1400$ Media Center Build - Help Please

At the time being I am very unsure how much power I am going to need to run on a 40" HDTV. I would like to be able to use the 40" TV as a computer monitor to play games at medium to high resolution, and not to sure on how much power I would need to do so or if 1400$ will be sufficient enough to run the system.

I compiled a wish list with all of the current parts I have, if anyone could comment, or make any suggestions on the build or if it would be powerful enough to do gaming on a 40" TV.

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/ [...] ID=8772032

Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!

look, size doesn;t matter, resolution does.

what is the resolution of your 40 incher?

if its 720p, a 4850 should more than accommodate your needs

@eklipz330 - 1080p 1900 x 1220 or something.

1080p=1920x1080

for the most part, it looks good
i've heard bad things of the 780i chipset, but don't take my word for it,
and i'd rather stick with the 4870 because of its integrated audio [i think it has? my 2900 has it...] so you can get some hd sound from one hdmi wire to your tv

as for games, you would benefit more from a e8500 or even a e8600...up to you really...especially with that cooler, a nice overclock is in order

Thanks for the replies, they are greatly appreciated, this will make things easier, and I will be able to do some work around with some different things on my budget, thanks!

I have the Antec 900. I don't believe the new cards are any longer than my 8800 GTS, and it has plenty of space. If you are worried about space and like the 900, check out the Antec 1200 - it's a 900, but taller and deeper. It has more fans, fan filters, better cable management.

I love my 900, but if you're worried about space, go with a full tower instead.

The fastest card on the market is the GTX 280, but the 4870x2 is a crossfire on card GPU that is supposedly a beast.

don't get a sony ide drive. get sata and get something other than sony. they do a lot of things well but rom drives isn't one of them. get liteon or plexor or lg. don't get another samsung. better to have 2 different brands.

you can save $$ by getting ddr2 800. will be plenty unless you are doing major overclock. mushkin has 2x2gb 1.8v (the standard) for $69 after rebate so that would save you $40.

you can save $100 by getting a p45 board which you can use nvidia or ati card on. can't use 2 nvidia and if use 2 ati in crossfire it would be at x8/x8. but at your resolution you don't need 2 cards. you need one good card. not to mention the only bench i've seen comparing x8/x8 to x16/x16 showed that at your resolution there is virtually no different. 2560x1600 is where the big difference is.

just make sure you realize that it is resolution not screen size that matters. a 24" monitor at 1920x1200 takes more gpu power than your 40".

with my setup also you could get a cheaper psu. this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341001
is good and a steal after the rebate. Would save you $60.

with those changes above plus the money you were spending on your gpu you have $490 now to spend on a gpu. That is about $60 short of being able to afford a 4870x2 which at your resolution would be more than enough card for quite some time. 4870 would leave you with $ to spare. you could either just save it or get an even better cpu.