Help w/Vista Compatible Media Rig

[K1LLTACULAR]

Hello all. First I just want to say that the "senior" members here have done a great job of making a welcoming and supportive community here, at least based on my impressions from a bit of lurking. With the niceties done, here is my challenge:

I want a Vista capable media center for around $900. I'm wanting to use it for general media center usage as well as some hobbyist Photoshop and Video Editing. I'll do some gaming as well but I do most my gaming on my 360 so gaming performance isn't a big deal. I'm not concerned about a monitor as I have a 32" 5ms that I'll be using for that, but with that said, I need to run HDMI out to the TV as it doesn't have a VGA connection, only component and HDMI.

Can you all give me some component recommendations and keep in mind that I'm a few months from building the system so you can go a bit over my $900 range. If you need anymore info then feel free to ask. Thanks for any help.

 

[jaguarskx]

I recommend a Conroe system, it will be released on July 27th.

ATI just recently announced their launch of Radeon with HDMI support. Items should start shipping shortly.

Here's a list of components I recommend, but are not available for sale yet:

Conroe E6300...............................................................Est. street price = $210
mATX mobo (That's compatible with Conroe)................Est. street price = $125
Radeon X1600 HDMI......................................................Est. street price = $140

Total cost of parts not available for sale yet...............$475

Why mATX mobo? Generally cheaper and when I think of a media PC or HTPC that's going to be connected to a TV, it should be small enough to fit in the TV stand.

Okay that only leaves $425 for everything else.

Antec NSK2400 w/ 380 PSU..............................................$100 including shipping.

A case is really a personal taste, I picked this one because it includes two 120mm fans. They may not be the best, but by lowering the speed of the fans they should be quiet and still move enough air to keep the PC cool. The only thing I don't like is the silver front. I prefer black.

$325 left.

OCZ Gold Series 2GB DDR2 667 RAM,CAS4 ....................................$153 including shipping & after rebate

$172 left.

Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 200GB Hard Drive............................$80 including shipping

$92 left.

BenQ DW1655 DVD Burner........................................................$42 shipped

$40 left

Soundblaster Audigy 2 7.1 OEM...................................................$70 shipped.

$30 over budget.

Logitech LX300 RF wireless keyboard & mouse.............................$42 after rebate and shipping

$72 over budget, or $972 total.

-------------------------------------------

Suggested changes:

Gyration Cordless Mouse & Keyboard Suite...................Approx. $95

If you want to use your TV for watching movies or surf the net from your couch a wireless keyboard is good. The Gyration mouse also acts a pointing device to move the mouse. That way you don't need a flat surface to use a typical mouse.

Soundblaster X-Fi XtremeMusic................................$112 shipped

 

[K1LLTACULAR]

Wonderful. Any other suggestions from other users? I really appreciate the help, I'm just interested in what all people have to say and what their recommendations are.

 

[K1LLTACULAR]

Having done a little research I have a question about the Conroe E6300. It only runs at 1.8 Ghz and I believe HD Video requires at least 2.4 Ghz. I understand that Conroe is multicored and was wondering whether a 1.8 Ghz Conroe will easily handle HD Video processing? I'm assuming these clock speeds are similiar to Power PC CPU's in that the clock rating is lower simply due to efficiency? Worse comes to worse, I heard they can be overclocked really high with just air cooling so maybe that is an option.

Also, for only $30 extra I might as well go with the 2.2 Ghz E6400 unless the E6300 will be plenty for what I'm wanting to use the PC for.

 

[FITCamaro]

It requires a 2.4GHz P4 or similar. A 1.8GHz Core 2 will own a 2.4GHz P4. Hell a 1.8GHz Athlon XP will probably own a 2.4GHz P4.

That being said, I'd personally spend the $30 and get the 2.2GHz processor.

Also jaguar, you forgot one thing. OS. They're not free if you wanna keep it legal. XP Pro is $135. I'm not sure on Vista pricing at the moment but I'd expect the Ultimate Edition to be fairly pricey at the beginning. I'm also not sure which versions will have the Media Center in them. I would guess Vista Home Basic won't. But I'm not sure if Vista Home Premium will. Vista Ultimate will though.

 

[K1LLTACULAR]

Both Vista Home Premium and Vista Ultimate will both feature Media Center features. With that said, I've been thinking about the OS dillemna for a little while and I think that I'll just go with a copy of Media Center '05 for a while before Vista has been out for a little while and hopefully the price drops.

 

[jaguarskx]

Also jaguar, you forgot one thing. OS. They're not free if you wanna keep it legal. XP Pro is $135.

Nope, I didn't forget.

I want a Vista capable media center for around $900.

That implies he just wants the hardware.

Vista isn't out yet anyway.

 

[jaguarskx]

Also, for only $30 extra I might as well go with the 2.2 Ghz E6400 unless the E6300 will be plenty for what I'm wanting to use the PC for.

Yeah, I wanted to keep the total cost as close to $900 as possible.

 

[K1LLTACULAR]

I appreciate it.