View Full Version : Media center PC for the poor.....
chew*
02-02-2008, 12:17 PM
I'm in the process of building a media center pc.....Unfortunately this means using vista premium at the least....
What i want out of it.......Play movies dvd/blue ray @ 720p on my LCD 37" toshiba regza.......quality of picture is a must or its pointless......
Parts I may have as spares.....x1900xt although not very power friendly or quiet.....Would rather an onboard solution if it has enough power to fulfill my needs.....I do prefer ati as far as quality goes.......x2 3800 socket 939, 2 2gig kits ocz (1 ddr 400 1 ddr 434), 500 watt athena power psu somewhere.......hard drive somewhere...e1200 celeron dual core.......
Wireless will be necessary but if all the onboard wi/fi's are crud I'd rather purchase my own solution..wireless g will suffice.....I'm not looking to DL stuff.....
Like the sound to be decent for surround sound......a good onboard audio that has an interfac3e that works in vista or a sound card that will not have conflicts......
Preference of cpu's would rather go low heat/power consumption/low noise but vista is a pig so I don't want to under power it......no preference as to brand as I won't be runing a quad and both dual core solutions work well........
Lets start with some motherboard ideas, build it from the ground up.
Monkeywoman
02-02-2008, 02:56 PM
Silverstone Lascala LC13-B Black HTPC E-ATX Desktop Case 2X5.25 2X3.5 2X3.5INT No PS $99.99
Open Box/Refurbished ASUS A8V-VM SE mATX S939 VIA K8T890 DDR PCI-E16 1PCI-E1 2PCI SATA RAID Video Sound LAN Motherboard $51.14
HIS Radeon HD 3650 Isilenceiii 512MB GDDR3 2XDVI PCI-E DIRECTX10.1 Video Card $169.99
total is 321.16CAD
i'd say that this would be a very good HDPC for the price and u would get to use ur AMD 3800x2, ur ram and ur psu.
you can throw in Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE PCI 7.1 Surround Sound Card (OEM) for $30.19 but i think that the on board would do.
xytrius
02-02-2008, 04:09 PM
Blu ray/DVD reader:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106225 - $179.99 (before $20 MIR)
Let me first say that I have not used the optical drive, but it seems to be a great price from a popular brand. I think most people would find blu ray media expensive and will use DVD media. Since every home has a DVD burner, we can skip any optical media burner.
Edit: Would love to follow this thread if you decide to share your experience; I am going to build a budget HTPC in a couple of months myself :)
zanzabar
02-02-2008, 05:42 PM
why is the 3650 $170 thats more than the 3850
i would go for a 2600xt since they are under $100 now and have the same specs but slightly bigger transistors and no dx10.1
Monkeywoman
02-02-2008, 11:11 PM
what id like to knoe it his budget so we can chose the right parts. the 3670 is more because it has a passive cooler...?
chew*
02-03-2008, 10:49 AM
Not really a budget if I can use some of my old parts.....Main concern no noise, great quality video, good sound, with next to no lag......cheaper is always better though....
Out of curiosity I heard ati has a new IGP coming to town soon? how good is it......etc will it do dx10.1 and give high quality in bluray/dvd viewing?
Soulburner
02-03-2008, 10:56 AM
Have you considered a PS3? From a cost standpoint, its hard to beat...
Of course it isn't an option if you want Windows for other tasks, but if not, it would suit your needs well.
If your main goal of the system is to play Blu-ray discs, you won't be able to build an HTPC that does it better I'm afraid.
Monkeywoman
02-03-2008, 11:13 AM
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/02/01/amd_s_new_rs780_igp_and_sb700/1
should be out in feb, and priced at 130. put a X2 4000 for 80 bucks and A-DATA PC2-6400 2gbs for 60 bucks and your set man. u can use ur psu, hds, case. all u would have to do is wait for cheap blu-ray drives
chew*
02-03-2008, 11:16 AM
nah it will be an internet surfer, music player, surround sound, Plus theres some content that i have that can not be played back on a dvd/blu-ray........such as my anime collection.......not unless theres a hack to install irfanview on ps3 so i can watch my naruto collection thats 250 episodes + and growing........Naruto pwns :)
Thx for the link....Kinda liking that IGP, Any projection for what is going to be used for sound? I know manta had azalia audio which was preety damn good for onboard........
Soulburner
02-03-2008, 12:26 PM
nah it will be an internet surfer, music player, surround sound, Plus theres some content that i have that can not be played back on a dvd/blu-ray........such as my anime collection.......not unless theres a hack to install irfanview on ps3 so i can watch my naruto collection thats 250 episodes + and growing........Naruto pwns :)
I'm in the process of building a media center pc.....Unfortunately this means using vista premium at the least....
What i want out of it.......Play movies dvd/blue ray @ 720p on my LCD 37" toshiba regza.......quality of picture is a must or its pointless......
I didn't get that from your original post, but thanks for clarifying. The PS3 can probably do all of that, but I'm not sure about irfanview.
I'm just looking at it from a cost standpoint.
RAW-Raptor22
02-03-2008, 12:43 PM
Not really a budget if I can use some of my old parts.....Main concern no noise, great quality video, good sound, with next to no lag......cheaper is always better though....
Out of curiosity I heard ati has a new IGP coming to town soon? how good is it......etc will it do dx10.1 and give high quality in bluray/dvd viewing?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125075
This is probably the best option, its a Gigabyte passively cooled 2600XT 256MB GDDR3 so its not bad.
Or if it doesnt matter: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127303
Thats an MSI Diamond Plus Radeon 2600XT 512MB GDDR4... 875MHz Core and 2350MHz Memory REALLY help the cards performance, and it easily beats the 8600GTS. :)
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2174&page=1
chew*
02-03-2008, 01:53 PM
I didn't get that from your original post, but thanks for clarifying. The PS3 can probably do all of that, but I'm not sure about irfanview.
I'm just looking at it from a cost standpoint.
yah well, thats its primary use.....kinda pointless to use one though unless you can do more with it, trying to eliminate all my components so i just have a tv and a pc in the living room.........no surround sound + blueray+ dvd player etc etc......
RAW-Raptor22
02-03-2008, 02:27 PM
yah well, thats its primary use.....kinda pointless to use one though unless you can do more with it, trying to eliminate all my components so i just have a tv and a pc in the living room.........no surround sound + blueray+ dvd player etc etc......
Well surround sound is kind of important btw though.... you might want to keep that.
chew*
02-03-2008, 11:20 PM
Surround is gonna run off the pc. I have a spare 5.1 altec system sitting here.
Zytek_Fan
02-03-2008, 11:53 PM
Grab a low power Athlon X2 and an AMD RS780 ;)
Surround is gonna run off the pc. I have a spare 5.1 altec system sitting here.
oh dear, buy yourself a receiver and speakers or at least an entry level system and use the coaxial cable to pass through the signal.