Media System for a novice..

[J4MES]

I don't get out of C&B much, I'm happier under a bonnet than under a case (if that's the right terminology) so go easy...

I'm after building a PC for my front room, as I've just got an LCD TV and thought why not try the media system route.. It's just for internet and iTunes really (i'll plug my sound system into the TV audio out to play moosic)

Er, so I think I need a motherboard, cPU, some RAM, a HDD and a nice case with PSU (plus wireless keyboard/mouse) - is that right?

I only want to spend £200ish, but the case is important as it'll be on show (i know that sounds like someone in C&B saying 'I don't care if it's pants, as long as it's blue!)

I've already had tonnes of advice from a certain HEXITE but will happily listen to any suggestions and dos/don'ts etc.

ta!



p.s. i only have a dell lappy atm

[Funkstar]

You will also need a TV card if you want to use it for playing a recording TV.

Freeview cards are also known as DVB-T cards as that is the transmition standard for digital TV

DVB-T = Digital Video Broadcast - Terrestrial

[nichomach]

£200's pretty tight, especially if you need to include the tuner as noted by Funkstar.

[J4MES]

don't think i need a tuner as the TV signal will come from my NTL: box? will i be able to simply 'change channel' i.e. switch the input to do t'internet/computer stuff?

[Agent]

edit - sorry didnt read correctly

[Funkstar]

don't think i need a tuner as the TV signal will come from my NTL: box? will i be able to simply 'change channel' i.e. switch the input to do t'internet/computer stuff?

Yeah if you don't want the PC to do TV stiff, just DVD/DivX playing, music playing, things like that, then you don't need a TV card of any description.

Although to be honest, if that is the case, i don't see a lot of point in having a PC for this. There are single box solutions out there that will do the whole "media playback from hard drive on a TV" a lot cheaper and easier than building a PC.

The main reason people built HTPCs is for TV viewing, recording, timeshifting, etc. Once you start getting into it, a PC has a lot more flexability than any of the PVR boxes out there.

[J4MES]

it's just to enable me to get on the internet in the front room through my lcd tv - and also run iTunes through it and my surround system..

[DanceswithUnix]

That is a real squeeze for 200 quid.

£58.74 Antec 2400 case + psu

£51.69 Asus A2NPV-VM AM2+ motherboard

£44.53 A64 X2-3600+ CPU

£24.13 1GB Corsair VS DDR2-5400

£33.95 160GB Samsung hard drive

I've blown your budget by a few quid already and there is no keyboard, mouse, optical drive and you are running Linux as there isn't the 55 quid for a copy of Windows.

These components are almost what I have in my machine btw (which runs Linux + MythTV) except I have the Fusion case which has a volume control on the front but is way more expensive. Measure up before buying one of these cases, my Fusion is quiet and looks the business but it isn't small!

You could drop to an Asrock motherboard and save a tenner, save a fiver by halving the hard disc size and fifteen quid if you went down to a Sempron CPU. I think all those would be regrettable in the long run whereas all the bits I listed are cheap but good (my HTPC uses a 3800 cpu, I spent the extra few quid on that).

Or you could go the ugly route and buy a Dell. They seem quite quiet these days but I don't think you will ever look at one with pride

[J4MES]

thanks for all the suggested components - you're right, I wouldn't want a Dell sat underneath my TV! New weekend project...

[J4MES]

right.. thread revival time - by budget is now £300... do I just buy a Dell or go down the Scan route? My Dell laptop has slowed down to 'punching screen' speed which is driving me nuts

[Biscuit]

With hexus free delivery that comes out at the budget spot on.

The motherboard has full 1080p layback from the built in graphics adaptor (apparently) watch this space, im goingto do an amd one see if its any better value ...

Here it is, i dropped theram to 1 GB (which seems unneccisary looking at the price difference). This chipset seems to be much better as a media centre usage computer.


another bonus is i managed to fit the remote and microsoft media keyboard into the budget

I didnt look at the colour of the dvd drive though, make sure to change it to a black one

[Thorsson]

Obvious which µATX case Biscuit likes, but most of these could be substituted. Silverstones are very good cases, and they make PSUs too, so you can have some confidence there. I like the Antec, but it's rather expensive.

Damn, it's not showing my linky again, so I'll have to edit the URL bit.

Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

[Biscuit]

i also prefer the antec but i think i would sacrifice that for the multimedia remote and keyboard to keep within budget

[directhex]

don't forget over fifty quid of budget needs to go to windows

[Biscuit]

in which case either get used to linux (which would undoubtedly be my preference) or go for a dell... £300 is just not really enough without desperate sacrificing.

I suppose you could go for a really cheapo motherboard with intergrated graphics as long as it has DVI so it converts to HDMI easier(which is what i assume is n his LCD panel), lose the KB and remote and go for an even smaller hard drive to squeeze in windows its beyond me why ANYONE would want to do that though.

If you did go linux would the Microsoft media keyboard still work?

[Biscuit]

ok i managed to squeeze it using a different antec case, crappy mobo and seriously cheap ram. I would deffo recommend going over bugdet and getting a better motherboard tho, the above one is pants! you could go vista basic OEM for around the same price but with only the 1GB ram i would say XP is a much better option