Cheap Tele' Build

xJcBx

xJcBx

xJcBx

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I'm looking to put a PC (HTPC) in my room to play movies, music, browse the internet and the alike.
I am looking to spend as little as possible and I need everything apart from a keyboard, mouse, monitor and speakers as I will use my HD bedroom tele' as a monitor and I can use a keyboard and mouse I have lying around
So outputting to a smallish HD TV would be the main aim.
I might use it for very light gaming that isn't that power demanding (CS:S, WoW)
I am looking to spend under 400 or around that mark, however I could go over by up to £100 if I have to, but ideally 400 or less it my target. But if its possible to get a decent output without spending close to this, it would be brilliant!
Quietness isn't too important because I won't leave it on all day/night, and when it is in use it will probably have something playing quite loud.

Could anybody spec me a PC if they have a minute spare, because, as much as I try to understand, I never seem to grasp the concept of which motherboard/processor/ram ect ect can fit together.

Thanks!
Jes
 
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HTPC?
I'm not great on the acronyms sorry.

Yes... Home theatre PC.. I googled it.. Should have done that first.. sorry.
 
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Brilliant thanks very much guys :)
Will I need a beefy Processor for this or should I go for a cheaper AMD, OC it and spend more on a graphics card?
 
OC'ing requires good cooling, a good stock CPU will suffice. The graphics card doesn't need to be blazing fast, cards which support blu-ray by hardware will do, I think like the 4850's support that.
 
Cheers.
I was thinking about putting a meaty CPU cooler on it because I would like it to be somewhat of a spectacle in my room.
I was looking at the Antec 900 because it has a nice little panel in the side and has pretty good cooling I assume.
 
Antec 900 or 902, or if I have some cash left over I might go all out for a HAF case, because all of the builds on here I've read that have used them looks Very tidy when their finished.
 
Not particularly, as they mostly seem to be less of a computer and more of something that plugs into the tele'.
Do you think I would be better of with a HTPC case over say a Antec?
 
You might as well go for something smallish, because you won't need an awful lot of power for this, except maybe the gaming, but this spec might even cope with that:

30tklzm.png
 
HTPC chassis can be had really cheap, and look nice (I built one for a friend) - look on some other websites, a nice looking case can be had for ~£50

And if you want it sitting next to your TV\skybox\dvd player\consoles\whatever you want it to look vaguely fitting...
 
MasterPlan1 said:
HTPC chassis can be had really cheap, and look nice (I built one for a friend) - look on some other websites, a nice looking case can be had for ~£50

And if you want it sitting next to your TV\skybox\dvd player\consoles\whatever you want it to look vaguely fitting...
Click to expand...

That's what I thought. An Antec 900 next to my ps3 wouldn't look as good as an HTPC case.

I just picked one I liked the look of :p
 
Thanks so much guys!
This is just what I wanted :)
Hopefully if I can get this PC under the business it will be at an extremely good price too.

Is a drive with a speed faster than the Samsung 1TB needed for films?
I think it would be interesting to set up a Raid but if its not needed I won't fix something that isn't really broke.
As your the Pro's on the matter I think I'll keep that setup as it looks perfect to me.

Could anybody suggest a Graphics card I could put in possible in a few weeks when I have some more pennies in the bank?
 
Anything from the 4850-4890 range will do you just fine, I'm planning on getting a 4870 1Gb for my PC soon to do pretty much what you're doing, WoW\HD rips.
 
xJcBx said:
Thanks so much guys!
This is just what I wanted :)
Hopefully if I can get this PC under the business it will be at an extremely good price too.

Is a drive with a speed faster than the Samsung 1TB needed for films?
I think it would be interesting to set up a Raid but if its not needed I won't fix something that isn't really broke.
As your the Pro's on the matter I think I'll keep that setup as it looks perfect to me.

Could anybody suggest a Graphics card I could put in possible in a few weeks when I have some more pennies in the bank?
Click to expand...

You definitely won't need anything speedier. The Blu-Ray drive is slower than the HDD, so if the BD drive can play it just fine, the HDD will have no problem. The only reason I chose 1TB is incase you want to rip entire films, to stop you needing to change disc. The case is also quite expensive, I'm sure you could find a cheaper one.

As for an extra graphics card, anything around £70 and above will do. Namely 4850, 4870, 4890, GTS 250, GTX 260.

The onboard graphics will cope with films fine, but a better GPU will definitely benefit your gaming.

If you wanted to extend your budget a little more, you could get a tri-core Phenom II and a 4850 now. £530, but if you got it through the business, it's well within your budget, and this would be a great upgrade. Especially for WoW, as it's primarily CPU limited.

2a75wf4.png


Also, while I wouldn't normally advise you to look elsewhere, shop around for a cheaper blu-ray drive. I'm pretty sure there are a couple around for £50 to £60, and you might pick up some other deals. The case is also quite expensive, I'm sure you could find some cheaper ones.
 
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What about this:
htpc.png


That's £305 [ex VAT - business purchase you say...] for a complete system - possibly less if you don't need more than dual core - pretty sure the AM3 tri core should work with this though, although might need a BIOS update. Change it to a CPU marked AM2+ if in doubt. I know for a fact that the Phenom II 920 works. I have one here working as a Xenserver.

All it needs is an OS, keyboard, mouse and monitor, and screwing together [which isn't tricky].

Almost entirely silent, good amount of grunt, and it can take a PCIe x16 GPU if you change the PSU if you fancy doing something more GPU intensive in future. - how well will a GeForce 8300 handle HD video/blue-ray, chaps?

Oh, HDMI on board, too. Which is nice.
 
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