Looking build a HTPC what specs ?

Loki

Loki

Loki

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Since my current DVD player is as old as the hills and the sound is flaky as hell. I'm looking to build my own Media Centre PC so I can pause & record live tv via Vista. I will be getting a new TV Soon which is likely to be an LCD. What would the best board be for this kind of set up.

I quite like the of the Silverstone LC18

What spec would you go with for the full system ?

Cheers
 
Will you be gaming on it or just watching movies, TV shows, browsing teh intarwebs, etc?

How much are you looking to spend? Some HTPCs cost a few hundred, some cost thousands. :)
 
This is a good choice if you don't intend on playing games with it:
overclockersukyourbaskemw1.png

It's got a 500 GB hard disk, two gigs of RAM, a nice motherboard with nVidia 7-series graphics onboard, including VGA and DVI video out. The PSU is much more than necessary but it's known to be quiet and stable. The CPU is more than up to the task of 720p video with aggressive codecs like H.264. Add to it the Silverstone case from above and you're in business. :)
 
Cheers Guys for the replys. It will be just for home media. I will use the current PC for gaming. Plenty powerful enough. I've not kept up with hardware developments over the past few months, how would I take advantage of the 1080i on the TV. I was thinking of sticking a HD DVD Drive in there
 
For full HD-DVD movies I think you'll want a little more CPU horsepower, though I do think the 4000+ could handle 1080i since it's essentially the same amount of data as 720p.

Looking at the numbers the 4000+ has the best ratio of GHz per pound at 0.050. The numbers fall from there for the most part. The 4800+ seems like a good bet unless you're interested in overclocking, in which case an Intel E21x0 would be a better choice. I don't however, know much about the overclockability of HTPC motherboards for Intel.
 
I've played 1080p without problems on a 4200x2 although slightly better graphics ati x300. I guess Blu-Ray /HD-DVD more demanding or so I heard to do with bit rate but then you can always buy a videocard with HD acceleration.

Value RAM would be better option too. Possibly quieter HD as WD are not the quietest around.

Don't forget remote control/USB receiver.
 
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