Home Entertainment Desktop

A

Archy

New Member
Good Afternoon!

I would like to build a computer(or possibly buy one) to connect with my DLP television for home entertainment purposes...movies, music, pictures and possibly a tiny bit of gaming. Along with internet usage.

Budget: $1000(lower if possible)
Needs:
Blu-Ray/DVD drive
At least a DVD burner...blu-ray/dvd combo?
Photo memory card reader
Video Card/ Sound card to support high resolution video & audio(5.1 surround)
Preferably 2 Hard Drives...small one dedicated for OS, large one to store pictures, music, movies. Maybe use an external HD instead?
VGA output(tv does not have hdmi)
Bluetooth
DVR?
I prefer vista...

Hard Drives...100gb OS, 300-500 media
RAM...as much as needed, was thinking at least 2gb

I've built the computer I am working on but it was about 3 or 4 years ago, so the technology has certainly improved. I really feel out of the loop now when I try and piece this together. I would really appreciate it if someone could piece together a system using these ideas, and throw in their own suggestions to fully utilize the system(record tv, communicate with other devices, more RAM, etc...)

Thanks a ton

I'll be checking back periodically to answer any questions that may arise
 
Hey man, sounds like a cool build. I'll leave most of the stuff to people who know more, but I feel I can give some good advice/options for a couple things to maybe get those out of the way. That setup you wanted ~$1000 I think is doable assuming you aren't wanting a monitor. But you will likely want to save money where you can on things that aren't as important. Here's some ideas:

For your case, this one would be a good pick. Cheap, but good quality and commonly used. You would need a psu for it, for that system you wanted, a reliable 500-600W would do the trick.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119068

As for video card, you said you might game on it, well...for your budget and everything else you want, the Geforce 8600GT would probably be a decent option there. Directx10 support, and CAN play games like crysis, etc decently at lower settings. Would of course play older games flawlessly, unsure what games you were planning on playing. At ~$80, the 8600GT is an incredible card for that price. Think a little better than a 7600GT, with Directx10.

For ram, I would stick with 2GB, it will be enough for you for awhile, and going with 2GB vs 4GB obviously will help your budget at little if any performance hit for what you're doing. Go with memory with better timings if you can afford it, the price difference between better stuff and valueram is very little. (ram is extremely cheap regardless)

For processors, Intel rules the roost nowadays. But AMD is still valued as the best price/performance if a budget plays into it. For your budget, I would honestly recommend AMD, as that may be your best option. If you didn't want a blu-ray player, I would just tell you to get an Intel. Play around with component setups with Intel and see how it goes and if you find you can make it work with an AMD cpu, go AMD. At your budget, you will want a dual-core for either brand. That would work well.

For your 2 hard drives, Seagate and Western Digital are considered by MOST people to be the 2 best brands, with Seagate perhaps being #1 now. Most everything comes Sata now, as opposed to IDE. (You want Sata 3.0 drives) 7200rpm drives are standard now, good enough performance and cheap.

I hope that helps some, good luck with your build. :)
 
Last edited:
Wow, I really appreciate the suggestions!

That case does seem sufficient, I may just add a usb card or two for some more slots.

On the computer I previously built, I had a socket 754 AMD and it hasn't really given me any real problems except for the heatsink dying. I also have a 300gb external seagate HD and I do agree with them being #1.
...I heard 775 was the best bang for your buck with AMD, am I correct with this?

Now you recommended the 8600GT that will play crysis(etc) on lower settings, what resolution would/how would the resolution be while playing videos on a high def tv? What card would you recommend to play those games @ medium to high settings? If there is not a huge difference in price...it may be worth upgrading now. But more of a curiousity than anything, I do like your suggestion.

Would there be a need for a sound card? I currently have a Creative Audigy 2zs and I think I MAY have gone a bit excessive as I simply have a small set of logitech speakers. I might consider switching that to the new computer & downgrading the one in the current PC.

Would everyone recommend a tower, vs a laydown case? The laydown case would fit alot better in the entertainment center...but the tower seems easier to arrange everything.

I'm glad to see that my $1000 goal is attainable...as long as I do it right.

I'll keep an eye on the thread...keeps me busy @ work
 
Socket AM2 is the standard now in AMD cpus. AM2+ is used for the quad-core phenoms. On newegg, there is maybe only a handful of single-core processors available to buy. Basically everything is dual-core and quad-core now, with dual-core being the main one. There are mobos in all price ranges that are AM2/AM2+, so if you went the AMD route, I would look into one of those for upgradeability for later.

There are plenty of horizontal lay-down cases available if you want to go that route. That thought had crossed my mind but I wasn't exactly sure what setup you planned on going with. I think decent ones are around $80-100.

For the video card, I really don't know how the 8600GT would handle newer games on your large screen. If you want to go the Nvidia route, a couple of the stepup upgrades after the 8600GT are the 9600GT (~$145) and 8800GT (~$190).

I am in the process of building a new PC myself, it will be for a media center as well. It will be my main comp (in my bedroom), and I won't use it to play games on my tv, or have blu-ray. It is a budget build, about $710 before shipping. Figured you might want to take a look at it.

