Possible DVR, HTPC, and Media Server build/upgrade

[brennok]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Quad QAM tuner DVR running two Avermedia Duets. It will also serve somewhat as a media server since it will also run Tivo Desktop for 24/7 downloading of recorded shows, services like Play On and TVersity, and a couple other Tivo services like Streambaby and KMTTG with encoding, assuming it can handle it all without hiccups.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$1000-1500 with everthing

3) Where do you live?
Tampa, FL

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Definitely motherboard and DVD burner. Possibly Intel CPU and memory and anything else I am missing

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

I don't know what I have that will be worth keeping for the new system. I have the following...
CM690
C2D E6750 with stock HSF
Three pairs of Crucial Ballistix in various speeds and timing. I believe they are all 2x1gb but one pair may be 2x2gb. I need to check the speeds and timings. I believe they all work but I don't know for sure since I don't have an extra board to test them on.
2xPCIEx1 Avermedia Duets Qam Tuners
Nvidia 7900 GS
Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS
various sata hard drives

6) Will you be overclocking?
most likely no, but possibly in the future

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
2x21" CRT Viewsonics. I will probably replace them with at least a 24" flat panel eventually but they work fine so no real need right now.
[
B]8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?[/B]
Soon.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Mainly enough PCIEx1 support to handle 2 dual tuner cards but also with the option to add more in the future should I choose. I don't see this becoming a new gaming rig since I plan to upgrade my main pc later once there is something I have an itch to play.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yeah I have a spare Vista Ultimate I can use though I will most likely just reinstall Win7 RC.

Also I have an Abit IP35 Pro board which is what has pushed me to do this. I originally ordered the Duets to play with a home built QAM DVR to help with conflicts on my Tivo HDs. Since the Avermedia Duets came in, of course I am now suffering C1 errors with the board and I can't even get it to post now. I have tried different sticks of ram in various slots with no luck. I even flashed the bios to the latest version which supposedly addressed the C1 errors. With Abit out of business I figure it is time to upgrade especially before I destroy the computer in frustration. The board never did like the Corsair HX620 from what I remember on the forums but I don't have another PSU to test out.

 

[tiraides]

Since you have the budget to do so, I suggest that you start over with your HTPC build.

$120 - AMD Phenom II X3 720 (free shipping)
$80 - Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P
$64 - G.Skill 2x2GB DDR3 1600 (free shipping)
$25 - LG GH22NP20 IDE DVD burner
=====
$289 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

The AMD Phenom II series has just been released, so it has a longer upgrading "lifespan" than the now-EOL Core 2 series. (Actually, all Socket 775 processors and boards have reached EOL status. Few new parts, if any, are expected to be released over the next 6-12 months.) I suggest that you go that route.

Though not a necessity, I also recommend that you consolidate your storage onto two or three larger drives. If you have either a WD6400AAKS or a WD6401AALS among your extra drives, I suggest that you keep that -- either one would be a very good choice for an OS drive or a storage drive (or both). I also suggest that you pick up two storage HDDs of, say, 1TB and place them in a RAID 1 configuration. (You may also want some sort of external HDD to use as a backup.) The Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB HDD would make for an excellent storage drive.

The board that I chose, the Gigabyte MA770T-UD3P, has four PCI-E x1 slots (and the PCI-E x16 slot, if need be, can act as a fifth x1 slot), fulfilling your wish to have future options. Though it's a relatively inexpensive board, it also requires DDR3 RAM, which I've included. The G.Skill DDR3 1600 dual-channel kit works fine on the board and can be automatically downclocked to match the stock speeds. Though I chose for you the Phenom II X3 720 to aid in multi-tasking, you could add a second dual-channel kit to further assist you in your DVR tasks. (Since I personally have no experience in 24/7 DV recording, I have no idea of whether or not the chosen parts would be overkill for your needs.)

Assuming that what you said earlier is correct, I suggest that you reuse the Corsair HX620 with this new build. The Corsair HX620 is one of the better PSUs in the market (though I have no idea why a particular motherboard would "like or hate" any quality PSU). If you have a suspicion that you may run into the same problems with the Gigabyte board, consider a good non-modular PSU like the Antec Earthwatts EA500. With your proposed tasks, it has more than enough power for this and some of your future upgrades.

Unless you want another case, you can reuse the Cooler Master RC-690.

As for the rest of your spare parts, I suggest buying a new PSU and motherboard (at the very least) to serve as a test bed. Here are some suggestions:

$45 - Foxconn G31MV-K
$45 - Antec Earthwatts EA380 380W PSU (free shipping)

Because you may end up reselling all of the tested parts that work fine, you don't necessarily need to buy a new PSU or Socket 775 board (preferably with onboard video) for this task. Check out the FS/FT forum here for some items you could use as a test bed and to get some indication as to how much parts can be resold for.

 

[brennok]

Thanks for the ideas. Yeah I plan on upgrading the hard drives. Looking at the Gigabyte board spun me off in another direction though lol.

I think I may go with the ga-ep45-ud3p and keep my E6750. It is less cost now since the board is only $115 and I can pretty much reuse everything else I have. This will hold me over for a while and also allow me to dump some of the stuff I am running on my primary machine onto this second machine.

 

[engiNURD]

tl;dr all of it. If this is for an HTPC/Media server, I'd get a GeForce 9300/9400 board instead, so you wouldn't have to run a discrete graphics card. The HD encoding/decoding can't be offloaded to the 7900GS, and you won't be gaming, so no real need to re-use the card, IMO.

 

[tiraides]

Since you plan on sticking with the E6750, listen to enginurd and get a board like the EVGA 111-YW-E115-TR, which contains the onboard GeForce 9300 GPU that he was referring to earlier.