[*] Ultimate Home Theatre System

T

Tony Williams

Weaksauce
Joined
Aug 11, 2005
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111
TV Samsung 28” PUREFLAT TV, 16:9 (£191.38)
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=91366


Case: Thermaltake Soprano, Silver no window (£43)
http://www.gladiatorcomputers.com/ProductDetail.aspx?StockCode=CASTHEVB1000SWS&Link=SearchResults

PSU: Antec TruePower 480 12V AC 480W ATX (£48.47)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Tagan.html (7th down)

Mobo: Abit AN8-V nForce4 (Socket 939) (£70.44)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/ABIT_Socket_939.html (4th down)

CPU: AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+ 939 Dual Core (£246.69)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/AMD_64_X2.html (Top)

RAM GeIL 512MB PC3200 Value CAS2.5 (for now) (£33.78)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/GeIL_Value.html (4th down)


HDD Pri Samsung SpinPointP 200GB SATA (£65.27)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Samsung.html (2nd up)


Video Card Sapphire X300 SE 128M PCIe! (£34.69)
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=88944


Speakers nTech 50W 5.1 Surround Speaker System (£30.48)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/nTech.html (3rd up)

Water Cooling- WaterChill Cooling Kit - 120mmFan (£69.33)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Complete_Kits.html (9th down)

Liquid- Zalman Anti Rust Super Cooling Liquid (£15.22)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_copy_of_Others.html

HDD Sec Hitachi Deskstar 250GB SATA150 (£78.67)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/hitachi_sata.html (2nd
 
Something to consider is that that TV is a regular analog TV with S-Video connections as its best. That means your only going to be able to run a resolution of 640x480 at the very max and even then you will still get some color bleed from the S-Video.

I know the price is good, but its definently something to consider. You could step down to a 21" CRT Computer monitor like this Philips 201B40 21" 0.21dpi 1920x1440 @ £190.00

Its a little smaller screen size and still bulky, but you'll get a much better picture quality watching movies and you'll be able to actually use it as a computer too :D

I don't know any big electronics stores in the UK, so I don't know what sites to look at, but you maybe able to find a smallish HDTV CRT for around £250 (about $500 here).
 
Also......

Since you said this is just for movies and maybe other media uses, and you won't be doing any [H]ard gaming, you may cut back on the processor and liquid cooling and get something low power (heat wise), but still powerfull enough to do what you need it to do. If you went with something like an AMD AthlonXP Mobile you would save some money on the CPU itself, only need some descent air cooling, and the money you save could be realocated to a better/bigger display.....since the display seems to be the most important thing here.

Hope that gives you some ideas :D

OR!

If you really just want something to manage media and surf and stuff, going by the cost of the computer stuff you listed (minus the harddrives, speakers, and memory) you could buy a Mac Mini for £359.00, which is about £120 less than all that other stuff. You'll still want to buy a 1Gb memory stick and some external Firewire/USB harddrives will be great for movies/music. You then add that £100 to your TV allowance and get a good HDTV....make sure the display has a DVI input for best picture. Or you could buy a wireless remote to controll the movies and music.

Digital Terrestial TV (DTT) tuners for Mac's....watch and record HDTV through the Mac.

EDIT: Thats all I got on the obligatory Mac plug....I'm not gonna fight to the death.
 
Ughm no - hate Mac, sorry.

I still think I'm okay with the TV, okay I think I could cut back on the CPU, however the cooling, the main reason is because it's SILENT I am planning on idling this computer and hate to be distracted by fan speed changing sounds, or the fan itself.
 
Actually you should be running 720x480 on the TV since thats the native resolution for svideo displays.

Personally I would go with an Asus A8N-E, A64 3000+, cut the WC gear (not needed) as well as the crappy X300 SE (nothing but a lowerend version of a 9600 SE). Replace the video card with a non Turbo Cache 6200 or better yet (price to performance) a vanilla 6600, replace the water cooling with either a heatsink from Zalman or Thermalright (with a quiet fan). Don't bother with those crappy little speakers, you should have a receiver or something for audio.

Other then the case (I'm not a fan of TT products but honestly would you want a PC case sitting next to your TV?) I think it would find if you changed those things.

I also highly suggest going with a PC moniter instead, so much better then 480i (svideo).
 
Also get a different PSU, one by Seasonic or Fortron would be great. Is it suppose to be an Antec PSU or a Tagan?
 
CrimandEvil,

Sorry the PSU is the Tagan (if you find better/cheaper please enlighten me!)

Tagan TG480-U01 480W ATX2.0 SLi Compliant Silent PSU

The video card seems fine to me, I don't think I'd see a difference in getting a bigger one as I wont be using it for games.

Yes okay, is it possable you could pick out a nice 5.1 set for about £50?

The mobo? ... you think I should get the Asus insted of the Abit?
 
Better PSU, same price.
Seasonic S12 430W Silent
Although you could go with the 380w S12 if you can find it.

Video card: the difference is in the quality of the video, all SE cards are notorious for horrible quality svideo out. Like I said I would suggest a 6200 non TC card but it's usually more cost effective to just go with a vanillla 6600 then. The X300 cards are considered trash even for Svideo out with the exception being the IGPs based on it which seem to be descent. I didn't mention gaming so I don't know where you're getting that from. Gaming is not the only way to stress a video card. :rolleyes:

I'm saying not to waste your time (or money) with PC speakers if thats how much your spending. Even highend PC speakers pale when compared to the ones included with a HTiBs.

Yes I think you should get the Asus instead of the Abit, those little chipset coolers run rather noisy and the Abit board's layout removes any chance of replacing it.
 
I'll look into that PSU ...

I'll go for a 6200, non TC!

Still, what speakers should I get for speakers, I know - bad budget. :S
 
Okay guys, I've listened to what you all had to say and decided to change the specs ...

CPU - AMD 3000+ Venice
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acata...t_939_cpus.html
TOP ONE

Motherboard - Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra / Abit AN8-V nForce4 (what one?)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acata...Socket_939.html
3RD DOWN
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acata...Socket_939.html
5TH DOWN

RAM - Geil Gold 512, and another at later date!
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acata...nce_Memory.html
2ND DOWN

Speakers - Logitech 530 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acata...gitech_166.html
5TH DOWN

GFX - Nvidia 6200
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...oduct_uid=85885

For the PSU - 380 Tagan
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Tagan.html
2ND UP

The Hard disk, TV, CPU cooler (Zalman7700) and AS5 are okay and the case is the same as last time.
 
Tony Williams said:
Fore that RAM is £30 now the value is only £33. :S
Click to expand...
Oh in that case "Good Find m8"
:cool:

You should be happy with the Video quality of that 6200. I reluctantly got a 6600Gt for my HTPC and it's awesome! The 62xx/66xx family are just great for that stuff. ...and they're not bad for gaming too. The 6600 beats my 6800GT in video playback (not 3D games) hands down.
 
Okay so I can go ahead with order ....

... please if anyone feels that something could be altered please say now, as I don't want it to be to late. :)
 
I say buy a used Athlon XP system and put in a tv tuner card. It will cost you a fraction of the price of all of this stuff and since you're not doing HD what does it matter? Getting a bigger TV is much more important in my opinion.
 
general said:
I say buy a used Athlon XP system and put in a tv tuner card. It will cost you a fraction of the price of all of this stuff and since you're not doing HD what does it matter? Getting a bigger TV is much more important in my opinion.
Click to expand...
no way, are you trolling?

You can't beat a CPU - AMD 3000+ Venice bang for your buck wise. Tony configured a solid PC. Especially if he decides to do some DiVX encoding etc.
 
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