help me build my entertainment computer

[dr jones]

iam getting a new computer
i want to build a entertainment computer
for watching movies,watching tv etc
but iam not good at selecting the goods
so i need your help on what to get

money is no problem

monitors
hard drives
optical drives
storage
mother board
etc

which brand should i get ?
which model should i get ?
etc

thanks

[Detale]

money is no problem well thats good. I can give you my specs that are fantastic except my vid card isn't top notch but you don't need one for HD movies if thats all you are doing.

My pride and joy

Case: Thermaltake DH102 VH2001BNS (http://thermaltakeusa.com/product/chassis/desktop/dh102/vh2001bns.asp)
Chip:wolfdale (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037) 3.0
Board:GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128337)
GFX: Asus EAH 3650 Silent (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121237)
RAM: G.SKILL1000 4GB (2 x 2GB) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231145)
PSU: Corsair 620HX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139002)
OS: Vista X64

Monitor IDK I use my 42" LCD HDTV to watch movies on. I would say get a TV rather than a monitor.

Brand?? Build your own man

[ryan20021982]

Heres mine built it about 9 months ago so the onboard video isnt the highest out
But it still plays hd 1080p rips just fine, I use a server to host all the videos
so all thats in here is a laptop hdd for the os and programs

Case: Ahanix MCE303 HTPC Case
Power Supply: Sunbeam Hush 580W Power Supply
Motherboard: BIOSTAR TForce TF7050-M2 AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 7050PV HDMI Micro ATX Motherboard
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Processor
CPU Cooler: ZALMAN CNPS8700 2 Ball CPU Cooler
Video Card: Onboard Nvidia 7050PV
Ram: WINTEC AMPX 4GB (4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800
HDD: 120gb 2.5" Western Digital
Optical: Lite-On DVD Burner
OS: Windows XP Pro 32Bit
Accessories: Microsoft Black IR Wireless Slim 3-in-1Keyboard & Microsoft IR MCE Remote

http://www.htpccentral.org/Other/pics/10.JPG

[Acid_death69]

money is no problem well thats good. I can give you my specs that are fantastic except my vid card isn't top notch but you don't need one for HD movies if thats all you are doing.

My pride and joy

Case: Thermaltake DH102 VH2001BNS (http://thermaltakeusa.com/product/chassis/desktop/dh102/vh2001bns.asp)
Chip:wolfdale (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037) 3.0
Board:GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128337)
GFX: Asus EAH 3650 Silent (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121237)
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231145)
PSU: Corsair 620HX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139002)
OS: Vista X64

Monitor IDK I use my 42" LCD HDTV to watch movies on. I would say get a TV rather than a monitor.

Brand?? Build your own man
lol, with your case detale he will be on a budget with the case that you got

[peat moss]

What O/S are you going to use ? Media Centre might be a choice to consider .

[Detale]

money is no problem well thats good. I can give you my specs that are fantastic except my vid card isn't top notch but you don't need one for HD movies if thats all you are doing.

My pride and joy

Case: Thermaltake DH102 VH2001BNS (http://thermaltakeusa.com/product/chassis/desktop/dh102/vh2001bns.asp)
Chip:wolfdale (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037) 3.0
Board:GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128337)
GFX: Asus EAH 3650 Silent (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121237)
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231145)
PSU: Corsair 620HX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139002)
OS: Vista X64

Monitor IDK I use my 42" LCD HDTV to watch movies on. I would say get a TV rather than a monitor.

Brand?? Build your own man
lol, with your case detale he will be on a budget with the case that you got

LOL tell me about it. I happened to have the other parts from an older build of mine. I only got the case and the video card new when I built it. Was still like $800 bucks:shutup: I have to say it is a VERY well built and good looking case, the remote it comes with works well also. I HIGHLY recommend it for anyone who can scrape up the cash for it.

