Advice needed for new build with 4 monitors

rbeckert

Distinguished
Feb 5, 2006
9
0
18,510
Approximate Purchase Date: 7-10 days

Budget Range: $600-$800 Before Rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Flawless 1080p playback, watching movies, HTPC, web surfing

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor(s), speakers

Preferred Websites for Parts: newegg.com, Amazon, reliable vendors

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: Intel Ivy Bridge, Windows 7 OS, energy efficient PSU (unit will be on 24/7), quality parts; Blu-ray drive

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution (4 monitors): DELL 1901FP (1280 x 1024) , DELL 2408WFP (1920 x 1200), Lenovo LEN L191 (1280 x 1040), Samsung UN55D6400 TV (1920 x 1080)

Additional Comments:
1. Also want OTA tuner card.
2. Stylish case not important as unit will be out of sight.
3. No gaming or video editing.
4. Would like this to be as "future-proof" as possible.
5. Current 4 yr. old system is Dell XPS 630i (Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E8300 @ 2.83GHz with two ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics cards).
6. No SSD needed.
 

Wolfshadw

Titan
Moderator
I really don't think you need an upgrade. Your current system is well above and beyond what my current HTPC is (see specs in my sig) and I do not foresee the need to ever upgrade this system (until the cable television becomes obsolete).

Just add the components you need:

OTA Tuner Card/Blu-Ray Drive/PSU.

If you're STILL not happy with 1080p playback, then go ahead and upgrade your graphic solution.

-Wolf sends
 
I don't think Ivy Bridge is really necessary to be honest. An Ivy Bridge i5 would be massively overkill and the i3's aren't around yet. HD movie watching doesn't require all that much from the CPU, an AMD E-350 manages it fine and a Core 2 Duo is waaaaaaay more powerful than that in terms of CPU performance. Obviously you might as well get something a bit more powerful than the E-350 though since you have the budget and don't need an 18W CPU.

The best way to give decent performance and keep the power consumption down would be to avoid 2 graphics cards. My choice would be to get a Llano CPU and run Dual Graphics with a discrete GPU. You could then connect 2 monitors to the motherboard and 2 to the graphics card. That would be a great way to keep the cost and power consumption low.

This would be my choice:

AMD A6-3500
2x2GB G.Skill 1600Mhz Low Profile RAM
ASRock A75M-HVS
XFX HD 6570 2GB 128 Bit (Same price as 1GB version)
SeaSonic S12II 380B 380W
Fractal Design Core 1000

Total ~$338

That leaves you plenty of room for your HDD/OPT of choice along with your TV tuner of choice.

EDIT: Or stay with your current system as mentioned, that works.
 

rbeckert

Distinguished
Feb 5, 2006
9
0
18,510
Thanks for the input. Actually, the current system is slowing down from 4 years of accumulated crap and one of the graphics cards quit working last week so I figured just go ahead with a new unit before other components die.
 

rbeckert

Distinguished
Feb 5, 2006
9
0
18,510


I was going to re-purpose the old one to another room where the remaining graphics card will be sufficient and use the new build in my media room.