Gigabyte H663

Verdict: Not the most flexible media PC case in the world, but a lot of the work is done for you -you only need a CPU, memory and a disk

Despite the fact that the home theatre PC idea has been floating around for what seems like the last decade, it's only recently that media PC builders have had much choice when it comes to cases. Designs such as the H663 have been on Gigabyte's stands at Computex in Taiwan for several years running, so it's surprising that the company took so long to bring it to market, and it now faces tough competition from the likes of the Zalman HD160 (see Issue 35, p65) and the Antec Fusion (see Issue 37, p60).

Unlike the Zalman and the Antec, though, the H663 is a bare bones system. You only need to add a CPU, hard disk and memory to have it up and running. It's clear from the outset that the H663 isn't designed for frequent upgrading. You need to loosen an army of screws to remove the lid, and that's just for starters. A similar number of awkwardly placed screws need to be removed in order to release the heatpipe assembly that cools the CPU.

As the H663's motherboard incorporates Intel's previous-generation 945G chipset, your CPU choice is limited to LGA775 processors up to and including the Pentium D 800- and 900-series. You won't be able to sneak a Core 2 Duo into the Gigabyte, which is a shame, considering the chip's low power requirements and superb performance in media encoding. On the plus side, Core 2 Duo's launch has pushed down the price of dual-core Pentiums, with the 2.8GHz Pentium D 820 costing just £80. The H663 is also Viiv-certified, so, with a copy of Windows XP MCE installed, you can enjoy the benefits of complying with Intel's latest platform initiative, even if it doesn't really mean much just yet.

The H663 boasts a slim, VCR-style form factor and, given this, you wouldn't expect much in the way of upgrade options. In fact, there are none whatsoever, and even some of the core components have been chosen for you. An optical drive is pre-installed in the unit's only 5.25in bay, although it's pretty decent. It's a Panasonic SW-9585-C, a DVD writer that offers 16x DVD+R and -R writing, 4x dual-layer DVD+R writing, plus 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+RW and 5x DVD-RAM re-writing. A Blu-ray drive would arguably have been more appropriate, but this would also massively inflate the price.

Although you could potentially replace the optical drive at some point, you'll have to live with the board's Intel GMA950 integrated graphics. The H663 has no PCI-E slot, but Gigabyte has at least fitted an extra header to enable both DVI and analogue video output from the GMA950, so you aren't constrained just to analogue VGA. There are no component analogue connection options, despite the fact the Intel chipset supports it. The chipset features Intel HD Audio, and as well as the usual PC analogue speaker connections, there's an optical S/PDIF output on the back of the H663.

There's one expansion slot on a riser, but it's already populated with a Gigabyte hybrid analogue and DVB-T TV tuner. This has the inviting name of 'GT-PTV-TAF-RH', and it's MCE-certified, so it will allow you to create a fully functional PVR with the addition of Microsoft's operating system. The H663 is supplied with an MCE-compatible IR remote, which works via the IR receiver integrated invisibly into the H663's front fascia.

Other than the CPU and memory - for which two DDR2 slots are available - the only thing you need to add is a hard disk, and this will have to be S-ATA. The cables are already routed and, given that the optical drive is on the other side of the chassis, it would be next to impossible to use the second drive option on the single EIDE cable.

The H663 has a couple of other useful integrated features. There's a VFD on the front, which initially just tells the time. However, with the drivers installed, it depicts current audio volume, including whether the sound is panned to the left or right. Once you load up MCE, it displays information relevant to your current mode.

The chassis also has a 7-in-1 media card reader on the front, plus a pair of USB 2 ports and 4-pin FireWire. One thing you don't get, however, is front audio connectivity. You may not want to sit right in front of your TV screen with headphones on, but the ability to plug in an external audio device can be useful, and you'll have to scrabble round the back to do that. Gigabyte also supplies another handy peripheral for couch-based usage - a compact wireless keyboard with an integrated trackball. We found that it worked reliably at the required distance of 10ft or so, and its small size makes it convenient to leave on the arm of a sofa when not in use.

Another requirement of a PVR is that it shouldn't disturb the peace of your living room, and in this area, the H663 did very well. Under heavy workload, the CPU fan spun up a little but, as the 220W PSU is external, it's passively cooled, and there are no other system fans. So even with the CPU fan running at maximum speed, the noise wasn't excessive and when idle, the system made barely any sound at all.

PERFORMANCE

Although performance isn't as important with a PVR as it is with a gaming machine, it's reasonable to expect it to be able to carry out media encoding and multitasking, so our benchmarks are a good assessment tool for this kind of machine. We reverted to our older LGA775 test CPU, a 3GHz Pentium D 830, with the usual 2GB of Corsair DDR2 memory and a trusty 250GB Samsung SpinPoint P120S S-ATA II hard disk.

At standard clocks speeds, compared to our 2.8GHz Pentium D 820 baseline score of 1.0, the H663 performed pretty much as expected for a 3GHz Pentium D 830. The DVD encoding score was vaguely below what we'd expect for CPU that's 7 per cent faster than the reference processor, but not by a sufficient amount for it to be a real concern. Otherwise, the H663 behaved exactly like a regular PC in our benchmarks.

That will be all you can expect too, as there are no overclocking options in the BIOS. There isn't even a section for RAM timings or FSB frequencies. In fact, about the only BIOS setting likely to affect performance is the option to turn Speed Step (EIST) on and off.

CONCLUSION

Had we laid eyes on the H663 a year ago, before Intel's Core 2 Duo arrived, we'd have been extremely impressed by what it has to offer. The form factor may have considerable limitations for a PC chassis but, for a pure PVR and HTPC, it looks the part and has a number of handy features, such as the VFD and wireless keyboard with a built-in trackball. Unfortunately, the limitation to Pentium D processors makes the Gigabyte a tad outdated in today's market. It also lacks the flexibility you get when buying a Zalman or Antec case that accommodates full-size PC parts, but it's easy to build and a lot of the work has been done for you. If you have a gaming PC with an older LGA775 CPU that you want to upgrade, the H663 would be ideal for your old CPU, and if you fancy a no-hassle media PC project, it's also worth a look.