Home Theatre PC Buyer's Guide - Q1 2009

Graphics Card

First Choice: Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 (216)
UK Pricing: £206.15 (Inc. VAT)
US Pricing: $279.99 (ex. Tax)

With the release of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 285 last month we saw GTX 280 prices come crashing down to somewhat affordable levels, but the GTX 260 (216) is still our choice for a high-end GPU, especially with the increasingly patchy availability of the GTX 280s.

Having dethroned the Radeon HD 4870 1GB last month thanks to a hefty price cut, the increased profile of PhysX acceleration and improved performance from increasingly improved drivers, the GTX 260 (216) is a worthy choice, although it really is a very close run thing between AMD and Nvidia at this price point.

With both cards so evenly matched, the real decider here is Nvidia's hefty selection of extras that its graphics cards are capable of. CUDA-accelerated applications such as the video encoding utility Badaboom and the adoption of PhysX technology into high profile game launches such as the PC version of Mirror's Edge have lifted these features from just another tick box to genuinely compelling additions.

Of the high end graphics cards, it has the lowest idle power consumption and in addition it also features a super-low speed fan mode when it detects the video accelerator hardware being used too (for Blu-ray for example). While there are no aftermarket coolers for the GTX 260 (216) available on the market just yet - they're coming - it's pretty much as good as we're going to get without modding one yourself.

Power supply

UK First Choice: Be Quiet Dark Power Pro 650W
UK Pricing: £96.06 (Inc. VAT)

The be quiet! Dark Power Pro 650W just amazed us with its performance when we reviewed it back in July. With supreme efficiency and quite literally silent running thrown into the mix thanks to its fluid bearing fan, it makes for a fantastic choice for a highly efficient, very quiet HTPC.

The fact that it’s modular too just sweetens the deal, allowing you to cut down on unwanted cabling inside your case. The price might be a sticking point for many - over £90 is a lot to pay for a 650W power supply, but in this case you genuinely get what you pay for and if you can stretch for it we'd recommend you do.


US First Choice: Cooler Master Silent Pro 600W
US Pricing: $129.99 (ex. Tax)

Sadly be quiet! doesn't sell its excellent PSUs in the USA, so we're opting for the Cooler Master Silent Pro 600W which closely matches the be quiet! at 650W. The improved rubber surround minimises vibration translation into the case, and the large 13.5cm sleeve bearing fan is exceptionally quiet too. In addition, the cables are flat black and blend in well to the case internals, and being modular the cable mess is also kept to a minimum.

Optical Drive

First Choice: LG GGGC H2OL Blu-ray, HDDVD DVDRW combo drive
UK Pricing: £64.18 (inc. VAT)
US Pricing: $139.99 (ex. Tax)

We're keeping this drive in this high end because it simply does everything we need it to. If you're talking about an HD capable HTPC in 2009, you've absolutely got to consider the Blu-ray option, or better yet, both BD and HD DVD! The LG combo drive is pretty cheap and with very cheap deals on HD DVDs still to be found it's a great option for getting into HD movies. The drive can also write to DVD and DVD-RW too for backups if needed as well - the only thing it doesn't do it write Blu-ray discs.