Looking to make a media center/server for my new place. Need HDMI output from the video card. I'd also like it to be relatively quiet. The rest is up to you. My budget is around $1500. I've been out of the hardware game for a bit, so I'm not sure where to start. What would you recommend?
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$1500 - Go!
- Thread starter Zen
- Start date
Oops, just read the sticky. Here are the answers:
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Media Server (playing movies on tv), as a personal server (to retrieve files remotely)
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
~$1500 (approximately)
3) Where do you live?
Chicago, IL
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
All hardware + case. No keyboard, mouse or monitor.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
None.
6) Will you be overclocking?
No.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Using my 46" DLP with HDMI input.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Not sure... no specific requirements.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
No.
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Media Server (playing movies on tv), as a personal server (to retrieve files remotely)
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
~$1500 (approximately)
3) Where do you live?
Chicago, IL
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
All hardware + case. No keyboard, mouse or monitor.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
None.
6) Will you be overclocking?
No.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Using my 46" DLP with HDMI input.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Not sure... no specific requirements.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
No.
SAPPHIRE 100253DDR3L Radeon HD 4650 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail $53
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3LR LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retaill $100
3 x Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EADS 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM $270 (Raid 5)
XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail $40
Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail $70
G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Memory - Retail $47
Antec Three Hundred 430 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 430W Power Supply - Retail and Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders w/ Tech Guarantee - OEM combo $205
LG Black Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM & 16X DVD±R DVD Burner SATA Model GGC-H20L - Retail $110
Total before S&H $895
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3LR LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retaill $100
3 x Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EADS 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM $270 (Raid 5)
XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail $40
Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail $70
G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Memory - Retail $47
Antec Three Hundred 430 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 430W Power Supply - Retail and Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders w/ Tech Guarantee - OEM combo $205
LG Black Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM & 16X DVD±R DVD Burner SATA Model GGC-H20L - Retail $110
Total before S&H $895
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- Joined
- Nov 26, 2007
- Messages
- 381
Lt_shiro's build looks pretty good. Since the op isn't overclocking, I'd probably skip the Xigmatek fan and just use the stock hsf. I'd spend the $600 left in your budget on a nice sound system if you don't have one already.
It can run Linux. I bet it can serve files.
Thanks for the quick response! Since there's still leftover money in the budget, would you recommend any upgrades to your list? Don't get me wrong, I like the current price, but I'm just wondering if there were any specific parts you low-balled.
Since you stated its main purpose is just media center and file server. The build, I suggested is will do the job perfectly. My only suggestion would be get a standalone Blu Ray player like Samsung BD-P1500 ($200).
PS3 is limited to 2.5" SATA Hard Drive, which are currently 500 GB max. Plus PS3 draws 380 watts of power. He would pay the different in cost within a year on his light bill.
PS3 can also read external HDDs so you are not limited to 500GB internal HDD. Right now my PS3 has 500GB internal HDD and 1 250GB external HDD attached to it.
As for power usage. I just researched the PS3 PSU and it has 380w PSU and considering even the best PSUs have 80 - 85% efficiency there is no way the PS3 uses 380w of power. From what I am reading it uses around 240w which is far less than my main PC when running games.
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