Media PC specification help!!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

One of my mates wants to assemble himself a pc for media use. He is not up to date with the latest computer tech so he has asked me for some advice. Primary use is for watching dvds and movie files on his tv and probably playing music. This system is not for gaming use as he is getting an Xbox 360. The main problem is his budget is limited at only £250(without an OS). I think IT needs to have at least s-video output to the tv and also fit underneath it too.

I have come up with the following spec off Scan:

2GB (2x1GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-18 £23.74

Antec NSK2480-UK V2 Desktop Media Centre Case for uATX with 380W Earthwatts 80%+ Eff PSU £73.93

500GB Western Digital WD5000AAVS Caviar Green 7200rpm, SATA300 8MB Cache £41.85

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5050e, Socket AM2, Dual Core, 2.6GHz, 512KB x 2 Cache, Retail £48.19

J&W JW-RS780UVD-AM2+(128M), AMD 780G, SAM2+, PCI-E 2.0x16, DDR2 1066, SATA II, SATA RAID, uATX, HDCP £55.38



Net Total:£211.38

Carriage:£9.99

VAT:£33.21

Total: £254.58

Any advice on improving the spec or reducing the cost would be appreciated. He probably only wants to deal with Ebuyer or Scan BTW!

[staffsMike]

Looks good to me. Remember X2's prefer tighter latencies which shouldn't be too much more money for 2GB.

Not sure about the mobo either but that is due to never buying J&W before. My asus 780V was only £47 from ebuyer.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The J & W motherboard has sideport memory(128mb) so it should be faster than a normal 780G.

Would you need an adaptor to connect the computer upto the tv?? I have never connected a pc upto one so I am a bit lost here!!

Is the stock AMD fan noisy BTW??

[NightshadowUK]

Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H ~ £61.95

That's the HTPC motherboard of choice at the minute.

[staffsMike]

If it's just for blu ray the standard 780G is more than enough. 690G the older board cna handel it perfectly well too

The 780V is nice because it has display port, the only problem being.. no HDMI lol So i'm having to buy an adapter for now. It does handle all the AM2 (upto and including 140W) and apparently AM3 chips though which is nice. They all probably do that though.

[PeteSmith]

Most graphics cards have s-video output as standard, so all you need is a standard s-video cable and scart adapter. Should be able to pick one up from maplins or any electrical store for ~£10.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Out of interest would the Antec Micro Fusion Remote VERIS be any good as it has a remote?? What about the Antec Minuet 350 as this is nearly £10 cheaper than the NSK2480??

[staffsMike]

It's not a bad case (the veris) as long as you know the limits, half height cards etc.. Same sort of deal with the minuet, no idea what that case is like though.

THe AMD cooler is supposed to be very good actually but you could always get something like the scythe shuriken if you wern't happy

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

None of the 780G motherboards seem to have S-Video. Is there any AMD motherboards which have s-video as standard or does a cheap graphics card only solve this problem??

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I specced this off Ebuyer:

AMD Athlon X2 5050e Socket AM2 45W Energy Efficient Retail Boxed Processor £50.01

Antec NSK 2480 MATX Desktop Case Black & Silver - With 380W EarthWatts PSU 130945 £67.83

Crucial 2GB kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 Ballistix Memory Non-ECC Unbuffered CL4 Lifetime Warranty £23.44

Samsung HD502IJ SpinPoint F1 500GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 16MB Cache - OEM £41.26

LG GH22NS30 22X SATA DVD±RW/DL/RAM Black Bare Drive - OEM 151999 £13.99

ASUS M2A-MX 690V Socket AM2+ onboard VGA 6 channel audio mATX Motherboard £37.13

Force3D HD 4350 512MB DDR2 VGA DVI TV Out PCI-E Graphics Card £30.12

Total(including free Supersaver postage): £263.78

How is this spec then??

[staffsMike]

That looks nice but if you can find an Asus M2A-VM HDMI (hdmi is important) I'm pretty sure it comes with an add on card with HDMI and s-video.
As so

[staffsMike]

bit pricey since it used to be £40 but still..
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132274

I have the non HDMI version (same board without the add on) and it's a great

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

bit pricey since it used to be £40 but still..
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132274

I have the non HDMI version (same board without the add on) and it's a great

I assume that the 690G chipset will have enough grunt to playback HD encoded video files at 720p??

[staffsMike]

1080p Doesn't need much CPU to lean on either, an X2 would be good though which you are obviously getting.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Thanks again!

This is the new amended spec:



My mate only wants to spend around £50 on the case and PSU so I will need to persuade him about the Antec!

[staffsMike]

Well if he was willing to go tower over desktop then the NSK3480 would be £53