$1200 htpc

[diduknowthat]

My friends parents asked me to built them a nice home theater PC with a budget of around $1200.

Here's what I came up with, what do you guys think?

Antec Silver Fusion Remote Micro ATX HTPC Case - $190
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129053

Gigabyte GA-31M-ES2L LGA 775 Micro ATX Motherboard - $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128357

Intel Pentium E2180 2.0ghz Dual Core CPU - $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116052

A-DATA 2GB DDR2 800 Memory -$25
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211066

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB Hard Drive -$120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

LG Black Blu-Ray Drive - $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136133

Corsair 400 watt Power Supply - $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008

Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 -$99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116485

Gigabyte Radeon HD 3450 256MB VGA/HDMI Low Profile Graphics Card - $40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125232

ASUS My Cinema-PE9400 Combo TV Tuner - $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815293002

ASUS Xonar D1 7.1 Channel Sound Card - $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132007


Total: $949

keep in mind this is an HTPC!!

 

[massahwahl]

I highly recommend running mythbuntu rather than vista. Starts up super quick and has a nice clean interface and PVR functions. You would save them a lot on hardware too because HTPC's do not require a super high end system by any means.

 

[diduknowthat]

Hm, I'll ask them about that, but they aren't really computer savvy, so running linux for them would be a pain. And as for high end hardware, there really aren't many in the PC, just your low end core 2 duo and 2 gigs of ram . Most of the price comes from the HTPC components.

 

[bcoffee20]

why did you put vista home premium sp1 twice?

 

[massahwahl]

If you decide to do mythbuntu there is zero commitment to them really. It starts mythtv when you turn it on and from there you can do everything, no need to ever even exit to the desktop.

 

[massahwahl]

Im doing a similar setup after the holidays and have chosen the same CPU with a different mobo, do you think a 1mb L2 cahce is enough to handle multimedia? Im not very versed on the topic of CPUS but thats one area with that CPU ive been very leary about.

 

[diduknowthat]

If you decide to do mythbuntu there is zero commitment to them really. It starts mythtv when you turn it on and from there you can do everything, no need to ever even exit to the desktop.

I'll get my hands on it and try it out and see how it is.

why did you put vista home premium sp1 twice?

it was a mistake.

Im doing a similar setup after the holidays and have chosen the same CPU with a different mobo, do you think a 1mb L2 cahce is enough to handle multimedia? Im not very versed on the topic of CPUS but thats one area with that CPU ive been very leary about.

I'm pretty sure it'll work. My friend has that CPU, i'll ask him to try it out for me.

 

[diduknowthat]

bump, anything hardware wise i can improve?