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So I am wanting to build an HTPC for my living room. However, I do not know what kind of budget I need to aim for. Some key information that my be important.
1. I do not subscribe to digital cable through my cable company. Therefore analog tv tuners will work just fine, I happen to have two of them. One is in my main PC at the moment and I usually watch TV while I do other things on the computer.
2. It's an old tube style TV, not an LCD of any kind. No HDTV. I believe it has two (might be a third, but I think its one in the front and one in the back) A/V input locations and coax cable.
3. I will have to connect the HTPC to the TV, as mentioned above; either through a coax cable or A/V.
4. Quiet is a must. I want a fan less system.
5. I want the ability to be able to MOVE into a HD LCD/LED/Plasma type TV in the future, just not anytime soon. I really don't watch TV much anyway.
6. Even though I can't make use of it, I'd like it to have bluray capabilities. If not, then defiantly a DVD drive.
7. As mentioned in number 1. I have two TV tuner cards, I'd like to be able to use both of them in the same system so I can record a show, while I watch another show.
8. I already have a remote control. It works with Windows Media Center on my Win7 Professional computer. I'll be using that as well.
Basically I will be needing a motherboard that can handle at least two PCI devices, a CPU that can handle what I am throwing at it above and in the future being able to handle HDTV content as well. Ideally, I'd like to be able to upgrade the CPU in a year or two should I need to. I also need a video card that is capable of outputting through A/V and/or coax cable. I'd like to have HDMI in it as well, for future upgrades to the TV. Case size isn't THAT important as I can easily hide it somewhere; but I want room for up to 4 hard drives, 1 optical drive, fanless CPU heatsink, fanless GPU.
What kind of money should I set aside to build such a system?
1. I do not subscribe to digital cable through my cable company. Therefore analog tv tuners will work just fine, I happen to have two of them. One is in my main PC at the moment and I usually watch TV while I do other things on the computer.
2. It's an old tube style TV, not an LCD of any kind. No HDTV. I believe it has two (might be a third, but I think its one in the front and one in the back) A/V input locations and coax cable.
3. I will have to connect the HTPC to the TV, as mentioned above; either through a coax cable or A/V.
4. Quiet is a must. I want a fan less system.
5. I want the ability to be able to MOVE into a HD LCD/LED/Plasma type TV in the future, just not anytime soon. I really don't watch TV much anyway.
6. Even though I can't make use of it, I'd like it to have bluray capabilities. If not, then defiantly a DVD drive.
7. As mentioned in number 1. I have two TV tuner cards, I'd like to be able to use both of them in the same system so I can record a show, while I watch another show.
8. I already have a remote control. It works with Windows Media Center on my Win7 Professional computer. I'll be using that as well.
Basically I will be needing a motherboard that can handle at least two PCI devices, a CPU that can handle what I am throwing at it above and in the future being able to handle HDTV content as well. Ideally, I'd like to be able to upgrade the CPU in a year or two should I need to. I also need a video card that is capable of outputting through A/V and/or coax cable. I'd like to have HDMI in it as well, for future upgrades to the TV. Case size isn't THAT important as I can easily hide it somewhere; but I want room for up to 4 hard drives, 1 optical drive, fanless CPU heatsink, fanless GPU.
What kind of money should I set aside to build such a system?
while still staying in the lower half of your budget. Basically, a Zacate system will fulfill all of your current needs. It's not very futureproof, but IMO, this shouldn't be an issue for you. I'd say in general, the HTPC is always going to be the least futureproof part of any setup. I mean, most people don't buy a new TV until they have to replace a broken one. Over the past 5 years, I've done 3 major upgrades to my main HTPC, vs. buying 2 TV's. Of course, the only reason I bought the second one was because the first one unexpectedly died. If your not even planning on buying a HDTV yet, chances are by time you do, your HTPC needs and what's available will have dramatically changed. My suggestion is to stick to the low end of your budget and save your money for later on.