Spec me a media centre PC

eddyc

eddyc

eddyc

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Hi all,

I am looking to build a media centre PC. The purpose would be: watching HD content, iplayer and web browsing on my tv. It does not need to include a blu-ray player.

Budget is under £300 but ideally even less :p

These are my ideas so far:

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Comments on these would be great but also advice on a mATX case which is nice and small and suitable for these components.

EDIT: I have only gone the AMD route because I am more familiar with the range. Intel suggestions are welcome.
 
CPU, Mobo and RAM can be quite low end. I doubt you need more than 1GB RAM. The second one would probably perform better.

Sempron 140 - £25
MSI GF615M-P33 - £40
Kingston 1GB DDR3 1333MHz HyperX - £25
£90

or

E3200 - £30
Some sort of 775 motherboard - £35
1GB DDR2 - £15
£80

Which then gives you the option of a dedicated graphics card:

nVidia 6200 - £20
ATI 3450 - £20
ATI 4350/4550 - £25
nVidia 8400 - £25
nVidia GT 210 - £30
ATI 5450 - £35-40 (my recommendation)
£130

Then some sort of HDD, depends on how much you want to store.
320GB - £30
500GB - £35
£640GB - £45
1TB - £60
£170

Then a PSU:

Antec Basiq 350W - £25
Antec 380W EarthWatts Green - £35 (my recommendation)
Corsair 400W CX - £40
Coolermaster 460W - £40
Be Quiet 530W Pure Power - £45
£210

Then a DVD Drive of sorts:
Normal - £20
Slimline - £30
£230

And finally the case. Tons of choice here, but you don't really need to spend that much, i'll send you a link if you activate your trust. But it ranges from £20 to £50 at the budget end. Should still be well within budget.

That said you could get something like the Zotac MAG for £250 and call it a day.
 
Thanks for the replies guys.

Superewza I sent you a trust.

I dont think I will be bothering with xbmc or anything because I would rather have full computer functionality. Reckon I will use a wireless keyboard / rollerball combo rather than a remote control and that way I can do films / iplayer / general web browsing.

I would rather build one myself just for the fun of it although if it turns out to be much more expensive to do it myself then I think I will just go for the Zotac or the Revo. I was also looking at the Asrock Ion 330.

Superewza: the E3200 option looks like a really good one. If I can spend less than about £40 on the case I should be able to keep it under £200 which would be amazing.
 
Well I do have an old copy of XP hanging around which is not on anything at the moment so price is not really an issue but the performance issue is interesting.

I have never looked at linux before... might be good to try it out.
 
Superewza cant see your reply. Have never used trust before so probably just being very stupid. Should it have come through to my email address?:o
 
Cheers superewza got it now. :)

Do you think a celeron 430 1.8ghz cpu will be enough? They are even cheaper!

I am currently thinking:

Intel celeron 430 1.8ghz
Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L iG31 Socket 775
ASUS HD 4350 256MB DDR2
Be Quiet SFX 300W MicroATX PSU
Samsung EcoGreen F2 1TB Hard Drive
2x 1GB DDR2 (cheapest I can find) - or I may only get 1x...

Going to put the whole lot into some standard media centre case - maybe try and get one that looks like a DVD player type thing.

So long as I dont go insane on the case I can get the whole lot for around £230.

What do people reckon? Worth it over a Zotac or revo? :cool:



EDIT: Might pay an extra £10 and get a celeron E3300 2.5Ghz depending on what people think...
 
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I'd go with the E3200, it's a lot better and should use a lot less power. Are you thinking of putting any sort of cooling on it? You want an HTPC to be quiet...

I'd go with a different graphics card actually, i don't think that supports HD Acceleration. The 3450 does, but i'd still recommend the 5450 which i've found for about £30.
 
One of the Sapphire passive Gfx is a must if you are not going to use onboard gfx plus most come with a low profile option if you go in that direction for the case.

I usually spec case first then go from there. If you get a m-atx case then it follows that is the mb you need etc.
 
Agreed on the E3200, worth the extra tenner.

Why do you think 5450 would be a better option? The cheapest I could see it on the site I am looking at (want to get everything from the same place to save on postage) is £34 so I am just wondering what extra I would be getting for the £9?

As for cooling I am not sure. I assume the E3200 comes with some kind of stock cooler? I dont think I will bother doing any overclocking as it wont need it but it would be good to keep it as quiet as possible. Any suggestions?

Thanks so much for all the help guys :D
 
A PS3 would allow you to watch iplayer, stream HD content from your pc, and browse the net...

You can hookup a wireless keyb/mouse fairly easily...

It would also give you a blu-ray player...

You can install linux on it if you must...

Hmm, what else could it do:D
 
I suppose stock cooling should be alright, these things can reach 4GHz with it. Noise wise i can't see it being too much trouble, especially as most of the time you should have something to drown it out.

The 5450 uses so little power it's amazing. It performs better as well. But if you really don't want to spend the extra then either go for a 3450 or a 4550, if memory serves me correctly the 4350 doesn't support HD acceleration so it's pretty pointless having a dedicated graphics card. Which case are you getting, does it need low profile?
 
I think I am going for one called 'Piano Black Media Center MicroATX Case - No PSU'. It does require low profile. I guess I can probably stretch to 5450 if I can find a good deal on one.
 
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