Hardware Leaderboard HTPC Slot?

[MorituriMax]

I LUUUUUV your hardware leaderboard section and wonder if it might be possible sometime in the future to add an additional build, this one the best Home Theater PC you can come up with?

Thanks!

[John C]

I would welcome this also. It would be kind of fun, especially since the hardware requirements are quite modest, even for 1080p video. The challenges become noise control and ease of use.
Mine is built on an old socket 775 board with an e6300 wolfsdale and plays everything I have thrown at it.

[Electric Bill]

I second third that especially now that I have my HTPC dialed in.
Installed a couple of Gelid PWM fans (120mm CPU hs and 80mm case) and reconfigured the airflow - now I can run Prime95 indefinitely without CPU temp exceeding 55° C.
That's with the rig in my sig.
Now I can not only use Media Center but I can record & edit movies, game and surf all on one machine.


Bill

[MorituriMax]

Main reason I ask is I have a WD Live TV Hub with the built-in 1TB drive, and I would dearly love to stick a couple 2TB drives in it, (yes I know I can connect USB Drives externally, but they take a slot), long story short, I'd like to be able to have the internal drives, a better interface choice, but also the ability to use a remote like the Harmony 900 with it.

Basically, the WD is nice but has some downsides, I think it might be possible to go better with a self-built system.

[John C]

You can certainly do better with an htpc. It will require some tweaking however.
I use ansilverstone GD05 case. It fits right in with my AV components, and a huge advantage is that it is not deep, so it fits in almost any AV rack.
It is controlled with a Harmony One remote
Any Qs just ask

[djotter]

Yeah it would be cool to see what the folks at PCPer can come up with regarding optimal HTPC components. I use a Silverstone SG05B for my case (see here) and it fits behind the centre speaker in my entertainment unit. I use a Logitech Mediaboard Pro to control it.

[molestedbyasus]

Let us say it is under consideration. However I still am not comfortable recommending cases as that is far more of an aesthetic choice. There is no definable way to say that one case is better than another since it is a very personal choice.

[frostywinnipeg]

Would love to see some PCPER HTPC builds thrown out there.