Media Center Build, suggestions apprecia ...
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- 1
- Oct 31, 2009 12:02 pm PT
PSN ID= guynamedbilly
Greetings, instead of asking about each individual component, here is a list of the parts I'm thinking of using to build a cheap Media Center for a friend. Sound will be from the integrated digital output, so I don't have to think about a sound card for now. The reason I chose that video card was because of the 3 different kinds out output for flexibility when connecting the tv. Does anyone have any suggestions to make this better while keeping the price pretty low? With everything now the total is $607.88
L23-7204:: Logitech Cordless Desktop LX 710 Laser Keyboard and Mouse Combo (3.25lbs)
Available While Supplies Last $49.96
C283-1002:: Cooler Master Centurion 5 - Silver ATX Mid-Tower Case with Front USB, Firewire and Audio Ports (20.3lbs)
Order Today, Ships Today $54.99
ULT40445:: Ultra SATA II 3Gbps Cable - 1.3 ft, 2-Pack (0.6lbs)
Order Today, Ships Today $7.99
TSD-1000EADS:: Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EADS Hard Drive - 1TB, 32MB, SATA-300, OEM (0.4lbs)
Order Today, Ships Today $84.99
C283-2036:: Cooler Master RS-460-PMSP-A3 Extreme Power 460-Watt Power Supply - SATA Ready, PCI-E Ready (3.85lbs)
Order Today, Ships Today $29.99
M452-9600:: MSI GeForce 9600 GT Video Card - 1024MB GDDR2, PCI Express 2.0, DVI, HDMI, VGA (1.3lbs)
Order Today, Ships Today $89.99
C13-7084:: Corsair XMS3 2048MB Dual Channel PC10600 DDR3 1333MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB) (0.2lbs)
Order Today, Ships Today $59.99
A455-2909:: Asus P5P43TD Pro Intel P43 Socket 775 Motherboard - Socket 775, ATX, Audio, Video, PCI Express 2.0, USB 2.0, RAID (2.65lbs)
Order Today, Ships Today $99.99
CP1-DUO-E8200:: Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 Processor BX80570E8200 - 2.66GHz, 6MB Cache, 1333MHz FSB, Wolfdale, Dual-Core, Retail, Socket 775, Processor with Fan (0.28lbs)
Order Today, Ships Today $129.99
- Please wait. Quick reply will be available shortly.
- Oct 31, 2009 12:13 pm PT
My Rig: Q6600 2.4@3.0 - 8800GT 512MB - 4GB's RAM - Gigabyte P35-DS3L
500GB HDD - 520W Corsair PSU - Windows 7 Home Premium
[QUOTE="guynamedbilly"]
Greetings, instead of asking about each individual component, here is a list of the parts I'm thinking of using to build a cheap Media Center for a friend. Sound will be from the integrated digital output, so I don't have to think about a sound card for now. The reason I chose that video card was because of the 3 different kinds out output for flexibility when connecting the tv. Does anyone have any suggestions to make this better while keeping the price pretty low? With everything now the total is $607.88
L23-7204:: Logitech Cordless Desktop LX 710 Laser Keyboard and Mouse Combo (3.25lbs)
Available While Supplies Last $49.96
C283-1002:: Cooler Master Centurion 5 - Silver ATX Mid-Tower Case with Front USB, Firewire and Audio Ports (20.3lbs)
Order Today, Ships Today $54.99
ULT40445:: Ultra SATA II 3Gbps Cable - 1.3 ft, 2-Pack (0.6lbs)
Order Today, Ships Today $7.99
TSD-1000EADS:: Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EADS Hard Drive - 1TB, 32MB, SATA-300, OEM (0.4lbs)
Order Today, Ships Today $84.99
C283-2036:: Cooler Master RS-460-PMSP-A3 Extreme Power 460-Watt Power Supply - SATA Ready, PCI-E Ready (3.85lbs)
Order Today, Ships Today $29.99
M452-9600:: MSI GeForce 9600 GT Video Card - 1024MB GDDR2, PCI Express 2.0, DVI, HDMI, VGA (1.3lbs)
Order Today, Ships Today $89.99
C13-7084:: Corsair XMS3 2048MB Dual Channel PC10600 DDR3 1333MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB) (0.2lbs)
Order Today, Ships Today $59.99
A455-2909:: Asus P5P43TD Pro Intel P43 Socket 775 Motherboard - Socket 775, ATX, Audio, Video, PCI Express 2.0, USB 2.0, RAID (2.65lbs)
Order Today, Ships Today $99.99
CP1-DUO-E8200:: Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 Processor BX80570E8200 - 2.66GHz, 6MB Cache, 1333MHz FSB, Wolfdale, Dual-Core, Retail, Socket 775, Processor with Fan (0.28lbs)
Order Today, Ships Today $129.99
[/QUOTE]
1: Dont buy fancy SATA cables, its a waste of money!
2: The Samsung F3 1TB is faster than that HDD and you should find it cheaper also.
3: You might want to upgrade to 4GB's of RAM, its pretty cheap and will help your PC run faster.
- Please wait. Quick reply will be available shortly.
- Oct 31, 2009 12:29 pm PT
PSN ID= guynamedbilly
[QUOTE="Daytona_178"]1: Dont buy fancy SATA cables, its a waste of money!
2: The Samsung F3 1TB is faster than that HDD and you should find it cheaper also.
3: You might want to upgrade to 4GB's of RAM, its pretty cheap and will help your PC run faster.
[/QUOTE] 1. That's true. I probably have spare cables but just added them in because the HD was OEM.
2. Do you use Samsung HDDs? I've never tried them before but I typically stick to WD or Hitachi since I've had a bad history with other brands. Once I do the build, if I did go with WD I'd get the black version, but Tiger didn't have them in stock for some reason.
3. I thought about that, as well as installing a 64 bit OS, but I'm not sure it's worth sacrificing the extra money(and compatibility for my non-technical friend) for the extra throughput since it's almost entirely just going to be used to watch tv.
Add-in. I will need to add the cost of the OS, the tuners, and the media drive(probably bluray,) but I need to know specifically what he wants first. I imagine the cost will end up being around $850 or less.
- Please wait. Quick reply will be available shortly.
- Oct 31, 2009 12:34 pm PT
My Rig: Q6600 2.4@3.0 - 8800GT 512MB - 4GB's RAM - Gigabyte P35-DS3L
500GB HDD - 520W Corsair PSU - Windows 7 Home Premium
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/storage/2009/10/06/samsung-spinpoint-f3-1tb-review/9
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- Oct 31, 2009 1:54 pm PT
Hi Wow that's a P43 motherboard. That's pretty good. I wonder if a G41
or G31 would do the job? Also I wonder if an E6300 Wolfdale processor
would do the job? You could save some money with these components.
Media centers built by end users are getting popular now a days. I see
more and more threads on them lately. Maybe someone could comment
on a system they built and give you some ideas.
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