Media Centre PC Build...

dcollyer1975

dcollyer1975

dcollyer1975

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Joined
12 Jun 2007
Posts
2
Hello Everyone.

This is my first post here - I've scanned the forums and can't see a similar, recent question posted elsewhere but if I've missed it please forgive me.

I'm looking to build a Media Centre PC to plug into a projector and surround sound speaker set-up. This is a PC that will be exclusively used for watching DVDs, digital TV and movie files off the net. It'll wirelessly connect to my home network and spend its time downloading files, playing them back, spinning and burning various flavours of DVD and piping digital terrestrial TV to the projector.

My PC building experience so far is pretty much limited to swapping out hard drives, graphics cards, RAM and the like. eg: non-existent. So I'm (relatively) unsure when it comes to picking components and was hoping for some advice on a few key topics.

Thanks in advance to anyone happy to share their knowledge.

- Blu-Ray/HD-DVD.
The projector's gonna be HD-ready so in the event that I ever get round to buying any I'd like to be able to play Blu-Ray/HD-DVD disks in the PC. I'm not sure if this capability would be a function of the graphics card, the optical drive or even if such a thing is possible. Any suggestions?

- Surround Sound.
I'm no audiophile and so long as the voices come from in front and the explosions from behind I'm happy. That said this thing's going to be playing through a fairly decent (£500+) set of 5.1 speakers and I'd rater not use a seperate surround sound amp if I can help it. Will 5.1 motherboard sound suffice for this or should I go for a seperate card?

- Video cards.
This machine won't be used for gaming, but will be playing a lot of movies. I'm unsure if this means I don't really need a dedicated video card or should get a great big steaming one.

- Digital TV Tuner Cards
I'm kind of hazy on what exactly these do - do they allow you to literally stick an aerial into the back of the PC and go for it or do you still need a seperate tuner box?

- Quietness
Obviously low volume operation is gonna be important - lots of cases, PSUs and so on boast about their stealth levels but can anyone vouch for any particularly quiet cases and PSUs?

Thanks in advance everyone. Hope you can help.

Cheers
DC
 
CPU = Core2Duo E2140 (cheap and cool running)
2GB of standard, cheapo memory.
Motherboard = just a cheapish one, as you wont be overclocking.
Samsung hard disks, as they are the quietest.
Graphics card, something like a nvidia 8500/8600 as they have good HD Purevideo decoding for your BlueRay.
TV tuner = Nova T 500 dual tuner.
I have a Seasonic PSU in my media center, its pretty quiet.
Audio, maybe a X-Fi extremeMusic - good for MP3s and DVDs. or just use onboard if you're not that fussy.

Now the case is the hard bit, theres a lot to choose from, but most decent HTPC cases are a lot of money.

Im using a http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-076-LL&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=187 - it's a pretty big cube, but it offers good cooling and looks nice, but it all depends on what kinda cabinet you're going to put it in.
 
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Yeah i rate the cheap Antec cases, they have a decent, quiet PSU too, good enough for any HTPC.

I bought the NSK2400 originally, but it was too wide for my cabinet.
 
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