Building a Media Center PC - Questions.

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duffc

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Jul 4, 2005
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Hey guys, I'm looking into building a media center PC to setup my new home theater around. I decided on going this route instead instead of buying a new home theater system, DVD player, etc. Just getting some nice speakers, and the media center PC to go along with my DELL LCD tv. But I have a few questions and help would be appreciated.


How important is processor speed and how much ram should I install for a media center pc? Is the graphics card important? I take it I need a good 5.1/7.1 sound card, any suggestions? Also, Can anyone recommend a good looking media center case?


THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!

Also, if you have built a media center pc, post your specs. I'd look on a retialer site, but im not sure if those companies over load on hardware to charge more $$.
 
Clarification: what type of speakers are you using? Do you have them already?
There's a big difference between using a set of computer speakers or HT speakers.
 
Also, do you have cable? Sattelite? What company?
Do you want to watch/record HD?
 
You might want to start hanging out at http://www.htpcnews.com/ to get a little more response. As far as specs goes, it all depends on what you want to watch, from what source, and if you plan on gaming. For me I watch OTA HD, DishNetwork, and don't game on my HTPC. Below are my specs:

Case: LC-17 Black
MB: Abit IS7-E
CPU: P4 2.4C @ 3.0GHz Northwood w/ Zalman 7000Cu
Mem: 1GB (2x512) Corsair XMS PC3200
Video: Gigabyte 6600 256MB Silent Pipe AGP
Tuner: Fusion 5 Lite, PVR-150
HDD: Maxtor 150GB PATA
DVD: NEC-3500A
OS: MCE2005
 
jebo_4jc said:
Clarification: what type of speakers are you using? Do you have them already?
There's a big difference between using a set of computer speakers or HT speakers.
Click to expand...

Whats the difference, no i dont have them already, i dont have anything, im building it all from scratch.
 
jebo_4jc said:
Also, do you have cable? Sattelite? What company?
Do you want to watch/record HD?
Click to expand...

Cable, Time Warner (digital). Yes, I want to record HD.
 
Get the HD-DVR box from Time Warner. There is currently no way to record Pay Cable HD content to a PC. There is an outside chance you might be able to get something going if you get an STB with Firewire, but it's HIGHLY unlikely.
 
duffc said:
Whats the difference, no i dont have them already, i dont have anything, im building it all from scratch.
Click to expand...
There is a whole world of options as far as sound is concerned.
Will you be doing much gaming?
 
Currently you can not record HD from your cable company. You might be able to record off of the air if you have a HD reciever card in your computer (I have not looked because I can,t get any HD on the air). I have watched HD video clips on my XP2500+ HTPC with an ATI AIW9600pro, 512meg and I run about 40%cpu usage for 720p and I get lots of dropped framed at 1080i 100%cpu usage. It plays MSFS just great and I tried UT2004 (it ran good but the screen is just to large to play the game. ATI has a new video card (AVIVO) coming out that is HDCP complient. http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2005/12/19/ati_avivo_mark_2/1.html
 
[BRO]Alaskan said:
Currently you can not record HD from your cable company. You might be able to record off of the air if you have a HD reciever card in your computer (I have not looked because I can,t get any HD on the air).
Click to expand...

Actually, there's 2 ways to get HD from your cable company. The first is a QAM tuner card like the fusion5 series. It will only do unencrypted channels, but will be fine for local stuff.

The second option is to use the firewire port on your cable box. There's only certain models that work, but it's working for a few people.

I think the stickies have a bit more info on this area.

About the ati card. AVIVO is a brand/feature set that all X1x00 series card feature. It does things like encode assist as well as h264 decode acceleration. It isn't just a single card.
 
If I'm building your system, here's what I would buy:

Athlon X2 3800+
nforce4 motherboard
1GB RAM
Soundblaster Audigy or X-Fi (the best gaming sound cards)
Logitech Z-5500 speakers
NEC DVD-RW drive
Pick a case. Lots of good ones on www.xoxide.com

The graphics card is an interesting question. Perhaps something like a 6800GS or 7800GT would fit your needs best. This area needs more research on your part.
 
Do you already have a HD box from your cable co? If not, find out which one they are currently supplying.

Then, find out if the one you currently own or would get has a firewire port and is capable of outputting over the firewire port.
 
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