Three Antec HTPC Cases Compared

Building an HTPC (Home Theater PC)? You'll need a nice case for your project. AnandTech compares three HTPC cases from Antec:

• Micro Fusion 350 (includes 350W power supply) (US$180)
• Fusion Remote Black ($150)
• Fusion Remote Max ($200)

The components fitted in the cases during the test were the following:

• Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 (2.2GHz) processor
• Asus P5E-VM SE motherboard (Intel G35 chipset)
• 4GB OCZ DDR2 PC2-8500 Platinum Series memory
• Western Digital 400GB HDD
• Zalman CNPS7700 CPU cooler
• Antec Signature SG-650W PSU

"Any one of these should fit in quite nicely with a home theater environment. The only real question is what size HTPC you want to use. We like the small Micro Fusion as a basic HTPC, since it requires the least space. However, it is also the most limited in terms of features and expansion options. All of the cases are well built and meet the high standards that we have come to expect from Antec. There are no sharp edges or any serious issues, other than the fact that on the smaller cases you will need to be a bit more patient when installing your components." [AnandTech | Antec Fusion HTPC Shootout]

Of course, one could choose a regular tower microATX as the chassis for an HTPC, although this will surely not blend well with your home theater. As AnandTech suggests, an HTPC case should have a nice and sleek design that will fit in with the entertainment center in your living room, and should be small and designed to fit together with a stereo amplifier, game console, and/or DVD player.

Technorati : antec, case, home, htpc, theater

Budget Graphics Compared: GeForce 9400 GT vs. Radeon HD 4550

Two new budget graphics cards came into play recently. These are the GeForce 9400 GT from Nvidia, and the Radeon HD 4550 from ATI. Their specs are as follows:

GeForce 9400 GT (US$59):

• G96 Core Code
• 314 million Transistor Count
• 55nm Manufacturing Process
• 550MHz Core Clock
• 16 Stream processors
• 1400MHz Stream Processor Clock
• 16 Texture Mapping Units (TMU) or Texture Filtering (TF) units
• 8 Raster Operator units (ROP)
• 800MHz GDDR2 Memory Clock
• 128-bit DDR Memory Bus
• 12.8GB/s Memory Bandwidth
• PCIe ver 2.0 x16 interface
• no Multi GPU Technology support
• HDCP Output Support

Radeon HD 4550 ($45-55):

• RV710 Core Code
• 242 million Transistor Count
• 55nm Manufacturing Process
• 600MHz Core Clock
• 80 Stream processors
• 600MHz Stream Processor Clock
• 8 Texture Mapping Units (TMU) or Texture Filtering (TF) units
• 4 Raster Operator units (ROP)
• 1600MHz GDDR3 Memory Clock
• 64-bit DDR Memory Bus
• 12.8GB/s Memory Bandwidth
• PCIe ver 2.0 x16 interface
• CrossfireX Multi GPU Technology support
• HDCP Output Support

AnandTech compared the HD 4550 with HD 3650, GF 9500 GT, and HD 4670 cards:

"Anyway, the point is that with cards in this class, you can't expect gaming performance. And even still we have cards that absolutely blow away integrated graphics. This really does highlight just how how horrible the performance of integrated solutions really is in comparison to any modern add-in graphics part. But that doesn't mean these cards don't have some value. Not everyone needs 3D, and these cards are priced very well. And more importantly, these cards offer a real solution to a problem HTPC builders have been faced with for a long time. The Radeon 4350 and 4550 offer quiet or silent video acceleration for full resolution blu-ray playback with the option of enabling 8 channel LPCM audio playback over HDMI. If you want to build an HTPC, one of these cards would be a very good fit." [AnandTech | ATI Radeon HD 4350 and 4550: Great HTPC Solutions]

HardwareZone gave the GeForce 9400 GT a 3.5 stars rating, and gave the Radeon HD 4550 a 4 stars rating:

"... the GeForce 9400 GT needs some improvements to match the Radeon HD 4550. In terms of performance, the 4550 was always faster than the 9400 GT, though this margin varied from game to game. When it came to power consumption, the Radeon again had the advantage, albeit a rather slight one. Finally, if you're battling for the hearts and minds of HTPC enthusiasts, ATI has a rather significant advantage in being able to offer 7.1 channel HD audio through its DVI/HDMI outputs, something that NVIDIA cannot do, even with a S/PDIF cable. Then, there's the matter of VC-1 hardware acceleration, which ATI just does better (though the market does seem to be favoring H.264 in Blu-ray nowadays)." [HardwareZone | When Budget Graphics Clash: GeForce 9400 GT Meets Radeon HD 4550 ]

I agree with HardwareZone's suggestion of taking a good look at the older mainstream graphic cards such as the GeForce 8600 GT and Radeon HD 3650, before committing to buy a 9400 GT or HD 4550.

The HD 4550 seemed to perform better than the 9400 GT, despite the Radeon's 64-bit DDR Memory Bus. And if you need 7.1 channel HD audio, the HD 4550 card is the one to get, and a nice one if you are thinking of building and HTPC.

Technorati : 4550, 9400, budget, geforce, graphics, gt, hd, htpc, radeon, value