, the X3 8750. It is more than fast enough for Media Center applications, agreeably priced and quite energy efficient.
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Memory modules
We install two gigabytes of DDR2-800 memory, more than enough for all multimedia applications.

Scythe Shuriken Scythe Shuriken CPU coolers
Quiet cooling is required for a Media Center PC. Most well known silent coolers won't fit into a media center housing, due to their size. The Scythe Shuriken makes for a pleasant exception, combining fine cooling performance with extremely quiet operation.
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Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H Mainboards
The 780G chipset is a recent success for AMD. This chipset is both affordable and energy efficient, yet provides an astonishing array of features. For example, the 780G has integrated DirectX 10 graphics with UVD support. This enables the chipset to take care of decoding H.264 video and VC-1 video. In short: there is no need to use a separate graphics card in a Media Center. In our tests the Gigabyte's GA-MA78GM-s2h turned out to be a great Micro ATX board with affordable pricing, based on AMD's 780G chipset. It comes complete with an HDMI connector, so it can feed a flatscreen television directly.
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Graphics cards
AMD's 780G chipset has an onboard videocard that offers ATI's UVD technology. As such it is eminently suitable to play back all types of HD video. The Gigabyte mainboard we chose has an HDMI-out for connecting to a flatscreen television.

Western Digital Caviar GP 500GB SATA2 Western Digital Caviar GP 500GB SATA2 Hard disks/SSD's
A Media Center PC is likely to store an inordinate amount of TV recordings, films, photos and music files. A large hard drive is a requisite. We pick a 500 GB model, from the Western Digital Caviar GP series. As shown in our tests these are extremely quiet and thus quite suitable for use in a living room environment.
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Lite-On DH-4O1S-10C Lite-On DH-4O1S-10C Optical drives
With Blu-ray having won the battle for succession of the DVD, affordable drives are finally becoming available. Lite-on offers the DH-401S, which can only read discs, but it plays back all DVD's and Blu-rays without problems. Ideal for a Media Center PC.
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SilverStone Lascala LC17 Black SilverStone Lascala LC17 Black Cases
By now quite affordable and offering everything a Media Center PC needs, SilverStone's Lascala LC17 has a brushed steel finishing in silver or black. With the width of traditional high end hifi components it fits in seamlessly with existing AV-components. Internally it offers plenty of room for extra storage space.
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Be Quiet Straight Power 400W Be Quiet Straight Power 400W Power supplies
Choosing SilverStone's case enables us to pick a separate power supply. We choose the 400 watt model of the Be Quiet Straight Power series, which our tests showed to be the quietest model we have tested so far. Of course this PSU is sufficient to provide all our components with the power they need, while its 80+ efficiency ensures no energy is wasted.
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Digital Everywhere FloppyDTV C/CI Digital Everywhere FloppyDTV C/CI TV cards
Hauppauge's WinTV PVR-150 has been on the market for a few years now, but we still think highly of it. It offers fine image quality for analogue television and barely uses the CPU due to its onboard hardware encoding of Mpeg2. By using two of these, you can both watch and record two different broadcasts. If you want to use digital cable television, there is only one model of TV card that works well with MCE, the Digital Everywhere FloppyDTV. Preferably take two of these to both record and watch simultaneously. Do pay attention when making this purchase, as your provider may have additional requirements where it comes to CAM (conditional access modules) needed.
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Microsoft's own MCE remote remains the best way to control your Media Center PC.

 

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