Need Help with media centre and gaming pc

[T3hGr8£st]

Ok I would like to set up a Media Centre PC and a Gaming PC.

I want the Media PC to run MCE 2005, while the gaming PC runs either XP Pro or XP Home.

I would like one Tower, (which I already have) and one Shuttle style.

I don't mind which PC is the shuttle, but the Media PC needs to be able to have a large amount of storage (up to 1TB) and the gaming PC needs to be able to handle upgrades in the GFX Card (1 card for 2 slots? need 2 slots at back with PCI-E)

I currently have all the following components;

Asus P5WD2 Premium MoBo
Intel Pentium D 820 Proc
1 GB Corsair XMS 4800 DDR2 Ram (2x512)
Asus X800XT PCI-E Graphics Card
Thermaltake Tsunami Dream Case
120GB HDD (Some crap one)
Pioneer DVDRW +/-
Tagan 500W EasyCon PSU


I want my Gaming PC to have 1 Raptor, with the option to add another HDD, so if it is going to be the shuttle it needs 2 HDD Bays. It needs to take a Core 2 Duo, I think the GFX card I have atm is good, and shouldn't need upgrading to cope with latest titles for another year (I hope). I need it to have adequate cooling so I can OC.

The Media PC needs to be capable of a nice picture on a Samsung 32" HDTV, as well as an optical output for my 7.1 surround system.

Advice I require;

Which PC would be most suited to a shuttle system?

Am I being ridiculous in having 2 PC's next to each other like this? Would it be better to find a suitable 1 PC dual screen set up?

Is there going to be any networking problems with 2 PC's on different OS's? My mum's XP Home laptop can't even find my XP Pro Desktop and vice versa...

Whats the most economical way to create this set up? I was thinking to just add storage to my current PC, buy a cheapo GFX Card to replace the decent one and use that as my Media, But then I need a shuttle that is going to work well as a gamign PC.

I have alot of questions to ask I know, and I've probabaly missed some important stuff off, but any help you can give would be fantastic.

/Benj

[shaithis]

I'd throw that CPU into a shuttle with a passively-cooled gfx card and 2 500GB drives and a TV tuner card and install MCE on it.

Then throw a Conroe into the gaming PC with an ATI X1950.

There should be no issues networking, as long as you set it up correctly

[Hans Voralberg]

The Media PC needs to be capable of a nice picture on a Samsung 32" HDTV, as well as an optical output for my 7.1 surround system.

/Benj

Choose a Shuttle that would have the slot for your soundcard .
I'd say shuttle for media, tower for gaming. If the mobo can take Conroe go ahead and grab an E6300 or 6600 . The new X1950 Pro is sweet too

Bout networking. I guess ur linking there using cross-over CAT rite? XP sometimes can be a bit citchy with that. Google for "connect computer using cross-over cable" or something along that line would get you a guide. It works, just take a bit of tinkering that's all

[T3hGr8£st]

Choose a Shuttle that would have the slot for your soundcard .
I'd say shuttle for media, tower for gaming. If the mobo can take Conroe go ahead and grab an E6300 or 6600 . The new X1950 Pro is sweet too

Bout networking. I guess ur linking there using cross-over CAT rite? XP sometimes can be a bit citchy with that. Google for "connect computer using cross-over cable" or something along that line would get you a guide. It works, just take a bit of tinkering that's all

My mobo doesnt support Core 2 Duo, this is where my predicament comes in.
If I want to put a Core 2 Duo in my tower, I have to buy a new MoBo for that, then a barebones shuttle which will also have a mobo in it obv...but just to support my old proc, which my current mobo alrdy supports...lol
I'm sure you see why it is a pain in the ass.

Also, I don't really know what you mean with your networking bit.

I have a wireless adsl firewall router, my Tower PC is linked to it via ethernet cable, and my my mum's lappy is wireless. I have a wireless pci card in my tower and cannot find a way to link the two.

any help?

[s_kinton]

My advice would be to ebay your current mobo, use the p4 in the shuttle along with the x800xt. Buy a barebones shuttle and chuck the above in and install MCE2005. MCE2005 is based on XP Pro, so it has much better networking features than home and will have no problem connecting.

Ditch the idea of getting a raptor for the gaming machine as its just not worth it, save the money and buy better components.

Buy a core2duo (6600), mobo, gfx card etc etc for the gaming system, but in the tsunami case and its job done.

Your networking issue seems strange. You said your tower is connected to the routre by ethernet cable and then you want to connect the tower by wireless too!?!? Why? The wireless pci card isnt needed in the tower, put it in the shuttle.

The laptop and shuttle should connect wirelessly to the router which is connected by ethernet cable to the tower. All of which have internet access and file sharing

[T3hGr8£st]

My advice would be to ebay your current mobo, use the p4 in the shuttle along with the x800xt. Buy a barebones shuttle and chuck the above in and install MCE2005. MCE2005 is based on XP Pro, so it has much better networking features than home and will have no problem connecting.

Ditch the idea of getting a raptor for the gaming machine as its just not worth it, save the money and buy better components.

Buy a core2duo (6600), mobo, gfx card etc etc for the gaming system, but in the tsunami case and its job done.

Your networking issue seems strange. You said your tower is connected to the routre by ethernet cable and then you want to connect the tower by wireless too!?!? Why? The wireless pci card isnt needed in the tower, put it in the shuttle.

The laptop and shuttle should connect wirelessly to the router which is connected by ethernet cable to the tower. All of which have internet access and file sharing

Good advice ta

I have a wireless adapter in my PC because I couldnt find the wireless laptop over the network through the router, so thought i would try ad-hoc, and still got no joy. Also, my wireless suffers from large lag spikes when gaming, which did my head in enough to revert back to wired, and now I suffer the same problem even when wired (My wireless adapter is disabled on my PC).

[directhex]

MCE2005 is based on XP Pro, so it has much better networking features than home and will have no problem connecting.

this i have to strongly disagree with

hands up if you run an active directory domain in your house. anyone? no? then you don't need the extra networking options in pro.

home and pro are the same os, with a few extra services, a different license, and a little software switch flicked to "more expensive" mode.

[this_is_gav]

MCE2005 doesn't have domain support anyway. It can apparently be enabled, but I've not tried it.

[harry1]

its simple to connect two pcs via x cat 5 just run the windows disc additional taks set up network then do the same on other machine and there you go tbh.