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16811119068

BIOSTAR A770 A2+ AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16813138106

EVGA 256-P2-N751-TR GeForce 8600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16814130085

Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150 1062 MCE Kit Tuner Card w/MCE Remote - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16815116631

hec Orion XPOWER585 585W ATX12V 2.01 Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16817339001

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Windsor 3.2GHz Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor Model ADX6400CZBOX - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16819103228

G.SKILL 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL6S-2GBMQ - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16820231111

SAMSUNG Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Windows 98SE/ ME/ 2000/ XP - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16821103203

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16822148262

ASUS Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E616A3T OEM - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16827135151

SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16827151153

Again, I am no expert so just commented on a few things and what I know about them. Others on here could get more into the specifics and give you details as well.
 
Nvidia is a good brand, but I have an ATI card in my PC now...so I'm not restricted to any brand really.

Wow, I didn't know floppy still existed! lol.

That looks like a good setup you have there.
I've noticed 256 mb video cards(thats what I bought a few years back), but I know they are up to 512(and beyond?)...what would be the difference in 256mb, and 512?

Also, what's the going rate for processor speed now?
 
The difference between 256 and 512MB of memory on video cards really depends on the card. Realistically, memory may mean the little of any of the main "variables" on a card, such as clock speed. Think of memory as one more variable that is used to balance a specific card into a certain performance point on the video card ladder. More is better, but 256MB of ram isn't too shabby either.

As for processor speeds, think back to the regular Intel Pentium 4 3.0Ghz cpu. AMD (at least used to) pipes on their processors were shorter than Intels, so back a few years ago, the skt 939 Athlon 64 3200+ (at 2.0Ghz) was roughly equal give or take to the Intel P4 3.0.

I'm not really sure what the processor architectures are like now, but I assume both AMD and Intel are roughly about the same deal for performance per clock speed to the older Athlon 64s. I have heard that clock for clock, Intel's current dual-core and quad-core cpus are maybe 15% better performance-wise than AMDs.

The bottom line? Take a newer AMD processor at 3.0Ghz. That will smoke the ever loving bejeesus out of the old Intel 3.0Ghz....let alone that same newer AMD in dual-core where each one is at 3.0.

Lol hope my rambling and odd explanation helps.

For the going rates on CPU speeds, I would just check Newegg for Intel and AMDs current offerings.

Here is a link to cpu benchmarks you might want to check out:
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/processors/xvid-1-1-2,403.html

For some more charts, and give you a way to compare the newer stuff to older, go here: (pretty interesting)
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/
 
Last edited:
That was a pretty good explanation, just had to break it down to laments terms!

I'll most likely stick to AMD when explained like that. Curious if either of you can provide an opinion on the socket of choice, or maybe someone else can throw in their 2 cents.

I will research some of these points and try to piece things together to see what everyone thinks...but feel free to suggest products as you suggest ideas.

Thanks a million
 
If you end up going with AMD, socket AM2 is really your only choice, since I assume you will want to go dual-core over quad-core. If you get a socket AM2/AM2+ (able to do both), then you could upgrade to a quad-core Phenom processor (socket AM2+) later on if you wanted. Those are the socket names, rather than numbers.
 
 
As for video card, you said you might game on it, well...for your budget and everything else you want, the Geforce 8600GT would probably be a decent option there. Directx10 support, and CAN play games like crysis, etc decently at lower settings. Would of course play older games flawlessly, unsure what games you were planning on playing. At ~$80, the 8600GT is an incredible card for that price. Think a little better than a 7600GT, with Directx10.
Click to expand...

That is incorrect. The 8600 is equivalent to the 7600, without DX10. Also, this card performs better on a Vista platform, as it was designed for Vista.

If you're doing slight gaming and some video editing, ect, look into the HD3650. Either that, or a 8800GS.
 
The 8600gt xxx is a great card!! I love it!! I can even run crysis and cod 4 with decent fram rate!!!!!! Def get the xfx 8600gt xxx zalman edition if your going to get a 8600!! It has a 680mhz stock clock and is the fastest 8600gt!!
 
If you really want to get your point across racer, I suggest using periods instead of exclamation points. They may or may not believe you, but at least they don't think you're on drugs.
 
New Question...

Def going with the AMD AM2/AM2+
...whats the difference between athlon, phenom, and sempron?
...also, what is SLi and Crossfire?
...evga & xfx


video cards...everyone recommend nvidia? over ati?
 
Last edited:
Athlon x2 is dual core, phenom is quad, sempron is lower grade dual core. Sli is dual nvidia cards and crossfire is dual ati cards. evga and xfx are card companies that modify an nvidia card. I would personally go with nvidia but thats just me. Hope this helps
 
 
Last edited:
Go for the m2n-sli mobo and also go for the 8800gs (not the 1gb one). Dont get the 1gb 8600gt as that has a really slow clock and a smaller memory bandwidth than the xxx edition. Superclocked just means that the factory/company overclocks it a little.
 
g25racer said:
Go for the m2n-sli mobo and also go for the 8800gs (not the 1gb one). Dont get the 1gb 8600gt as that has a really slow clock and a smaller memory bandwidth than the xxx edition. Superclocked just means that the factory/company overclocks it a little.
Click to expand...

Isn't that what I basically said? 8800GS?

And if he's going for a HOME ENTERNAINMENT desktop, then he'll need lots of VRAM, seeing as he's probably powering a huge TV of some sort.
 
Alright guys, calm down....lol

What exactly is vram...video ram? 8800 has more compared to the 8600?


Also, the lite-on blue/ray, hd/dvd, dvd burner drive...would that be compatible to READ dvd's & cd's? If not are there any combo drives out there that include burning dvd's/cd's, and reading cd, dvd, hd-dvd & blu ray?

Thanks
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top