Help with blueray drive

Vanquish-Storm · 28 Jul 2010 at 01:59

Hey guys,

Been out of the loop in building computers now (got lazy)

Im looking at building a media PC that is capable in playing blueray films.

Am i right in thinking all i need is a graphics card with HDMI and a blueray drive??

Does the graphics card make a differance? IE can i just get a cheap £30 card with HDMI as opposed to a £100+ one?

honosuseri · 28 Jul 2010 at 07:27

You need it to be HDCP compliant. You can opt for a motherboard with an integrated GPU rather than a dedicated graphics card if you are only planning to use it for multimedia rather than gaming to save you some money.

Simply check the tech specs on the mobo or the graphics card and look for a tick next to HDCP ready.....simples!

There are some really nice HTPC cases with a Pro audio look that come with a PSU. Some only accept half height cards though, so if this is the case an onboard GPU would be the way forward!

Good luck with your build, hope this helps

Vanquish-Storm · 28 Jul 2010 at 12:52

do any integral graphics have hdmi out?? or do i not need this for HD BlueRay ?

honosuseri · 28 Jul 2010 at 12:56

Yip, many have d-sub (vga) hdmi and DVI. Look at the asus M4A785D-M PRO. This is what i settled on getting for a HTPC rig. It has a pci-express slot so you can upgrade the graphics later but it's IGP (ati 4200) is HDCP ready and has all the ports i mentioned earlier.

Vanquish-Storm · 28 Jul 2010 at 13:43

oooooo i shall have a look into that, thanks mate

could have saved me a small fortune there

ant2k50 · 28 Jul 2010 at 13:47

How about software? I've got a blue-ray drive on my laptop but I don't have the software so I can't watch anything at the minute. The software seems quite expensive too, but someone on here will probably be able advise you on that.

Vanquish-Storm · 28 Jul 2010 at 14:13

i think i get the software with the blueray drive i was looking at buying but your right it is something else ill have to look into

thanks

honosuseri · 28 Jul 2010 at 15:19

If you buy a retail bluray drive (not oem) it should come with powerdvd. The new version will play blurays.

On a side note i chose a phenom II X2 555BE cpu to marry upto the board. The mobo can possibly unlock this to an X3 or even X4, google phenom core unlocking there is plenty of info available.

An X2 will be man enough for the job anyway even the 550BE would be more than ok. It would be worth buying an aftermarket cooler that will cool an X4 just incase you get lucky, the stock heatsink will struggle cooling the extra cores. Worst case you have an X2 but the cooler will help you overclock it a lil easier.

Please note that board (AM2+) is for DDR2 memory i chose it because I have 6GB odd laying around spare. There will be similar boards (AM3) which support DDR3 if you'd prefer still with the ATI 4200 IGP

Here to help ;p

fozzybear · 28 Jul 2010 at 15:50

honosuseri said:
YLook at the asus M4A785D-M PRO. This is what i settled on getting for a HTPC rig. It has a pci-express slot so you can upgrade the graphics later but it's IGP (ati 4200) is HDCP ready and has all the ports i mentioned earlier.

Or spend £20 extra and get the Asus M4A88TD-M EVO/USB3. It takes DDR3 RAM and is future proofed for USB3.0 and SATA III. It also has the 4250 on-board GFX compared to the 4200 on the cheaper one.

honosuseri · 28 Jul 2010 at 16:10

Yeah good call fozzy! I have no idea of the OPs budget or if parts are being recycled, just wanted to show what is possible with IGP's for HTPC's

Vanquish-Storm · 28 Jul 2010 at 18:21

thanks for all the great advice guys, going to sit down and right up a spec list for myself later

if i get stuck ill give another shout out