Best system for movies!!!

[YoungBuck]

First off I wanna say you guys have been very helpfull so farand now I am motivated in building a system and I would like to know the best cheapest way to to get the best resolution and dowload speed. So here is what I have in mind so far....

ASUS P7P55 LX LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Support CrossFireX and MemOK

Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor

G.SKILL Trident 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) Desktop Memory Model F3-16000CL9D-4GBTD - Retail
Dual Channel Intel Core i5 & Core i7 CPU for P55 motherboard

Cooler Master Intel Core i5 compatible Hyper TX3 Socket 775/1156/AMD 130W 92mm "heatpipe direct contact" CPU Cooler RR-910-HTX3-G1 - Retail

I want to put 2 of these video cards in but is this a good idea for the best resolution?......SAPPHIRE 100286L Radeon HD 4860 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail
RV790 core with HDMI and DisplayPort

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail


Any thoughts?

 

[MadAdmiral]

Well that's certainly not the cheapest way. It's also certainly not a good build either. As far as resolution, do you only need 1080p for movies? If so, here the cheapest you can go:

CPU: i3-530 $125
Mobo: Asus P7H55D-M EVO $125
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $115
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB $90
Optical: Cheapest SATA DVD burner $20
Case: Antec 300 Illusion $70
PSU: Corsair 450W $55 after rebate

Total: $550. The i3/H55 is made for an HTPC. It will be able to play media at 1080p resolutions, but will not be able to game.

 

[YoungBuck]

I don't game if I do I have a Wii......now I hear something about running 2 hard drives a small one for the OS and a larger one to put everything on this will keep the computer running fast? is this true.
Also I was wondering if those parts you listed would be goo for upgrades later down the road?

Thank you very much!

 

[MadAdmiral]

It depends on the speeds of the HDDs. In this case, the only way you're getting faster speeds is to stick in a SSD, which will only be useful for faster boot times and program load times. At $300 for a useful size, it's not in the budget and it's not worth it.

Maybe. It depends on what you want to upgrade. The i3s are new, and there are already more powerful CPUs available on the LGA1156 socket (i5s and i7-860). Other than those two, no one really knows what's going to come out for it. This socket is supposed to become the mainstream socket for Intel, so I doubt this will be all there is for it. As far as graphics go, the PSU is big enough for you to stick in one GPU, but if you don't game, it won't be needed.

 

[YoungBuck]

So I would'nt need to run a GPU? (even thought I was going to hook it up to my 46" lcd tv?)... well thats amazing you certainly brought it in under budget

 

[MadAdmiral]

Nope. The only thing that's important for the monitor is the resolution not the actual size. A 19" monitor with 1920x1080 resolution requires the same graphics power as a 60" 1080p TV.

Keep in mind that this build won't be very good for many other tasks besides media and general use computing. The CPU is a little underpowered for encoding and other CPU intensive tasks.

 

[coldsleep]

The i3 chip that MadAdmiral (or MacAdmiral, or BadAdmiral, depending on who you ask ) has integrated graphics that do full 1080p HD when paired with an H55 motherboard (as he recommended). They're pretty new, but everything I've heard suggests that they perform well.

 

[YoungBuck]

I really don't need this computer for any other tasks then busines surfing and watching movies.....
What about the point I touched on earlier about 2 hard drives one for the OS and one to store files on?
You guys are awsome on this site!!!!

 

[coldsleep]

You might see a slight performance improvement by going with 2 hard drives, but I wouldn't recommend getting a smaller one. Just get more of the one that MadAdmiral suggested. It uses 500 GB platters, which read & write data more quickly because more data is packed into a smaller area. The Seagate 7200.12 drives and Samsung Spinpoint F3s use 500 GB platters, as does the Western Digital Caviar Black 2 TB (and only the 2 TB, not the smaller drives).

 

[YoungBuck]

Ok...well this has been very helpful and I will start buying these parts and bushing up on some knwoledge in the prosses (when I get done I will let you no just give me a few weeks)....one last question be what about down load speefor movies and music? how is that determined (cables?)

 

[YoungBuck]

maybe I need another key board because it doesn't seem to say what I want it to! lol

 

[MadAdmiral]

First of all, it's determined by the speed from your interent provider. Then, the maximum speed of your modem (you might not have/need one depending on the type of connection). Next, it's determined by your router if you're using wireless. Finally, it's determined by your LAN connection onboard your motherboard or the network card (not a recommended addition).

Theoretically, you could get download speeds as fast as your connection allows. However, there is some bottlenecking by each part in the chain, and those speeds are unrealistic to expect to get regularly.

I highly doubt that you have a fast enough connection that the computer itself is the bottleneck. Most likely, the actual speed of the connection is what's the slowest part of the flow.

EDIT: I don't know that much about networking. To learn more, I'd suggest reading some of the stuff down in the networking section of the forum.

 

[YoungBuck]

Thank you! you have been a big help.........
Joe