Also I agree with peat Vista IS good for one thing the media center is worth it because the IMON software is a bit user un-friendly at least for me. :huh:

[ryan20021982]

If I was gonna spend that kinda money on a htpc case it would be the OrigenAE SV16
http://www.origenae.com/en/htpc_s16v.htm


Also depends on what you want for a media frontend
If your gonna use Media Center then Vistas version is nicer
but if your not theres really no point in using the resource hog
vista. There are may other options out there for media frontends
I personally use MediaPortal because of all the options, I hate
being restricted to what microsoft will let you do with media center,
I have use mce2005,viste mce and I dont care for either one.

Also dont know if you want amd or intel but if you want something quiet
then i would suggest something like the Amd 4850e 45watt cpu with
a quiet or passive cpu cooler, If you dont want to play any games then
you wont need to spend more than needed on a video card, I prefer the
onboard video for a htpc for 1 reason the cost, and it will play anything fine
unless you want to play games on it, alot of people go way overboard
on a htpc and end up creating more heat and noise than they want or
need

[Detale]

WOW that IS a nice case, not as nice as mine, but nice none the less :P

I use it ONLY for watching movies so vista, being the resource hog that it most certainly is, doesn't matter to me because that's all this rig is used for.

MediaPortal eh. Im going to look into it. Do you have a link for it?

[peat moss]

It was my first thought , I must be a software nut . It can make all the difference . I'v tried the 64 bit versions of Vista , XP which you would think would be the first choice for a new hardware setup be it a laptop or custom build . Sadly found both were not up to the task , 32 bit seems to run great for me .

I suggest the Windows Media Centre only because of what you what to use your computer for . Of course JMHO and its fun to try different configs .Most good mobos have options to keep bios settings and change on the fly when O/C so it's a a win win .

[ryan20021982]

MediaPortal eh. Im going to look into it. Do you have a link for it?

I sure do
http://www.team-mediaportal.com/

Here is the current skin I am using they have tons of different ones
http://forum.team-mediaportal.com/monochrome-249/monochrome-those-who-like-dark-skins-updated-29566/

They also have that same skin using MCE color scheme plus many others

[dr jones]

any one else who can give me some suggestion ?

[Detale]

Well what are you thinking now? Are you set on a HTPC or media player?

[dr jones]

Well what are you thinking now? Are you set on a HTPC or media player?

no i havnt brought or done anything yet

just want to see more people post here on what they will get to build there computer

so i can start buying things


What O/S are you going to use ? Media Centre might be a choice to consider .

so media centre is the best one to get or do i stick with xp or vista ?

[Detale]

XP has a media center edition MCE, but Vista ultimate has MC in it already.

[ryan20021982]

Vista Media Center is much better than XP MCE
And you get Vista MC with Home Premium also


Building a new one for my livingroom and moving the current one there
to my bedroom here are the parts for the new one.

Motherboard- Gigabyte GA-M78SM-S2H (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128340)
CPU- AMD Athlon X2 4850e 45w (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103255)
Ram- Kingston HyperX DDR2 1066 4x1gig (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010170147%201052420643%201052328912&name=4GB%20%284%20x%201GB%29)
HDD- Ridata 32gig solid state disk (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820183202)
DVD- Asus DVD Burner (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135156R)
PSU- Coolmax CR-450B (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817159031)

$423.39 before shipping

The reasons I picked these are
Motherboard- has nvidia 8200 which will play any 1080p, and has HDMI out which can pass audio through as well and I like Gigabyte
CPU- For 1 I like AMD but the main reason is the 45w, less power=less fan noise
Ram- Will install xp but it will still see 3.5gig and ram is cheap now and I like Kingston
HDD- I only need to install windows on this because all my movies are on my server and the SSD discs are silent
DVD- It was cheap...lol
PSU- I like Coolmax and this one has adjustments for the fan speed to keep the noise down

Thought I would post that so you could see the parts and the reasons why I picked what I did,my main concerns are noise, thats not a bad price $423 without case IMO

[Detale]

Looks good to me ryan. The only thing I would change or add I guess is a ATI HD series Vid card, even a cheapo one. With the HD series you can pass audio through the HDMI with the video so you don't need an optical cable as well. AFAIK Nvidia does not do that yet. Why I'll NEVER know. I SOOO prefer Nvidia but for HTPC's I feel ATI HD3X and above is the way to go. Asus makes a fanless one (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121243&Tpk=eah%203650) I bought and it works great, plays 1080p with no probs at all. This is based of course on the assumption that you are using a HDTV with a HDMI input. Also what case do you plan to put that stuff into?

