Spec check please - media centre PC

[Richie Aprille]

Seeing as my current PC is nearly 6 years old (!) I was thinking of putting together a new one. I've been looking at the system below and it'll be mainly used for watching films, web surfing and some very light gaming (GTA and football manager is about my limit). I already have a DVD drive - can you guys let me know what you think and let me know if I've missed anything vitally important. Budget is around £300-400. Thanks


OcUK GeForce 8500 GT 256MB DDR2 HDTV/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £41.99
(£49.34) £41.99
(£49.34)
Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM £33.99
(£39.94) £33.99
(£39.94)
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C5 800MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400DC) £44.99
(£52.86) £44.99
(£52.86)
Intel Core 2 Duo E2140 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.60GHz (800FSB) - Retail £43.99
(£51.69) £43.99
(£51.69)
Abit Fatal1ty F-I90HD ATI Micro ATX (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £61.99
(£72.84) £61.99
(£72.84)
Antec NSK2400 Desktop Case - 380W SmartPower PSU £51.99
(£61.09) £51.99
(£61.09)

Sub Total : £278.94
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £50.73
Total : £340.62

Also, what are people's feelings on an OS? is Vista worth it or should I get media centre edition?

 

[Khrest]

I was disturbed enough to change my mind about the Fata1ty MB after googling and seeing how many returns there were with it. I found large threads on ***** and Hardforum about it.

That said, the AN-M2 I bought instead hasn't been exactly plain sailing, but a lot cheaper and it does now work okay.

 

[stickroad]

Are you going to overclock the system?

 

[Richie Aprille]

I wasn't planning on overclocking - this will be my first build so I was going to take it one step at a time

BTW it'll be for use with a 26" LCD if that makes any difference