Hey guys, need a few pointers from those of you who have built a HTPC before. I myself have found that building a cutting edge gaming rig to be far simpler than building an HTPC so I've come here for help. I'm not buying this thing anytime soon (probably in the summer when I've got more $$$ ) and am open to ideas. I've read the THG article on building your own HTPC and tried to adhere to these goals: cost and noise (lack of each).
Here are the specs for what I'm thinking of building:
HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE 160gb $59.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136036
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Skt 939 $59.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103535
Mobo: ASUS A8R32-MVP Deluxe $122.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131004
RAM: 1gb Kingston Value RAM $109.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820141413
VGA: ATi Radeon X1300 Pro $109.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102681
Sound Card: Creative SBA 4 $77.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102004
DVD Drive: Lite-On 16x Dual Layer DVD Drive SATA interface $35.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827106046
Case: ZALMAN HTPC Case $287.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811235002
PSU: ENERMAX Liberty 400w Modular PSU $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817194002
Total Cost: $943.91
Something that I already have for this thing is a ATi HDTV Tuner card w/o flag chip so I've got that end nailed down secure.
Also, I've got a question about which OS to use. Should I use Windows XP Media Center or just get XP Home?
This is not going to be used for gaming, its just going to be a fancy file player.
Thanks in advance for your alls help!
Here are the specs for what I'm thinking of building:
HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE 160gb $59.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136036
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Skt 939 $59.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103535
Mobo: ASUS A8R32-MVP Deluxe $122.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131004
RAM: 1gb Kingston Value RAM $109.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820141413
VGA: ATi Radeon X1300 Pro $109.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102681
Sound Card: Creative SBA 4 $77.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102004
DVD Drive: Lite-On 16x Dual Layer DVD Drive SATA interface $35.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827106046
Case: ZALMAN HTPC Case $287.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811235002
PSU: ENERMAX Liberty 400w Modular PSU $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817194002
Total Cost: $943.91
Something that I already have for this thing is a ATi HDTV Tuner card w/o flag chip so I've got that end nailed down secure.
Also, I've got a question about which OS to use. Should I use Windows XP Media Center or just get XP Home?
This is not going to be used for gaming, its just going to be a fancy file player.
Thanks in advance for your alls help!