[brotherdoobie]

WOW that IS a nice case, not as nice as mine, but nice none the less :P

I use it ONLY for watching movies so vista, being the resource hog that it most certainly is, doesn't matter to me because that's all this rig is used for.

MediaPortal eh. Im going to look into it. Do you have a link for it?


Why build a rig like that - for just watching movies?



-bd

[ryan20021982]

With the HD series you can pass audio through the HDMI with the video so you don't need an optical cable as well. AFAIK Nvidia does not do that yet. Why I'll NEVER know.

Nvidia will pass through audio on HDMI, I have a 8200, and a 7050pv onboard that
are doing it right now


Also what case do you plan to put that stuff into?

Not sure yet trying to find the right one since thats the part that will be seen
and I am really into the look of it when it is going to be in my livingroom.
I just got another case like the one I have in my livingroom now for cheap
so I might just use that for now.

[Detale]

Nvidia will pass through audio on HDMI, I have a 8200, and a 7050pv onboard that
are doing it right now

ORLY!!! I wasn't aware. What model is that man I'll order that 5hit asap.




WOW that IS a nice case, not as nice as mine, but nice none the less :P

I use it ONLY for watching movies so vista, being the resource hog that it most certainly is, doesn't matter to me because that's all this rig is used for.

MediaPortal eh. Im going to look into it. Do you have a link for it?


Why built a rig like that - for just watching movies?



-bd

Because I want it to be able to handle all I will throw at it from now on. Also have you seen my main rig (http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/f-hardware-24/t-water-cooled-setup-309501/?) at all. I go a bit crazy over HW stuff.I had most of the parts from an slightly older build laying around and I just HAD to have that case.

[ryan20021982]

ORLY!!! I wasn't aware. What model is that man I'll order that 5hit asap.


Its onboard video, all modern onboard video will do hdmi audio as long as the
hdmi and the audio are both on the motherboard

And any non-onboard nvidia that has spdif input can pass audio through
hdmi as long as the motherboard has spdif out, or a sound card that has
spdif out made to go to a video card

[Detale]

Do you know if it will handle 1080p without a glitch? I have some research to do

[ryan20021982]

Most of it, but it might do better if I tried coreavc but still havent
One of those things I keep meaning to get around to....lol

There is one encode done by Eureka (hellboy) but its 17mbit's Bitrate
that studders here and there

[Detale]

17 mbs thats a bit much 1080p only runs around 10.something so why would they encode a file that big?? LOL coreavc yeah me either it's supposed to be better but I am still using CCCP when I reformat. Yeah this is something I have to get into soon.

[ryan20021982]

Just installed core avc on this pc and it plays that 17mbit bitrate video perfect
gonna try it on the media center later, this pc has a nvidia 8500gt but the other
is only a 8200 so we'll see.

Let me know if you want the sample or something from that movie to use as a
test video

Here is the card in here, its the silent version
http://www.leadtek.com/eng/3d_graphic/overview.asp?lineid=1&pronameid=381

Thinking I might put that in the media center and get a new card for this pc maybe
a 9600gt since there under $100 now on newegg

[bd75sy]

silent is a great idea for a media pc, just beware of the increased heat, or reduced performance from such a card, also bear in mind that a large heatsink may not fit within your case or take up valuable pci slots!

[Detale]

Heat has never been as issue with my Asus card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121237) a bit outdated already but never had a skip or jump. Also the way cards are set up it's only going to take up an extra PCI X1 slot that most of us don't use anyway. Sure Ryan if you had a sapmle or you could just PM me where you got the file and I could prob get it myself. (On most Torrent sites and have GIGANews acct :) ) So sure I could get it. Thanks man I do want to benchmark my card with a file like this.

