I'm building a media PC for a friend. Budget for parts is $1600-$2000, with some flexibility. His requests for this build were as follows:
Easy access (front panel access)
Media conversion (VHS to DVD, cassette/record to mp3, etc)
Media storage (pictures, slides, movies)
Large, color-accurate LCD
He will not be overclocking - this is meant to be more of a server computer to hold all of his family's media. Ease of use, accessibility, stability, low noise, and functionality are most important.
Here's a preliminary list of parts that I'm looking at, with approximate prices- any input or suggestions would be great.
Case - $165 - Coolermaster CM Stacker 810 (Black)
PSU - $60 - Thermaltake Purepower 500W
Mobo - $165 - Asus M2N32-SLI Wireless
CPU - $87 - Athlon 64 X2 4600+ (combo deal on Newegg with the RAM)
RAM - $170 - 2 x G.Skill 2GB kit DDR-800
HD - $220 - 2 x Seagate 500 GB SATA
DVD/DVD-R - $55 for both, Sony, Lite-On
Video Card - $140 - Asus EN8600GT 256 MB
Video Capture - $140 - Pinnacle Studio Movieboard with breakout box
Sound Card - $180 - Creative X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty with breakout box
Media Reader - $20 - Koutech 3.5" front panel media reader
Monitor - $290 - Samsung 225BW 22" LCD
OS - Vista Home Premium - $120
Office 2007 Home - $120
Approximate total is around $2,000 for everything listed.
I'm wondering if a C2Duo mobo and CPU (for example an E6420 and Asus P5K) would be faster at stock speeds than this setup. Is the extra cost ($250 for the Athlon 64 setup, ~$350 for the Core 2 setup) worth it? I'm looking at stock price/performance ratio.
Thanks!
Easy access (front panel access)
Media conversion (VHS to DVD, cassette/record to mp3, etc)
Media storage (pictures, slides, movies)
Large, color-accurate LCD
He will not be overclocking - this is meant to be more of a server computer to hold all of his family's media. Ease of use, accessibility, stability, low noise, and functionality are most important.
Here's a preliminary list of parts that I'm looking at, with approximate prices- any input or suggestions would be great.
Case - $165 - Coolermaster CM Stacker 810 (Black)
PSU - $60 - Thermaltake Purepower 500W
Mobo - $165 - Asus M2N32-SLI Wireless
CPU - $87 - Athlon 64 X2 4600+ (combo deal on Newegg with the RAM)
RAM - $170 - 2 x G.Skill 2GB kit DDR-800
HD - $220 - 2 x Seagate 500 GB SATA
DVD/DVD-R - $55 for both, Sony, Lite-On
Video Card - $140 - Asus EN8600GT 256 MB
Video Capture - $140 - Pinnacle Studio Movieboard with breakout box
Sound Card - $180 - Creative X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty with breakout box
Media Reader - $20 - Koutech 3.5" front panel media reader
Monitor - $290 - Samsung 225BW 22" LCD
OS - Vista Home Premium - $120
Office 2007 Home - $120
Approximate total is around $2,000 for everything listed.
I'm wondering if a C2Duo mobo and CPU (for example an E6420 and Asus P5K) would be faster at stock speeds than this setup. Is the extra cost ($250 for the Athlon 64 setup, ~$350 for the Core 2 setup) worth it? I'm looking at stock price/performance ratio.
Thanks!