Another "spec me" thread

[Emptysoul]

I'm looking to build a quite base-unit for multimedia use and a bit of gaming.

I've already got mouse, monitor, keyboard and speakers so it's just the base unit I need. Ideally I want it to be as quiet as possible and in the region of £500 give or take a few quid.

Ideas?

[Biscuit]

Im assuming you already have a copy of windows? (although linux is free and probably better for a HTPC anyway )



500 on the mark

Things to consider

• Would maybe add a few sharkoon 2000 80mm fans just to help keep the temps inside down a bit.
• If the computer is to be networked to other PCs you could maybe save a few quid on the HDD and get something smaller?
• If you wish you could add a better HSF to keep things cooler and quieter?
• I put blu ray in although if your monitor/TV doesnt have HDCP then it wont work and the money could go on a better CPU or however else you see fit
• What kind of speakers are you using? if you are running through an amp it might be a good idea to look at an additional decent soundcard with digital (spif/optical) out

[Emptysoul]

Looks pretty good. I reckon i'd change the case for something a bit more roomy as I want to be able to chuck a few extra drives in in future...maybe the Sonata III. I'd probably also drop the BD-ROM drive for a vanilla DVD-RW asa I reckon BluRay drives are probably going to be sub £50 in a few months time. That should free up some funds to beef up the GPU.

Hmmmm....

[Biscuit]

Sonata III is a nice case + it comes with a decent PSU so would be a good chouce but if your looking for something more regular pc sized you can go for a full ATX board EG the Asus P5K SE
If you want to keep the Media centre PC look then maybe go for a case like this still has 6 hard drive bays

[Thorsson]

ATI cards are superior for multimedia use, so your upgrade path GPU-wise is 3870 then 3870x2. Check whether the card will fit if you pick one of the diddy cases.

[Emptysoul]

What advantages do ATI cards offer over Nvidia in terms of multimedia?

[staffsMike]

HD audio over HDMI is what ATi offers.

I would get this

Antec sonata III with 500W earthwatts ~£70
Intel Q6600 ~£145 (OEM) + Scythe Mine ~£23
4GB PC6400 ~£60
Abit IP-35 dark raider (what out for deals) ~£60
500GB Western Digital AAKS ~£60
Optical ~£15
ATi HD3850pro passive ~£120

All comes to around £550 but it would be an awesome all rounder. Half the ram would get you back to around £520 or a dual core cpu as biscuit suggested. That is what I would get with £500 though.

Or if you want to go smaller

Antec NSK 3480 ~£55
and Gigabyte G33 based uATX board as above ~£65

[Emptysoul]

Couldn't find a passive 3850 pro so came up with this.



A bit over budget but not a big problem.

[Biscuit]

a quadcore for multimedia and *a bit* of gaming seems a little OTT, as does a 3870 IMO. I take it this is more of a genral purpose PC for a study/bedroom than a multimedia sytem to go in a living room which is the angle i took on it.

[staffsMike]

I just filled the budget with what I would buy lol. If the budget was more like £400 then dual core would be the only option but at £500 you can build an awesome PC, so why not?

[Biscuit]

well yeah thats why i was saying its more of a genral purpose than a machine for the living room, in which case personally i would have put the money towards making it look a bit nicer with a smaller case

[Emptysoul]

Well, yes it will be more of a general purpose machine which I don't want to upgrade for at least another couple of years not really a dedicated Media Centre.

I'll be doing DVD ripping, video conversion, Photoshop, Media Centre / PVR duties hooked up to a 24" panel and of course if I skimp on the GPU i'll be stuck playing last-gen games.

[Biscuit]

Fair enough mate you seem to have the specs pretty sound above then. The type of workload you will be giving it (video conversion, photoshop, etc) would maybe benefit from 2x2GB ram rather then 2x1GB although if its only light use then 2GB is fine.

To scrape the extra ram into the budget you

1. Lost the cooler, You only need the new cooler if you plan on overclocking. the stock cooler is perfectly fine at stock CPU speeds.
2. Drop to a 3850 still perfectly capable gaming card
3. Go down to a 320 or 250GB HDD

Just thought i would throw that in there but what you have above is perfectly fine

[Emptysoul]

The only thing that worries me about the stock cooler is the noise. I haven't done a build for a good few years but list time I did stock coolers were awful.

[Biscuit]

like i said if you run at stock speeds and you leave the motherboard fan controller on they are silent until you start doing really intensive stuff and even then they are not THAT bad. If youw ant to overclock then aftermarket cooler is pretty important

[Emptysoul]

Fair enough. I guess that's something that can easily be changed later if it does become an issue. Dropping the cpu cooler out of the equation means I could put that towards a passively cooled 3870 to bring noise levels down further.

I forgot how mind boggling this all is lol. Thankf for your help guys. Appreciated.