Now correct me if Im wrong here but core avc uses some of the CPU to decode the vids right? What version are you using BTW?

[ryan20021982]

Well with coreavc installed I can play that 17mbit bitrate file even on the
Nvidia 7050pv, thats pretty impressive since with ffdshow it studders like crazy

[Detale]

Thanks again for the sample ryan. I tried it on my rig without Coreavc first and it runs fine with no skimps/sync issues. Needless to say I was surprised and impressed by it handling the Bitrate so well. Now Im off to DL that HellBoy you were talking about ;)

[dr jones]

what should i get

amd or intel ?

[PlayeR]

I recommend Intel. AMD is good but it get overheated easily. that's what they tell me.

[dr jones]

I recommend Intel. AMD is good but it get overheated easily. that's what they tell me.

overheat,that no good,can any one who use amd confirm this ?

[ryan20021982]

Completely false I have 5 pc's here all amd and never had a pc overheat

have processors from dual core 4200 to 6400 black edition

I would say thats a preference but I would suggest a amd 4850e
and then get a adjustable cooler for it, if you want it quiet.
These processors only use 45w of power which is the lowest there is
intel does not yet have a 45w processor but they will.

[SingaBoiy]

I recommend Intel. AMD is good but it get overheated easily. that's what they tell me.

Who tells you that? Morons @ bestbuy? Up until Intel took the market back over, AMD's chips ran cooler.

EDIT: also, my HD 2400 Pro vid card handles 1080p fine. So if you get a board that has a HD3200 chipset, for instance the 780G boards, itll do great. And those boards can be had for around $70 ;) Pair it with a Phenom 9600. Pretty respectable combo for under $200. My seggestions:

GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H AM2+/AM2 780G HDMI Micro ATX - $80
AMD Phenom 9600 - $120
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit - $80
Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EACS 1TB - $120
Total - $400

Not too shabby :p Could also grab a Raptor hd for ultimate performance :D

[Detale]

I don't Think they overheat exactly but they ARE cheaper so if you're looking to save a few bucks sure go ahead but Intel is still the reigning champ ATM and for at least a few years.

Singa leave those nice misinformed guys @ BB alone, it's not their fault they are dumb. Once they told my sister that DDR and DDRII fit in the same slot :O

@ Ryan I think that
intel has an E8200 running 45W ATM as well man

[ryan20021982]

@ Ryan I think that
intel has an E8200 running 45W ATM as well man

As far as I know 65w is the lowest they go except the Xeons
But if they do have one I bet its more $ for the equivalent speed
I know Intel has the top of the game right now, but I dont think they have
the midrange market right now,just because of prices.

[Detale]

In all honesty man I did a quick google because I thought theat Intel did but wasn't sure i came across these pages that give the specs as 45W but they may mean 45nm so Im not sure either

http://www.pugetsystems.com/part_info.php?part=5640

http://www0.uk.shopping.com/xPO-Intel-Intel-Core-2-Duo-E8200-2-66GHz-45W-6Mb-Cache-LGA775-1333MHz-Retail

[ryan20021982]

No big deal man I didnt know for sure either so thats why i was looking

I am not aginst intel my next main pc will be intel just for faster encoding times
but I think for a dedicated htpc amd has the better options, but if you do more
than watch movies on your htpc then, depending on what exactly I could easily
see the reason for an intel cpu, but you pair a amd 45w cpu with a mini synth ninja
without the fan and see it stays at rom temps that is nice. But thats all aimed
towards noise too so if you dont mind fan noise then it wont matter, but my biggest
factor in a htpc is noise.

[Detale]

Odd you would say that. I have my E8400 using the Ninja Mini, no fan, along with an asus EAH 3650 Silent card and my temps are a decent 40 degrees almost always.

I will give you this for a rig that will only be a HTPC AMD is absolutely fine and cheaper.

But in my case I had these parts mostly left over from previous builds of mine and it worked out as while I am building my water cooled rig I am using this one for a "loaner" until I finish. So I wind up using it as an everyday computer now and I'd be pissed if I had to convert Xvids on a rig slower than I am used to :snob: