It's been a good decade since I last built a machine and I've been rocking a macbook since 2006 (ducks to avoid low flying rocks).
I sold my desktop machine around 18 months ago as I never used it, and I am now regretting it.
I've just purchased a basic home cinema setup for home (TV, receiver, 5 speakers, sub - usual drill). Currently the only source is the sky box.
I'm looking to, as cheaply as possibly, build a HTPC which will be quiet and allow me to play video from the hard drive, DVDs and also possibly blueray depending on cost. My requirements are very minimal, as follows:
HDMI/DVI out for connection to a Yamaha receiver with HDMI input
Some kind of sound link which supports 5.1 (any whatever technology goes with this - dolby digital/DTS? sorry, total noob here). Over HDMI or optical is fine. Sound quality must be good though.
DVD drive
Large hard drive - circa 2TB should do it.
Performance wise I don't really care as long as I can play all video formats in 1080 (i/p - don't know the difference, does it matter?)
There is a possibility I may play live for speed on the PC but this is a very low spec game performance wise and isn't a deal breaker.
Case wise... it must be small, I'd prefer a shuttle style cube case due to my TV cabinet (can post a photo if necessary).
Quiet is very important - with a low performance machine is it right to assume I can use low flow rate fans to keep it quiet?
Can't think of much else really, I'll probably buy a copy of windows to bang on it as the mrs will have to be able to use it so I don't think a linux etc. build would be sensible.
Is it right to assume that no matter what option I go for, there will be at least a 10/100 ethernet socket available on the motherboard? If not then this is something I do need.
So, OCUK, what do I need and how much is it going to cost me? I must stress that performance above and beyond decent quality audio and video playback is irrelevant to me. Cost is very important as after spending a couple of grand on the 'home cinema' getting this past the mrs may be tricky
I sold my desktop machine around 18 months ago as I never used it, and I am now regretting it.
I've just purchased a basic home cinema setup for home (TV, receiver, 5 speakers, sub - usual drill). Currently the only source is the sky box.
I'm looking to, as cheaply as possibly, build a HTPC which will be quiet and allow me to play video from the hard drive, DVDs and also possibly blueray depending on cost. My requirements are very minimal, as follows:
HDMI/DVI out for connection to a Yamaha receiver with HDMI input
Some kind of sound link which supports 5.1 (any whatever technology goes with this - dolby digital/DTS? sorry, total noob here). Over HDMI or optical is fine. Sound quality must be good though.
DVD drive
Large hard drive - circa 2TB should do it.
Performance wise I don't really care as long as I can play all video formats in 1080 (i/p - don't know the difference, does it matter?)
There is a possibility I may play live for speed on the PC but this is a very low spec game performance wise and isn't a deal breaker.
Case wise... it must be small, I'd prefer a shuttle style cube case due to my TV cabinet (can post a photo if necessary).
Quiet is very important - with a low performance machine is it right to assume I can use low flow rate fans to keep it quiet?
Can't think of much else really, I'll probably buy a copy of windows to bang on it as the mrs will have to be able to use it so I don't think a linux etc. build would be sensible.
Is it right to assume that no matter what option I go for, there will be at least a 10/100 ethernet socket available on the motherboard? If not then this is something I do need.
So, OCUK, what do I need and how much is it going to cost me? I must stress that performance above and beyond decent quality audio and video playback is irrelevant to me. Cost is very important as after spending a couple of grand on the 'home cinema' getting this past the mrs may be tricky
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Was £100ish with built in wifi and bluetooth for the FM1 socket (llano) and included a remote with a keyboard on the reverse of it. I'll get onto Llano in a minute.....
) there's a good chance I'll be buying some bits and bobs. The system you posted a couple of posts back looks most interesting actually - how much processing/GPU power does this have? Would I be able to play LFS, which lists the following as a minimum?