Need Help

[wndrrd]

Hi all. I love the forum!

Ok so I know you all have been asked this question a 1000 times but I need your help.

I want to build a computer. Need to stay at around $800.00. I don't need a Monitor.

The thing it will be used for is HTPC. I will not be gaming on it I already have a computer for that.
It will be hooked up to a Viewsonic PJ 562 HD projector that i just bought. I also have a ATI TV Wonder 650 USB that I will be using on it. I have also picked up logitec 7.1 surround sound speaker system. Like I said above I have about $800.00 to spend on it but if I could get away with less by all means let me know. Ohh one other thing I want a blu-ray drive in it also.

That should do it. Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[nerrawg]

These are some flexible build suggestions:

Case:
SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum / Steel LC10B-E ATX Media Center/ HTPC Case - $110/$99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163118
or
LIAN LI Black Aluminum PC-C37B Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112186

Optical drive:
Blu Ray burner LG Black - $180
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136155
or
Blu ray drive LG Black - $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136133

Motherboard:
BIOSTAR TA790GX XE AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI Micro ATX AMD - $90/$80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138140
integrated 3300 ATI graphics

-edit: a better option may be going for the 780G chipset or the NVidia 8200, -all depends on the need you have for internal graphics and RAID. Here are some other suggestions:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135085 - $67
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135075 - $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131318 - $72

basically it comes down to if you need RAID 5, if you want the powerfull 3300 integrated graphics or not - you could also of course spend $40-60 on a discreet graphics card that is even more powerfull - I would suggest an ATI 4550 or 4650 with passive cooling in this case.

CPU:
MD Athlon X2 4850e 2.5GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 45W Dual-Core Processor - $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103255

RAM
AllComponents 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) - $41
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820159021

HD: lots of different options here as the MOBO supports all raid forms, but example
2x Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" in RAID: 2x $70 = $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

Sound card:
HT OMEGA STRIKER 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail - $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271001

Vista OS - $99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488

-edit - PSU (forgot, was a bit ahead of myself there):
Antec earthwatts EA380 380W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.0 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371005

Total: $744 - 860
there are lots of other alternatives - just the ones I saw now that I added

 

[wndrrd]

Thanks nerrawg.

I forgot to say I do not need a OS I have a 64 bit vista Home Prem. I have yet to use. I was going to use it in my gaming computer but have yet to do. The 64 bit XP has yet to give me a problem. I am a believer in if it ain't broke don't fix it.

That is nice of you to include prices and links don't see that much anymore. I have one question though is the dual processor going to be fast enough to run the Blu-Ray and or the HD OTA from the TV tuner? Because I will use the DVR fuction as well as maybe at the same time be watching a blu-ray movie or SD DVD?

I have built my other computers for gaming ect. I just have never built a HTPC and don't know the power it would need.

Also How big and or powerful Video card would I need? could I get away with a 9800GTX if so I can pick one up local for around a $100 or so. Or am I going to have to crossfire or SLI?

Again thanks.

 

[wndrrd]

Sweet I was worried I was going to have to invest a ton of money into it like my gaming computer (and a bunch of dirty looks and additude from the wife..lol).

Well let me ask this. I have a computer that is set up for guests (I hate others touching my computer) Wife and daughter both have there own laptops so they stay off my computer also. Anyway before I got off subject I have another computer specs are:

Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
AMD Athlon 64 3600+ X2 (Dual Core) processor (2.0 GHz)
2 GB DDR RAM (4 GB maximum)
500 GB SATA hard drive
DVD±RW LightScribe DL drive
9-in-1 memory card reader
nVidia GeForce 7300 LE PCI-E 825 MBs Shared (VGA, DVI, S-Video outs)
Integrated audio
Integrated 10/100 Base-T networking interface
PCI Wireless G/N card

Would it work if I upgraded to 2 more GBs of ram (DDR 3200), The blu-ray drive and another 500GB HDD?

I would upgrade the sound card also.

If that processor ain't fast enough I could go up to a4800+X2 (socket 939).

Or do you think I should just go with a fresh new build? Sorry I keep asking so many questions. I just never though I could use the other computer because I thought I was going to have to go X4 core with a high profile video card.

 

[nerrawg]

From the looks of it the CPU and ATI 3300 are strong enough for playback:
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2379&page=2
http://mybroadband.co.za/techreviews/Hardware/183.html

More on the board:
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=719284

The hardware in a HTPC will not require nearly the same as a gaming pc - media playback is much less demanding - therefore a system that uses less power and is quiet is the main goal. A 9800GTX is overkill, if you did want to get a discreet graphics card I would suggest getting one the cheaper motherboards and adding a passively cooled ATI 4350 or 4550:
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3420&cp=5

NVidia I think makes a passively cooled 9500GT although it was far overpriced last time I checked - might have gone down now. Power efficiency is important because it may be running close to 24/7 - especially if you use internet TV - dang that reminds me that I forgot to suggest WI-FI, some sort of internet solution that has the bandwidth to allow you to do this would be good - now that we have HULU and others with streaming TV.

Main thing is that you data is easily accessible, but also safely stored, so RAID is good for this - with focus on redundancy rather than performance. Audio sound quality may be important if you really like you're HI-FI, just remember that in this case you will want to have all those Mp3s in 220 kbps or higher like 320 to hear the quality from that discreet audio card.

 

[nerrawg]

Yeah I think that could work - and it couldn't hurt to try because if you aren't happy you can just put those extra items you bought in a new build.

One thing that you might find interesting is this - The antec veris multimedia station:
http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=MTE5Nw==
http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=MTE5OA==
these are fitted into the 5.25 slots and make a normal looking ATX mid tower into a HTPC - assuming that the computer you mentioned above is a mid tower
here is the explanation on what they can do:
http://www.ocmodshop.com/ocmodshop.aspx?a=1439

 

[wndrrd]

I would like to thank you for all your help and advice nerrawg. I think I will upgrade the computer I got and try that out first. Worst case I have a upgrade guest computer and put togeather a new HTPC.

Well I think I will use this forum alot more.