HTPC parts needed

[tkuhl87]

So here's my Dilemma. I currently have an older Gateway slim profile desktop. I plan on using it for a media center but am not sure what to upgrade to for Video stuff.

Here's the specs.

Pentium 4HT 2.4GHz
Mobo: standard Gateway mobo, (likely intel)
Graphics: Integrated as of yet, has an AGP slot
HDD: 40GB Maxtor
Power Supply: terrible 200W ish (slim profile)

So recommendations for spending like $300 to turn this into a decent HTPC?

Here's what I was thinking.

ATI - 3800series slim profile
New Slim profile case with a little better Power Supply
TV tuner card - somehow would like to work with a cable box
300GB seagate HDD for TiVo features

General advice on building these/upgrading would be much appreciated, I have plenty of computer building experience so detailed advice is appreciated.

 

[Onus]

Is there a slim-profile HD38x0? I didn't think so, but you should be able to find a 3450 that will be fine for a HTPC.

 

[groo]

if you can ge a 3450 or 2400 in low profile. It should be enough for bluray and run with a 200watt PSU.
the best lowpro AGPs I could find on the egg were 6200. good enough for HD, but not bluray.

If your going to spend $300, you may want to build new

get a 780G or 8200 AMD mobo $80 no need for a graphics card
cheap crappy AMD CPU $40 or less, still better and more efiicient than your 2.4
the big added expense of this way is the OS (I don't know if you can transfere your current license), and to a lesser degree, RAM

here is a decent case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129039
but like I said, you could probably get by with what you have.

 

[Onus]

Groo's ideas are good. You'll be under $300; you can get 2GB of RAM for around $50 or less.

 

[tkuhl87]

Well, I'm fortunate enough to get a free copy of Windows Vista Ultimate and XP each year since I'm a student so obtaining a copy of Windows isn't an issue. Thanks for the advice, any ideas on TV cards? that's the area I have little to no experience in.

 

[groo]

researching TV tunner cards is tough. I've read some reviews saying one card has a better picture than another, so I assume ther are real differences.

I picked up a used DVICO card years back and I'm still using it.

the picture isn't the greatest, but I don't realy know that it isn't just a result of a SD signal on a high resolution monitor. I think its a signal processing thing, and a newer better card might fix it. but it looks fine from 10' away, and I don't use the computer for TV all that much.

a PCIe x1 card may be better if it uses the availiable extra bandwidth. once again I don't know.

I'll bet there are dedicated HTPC forums out there now. you might want to look for one of them.

 

[tkuhl87]

Well, I guess I should specify what it's being used for. We recently built a home theater with a projector that's 1080i and a 110in picture. So ideally it'd be a HD tuner as well and hopefully able to carry my cable box. I'll look at other forums, but to be honest, I'm usually more trusting of THG people so I thought I'd try here first. Thanks for the help.

 

[rwpritchett]

Groo, here is a very good source for tuner card comparisons:

http://www.hdtvtunerinfo.com/