NEW HTPC/Enconding machine

[Vanarak]

just look for some suggestions here. bugdet 700$ max.
i just want something that i can do my encoding and HT stuff with. i have no LCD tv, YET.
also already have vista business, while not ideal, itll do what i want it to for free

id like a C2D, p35/g35 chipset, and whatever else. Also room for (but not purchased) future Hard drives.

fire away guys, newegg mainly plz

 

[valve1138]

Good luck with $700.

And you can't do some research yourself?

 

[Vanarak]

Good luck with $700.

And you can't do some research yourself?

ive done tons, i just wanna see what people think on here. obviously you have nothing to say.

 

[alan.p]

id like a C2D, p35/g35 chipset, and whatever else. Also room for (but not purchased) future Hard drives.

Look into budget CPUs. You probably won't do that much encoding, and the thing will always be on so it'll have heaps of time to do it in. Change mental gear -- you're building a media PC, not a firebreathing Tiny God.

 

[Adidas4275]

i would go with a e4300 for sure $117
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115013

$70 GEIL DDR800 2gb RAM kit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144047

mobo $72
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130060

Case $100
Antec Solution Series NSK2400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129014


HDDs
Samsung 400gb SATAs $89

GPU $122
MSI NX7600GS w/ HDMI and HDCP
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127237

<$700 w/o tax or shipping

This setup is light on the storage and lacks any tuners....
if you need tuners and more storage than you should either get a cheaper motherboard and a cheaper CPU like the $90 E2160

you can also find cheaper nice cases around... like i own an nmedia case that i love and directcon had mine for $80 which was nice and you can always get a 7600gt here on the forum and some 250gb HDDs for cheap..


JMO

let us know what you already have, nor if nothing say nothing...
aslo what do you want to do with it? record TV or archive DVDs or both... do you have a HDTV or a SDTV

 

[CrimandEvil]

Mobo $160
GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128048

Case $100
Antec Solution Series NSK2400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129014

Full ATX mobo + MATX case = massive headache after you get all of the parts together and realise your mistake.

Forton PSU $40 400w
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104032

Forton PSUs are rather noisy not to mention that the 2400 already has a perfectly good PSU in it.

OP, Adidas's list is rather good as well as some of the other advise already given; this machine is going to spend most of the time just sitting around so it hardly matters how fast it can encode media (not like you would actually do a lot of this,if you did though it makes more sense to do it over night).

And Vista Business blows, you're going to need to get a frontend app as well as a PVR app cause Business has MCE gutted out of it.

Anyways, drop the PSU, and change the rest to these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125062
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128053
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103733
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138074

Having owned both mobos in that list (actually I have the 7050 Biostar) as well as the that same video card sitting in my HTPC now I can say that you can't go wrong with any of those options.

While your at it and since you've saved some cash you might as well add Vista Home Premium to the list; considering that you'll need a frontend/pvr app (if you're doing PVR stuff) then it more then pays for itself after you add in the cost for either one of those apps.

If you need a tuner I'm very happy with one I just bought: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815310002

 

[Adidas4275]

my bad i made an assumption that the onboard graphics tforce board was matx...

weird...

anyways i was just showing that $700 with what he wanted was possible..

i convert all my recordings to avi to save space and that uses you CPU alot and so do streaming via ORB for WAN streaming...

my HTPC is an AM2 but i understand wanting C2D horsepower in a new rig...

also you are right about the PSU... i didnt realize the case has a PSU.

FSP are a good OEM manu that make good PSUs and for $40 you cant beat it...

but hey i just quickly put together a parts list...


the only major mistake was the mobo... there are plenty 6150 boards that are great... like my Asus m2n


as for tuners...
the ATI 550 or 650 are good depending on HD or SD needs... i like the saberview dualvista PCIe 1x for dual SD
or the avermedia PCIe 1x combo card...

http://www.pcalchemy.com/product_in...uners?osCsid=afdea0ce3396659421ec26c98a15abc3
http://www.pcalchemy.com/product_in...cards?osCsid=afdea0ce3396659421ec26c98a15abc3

here is the only dual HD card
http://www.pcalchemy.com/product_in...cards?osCsid=afdea0ce3396659421ec26c98a15abc3

 

[Vanarak]

Look into budget CPUs. You probably won't do that much encoding, and the thing will always be on so it'll have heaps of time to do it in. Change mental gear -- you're building a media PC, not a firebreathing Tiny God.

i actually have a ton of backup/decoding to do. i want to do two things with each dvd i own. make an <2gb h264 file, and keep a dvd image on my HD, something i will have to put money into HD's for.

besides a p35 motherboard is about 140$, i can spare that out of 700$. the 700 doesnt include additional storage other than the OS hard drive anyways.

I will need:
cpu
MB
1-2gb ram ( see 2gb is cheap <100$)
120gb ish OS HD
PSU

something with INT gfx should suffice for now. I dont own an LCD tv yet, but i will be making a purchase for one in the future. 6months- 1year.