Associate
- Joined
- 18 Sep 2010
- Posts
- 5
Hi, my first post, with all that entails. I'm also a bit of a hardware tech newbie so apologies all round.
Believe it or not, this forum was recommended to my by a PC World employee, whilst I was shopping for a TV. Now that I've a TV and Blu-ray player installed (I haven't had a TV for 8 years!) I'm looking to replace my ageing 2002 PC with something smart, silent and powerful - running Windows 7 for its media server capabilities.
Looking around, there doesn't seem that much to buy - I can see that Dell are about to update their Zino to a 410, and the 'leaked' specs hint at quad core. But I think it's not quite what I want, and maybe a can get more power for my pound with a custom build. So here's my questions, thanks in advance.
1. Should I even consider building a HTPC myself when all I've ever done before is replace the odd memory / graphics card / HDD? There's various sites I've seen which attempt to show you how to do this, but all look reasonably difficult.
2. Can I get a much better HTC for est cost of £600?
If I were to attempt to build something myself, I really like the look of the Silverstone ML02 case (are there any alternatives?). I know it doesn't look like the Dell, but probably a slim good looking horizontal case is best for my v small set up.
I'd want at least 1Tb; best processor, memory and graphics card I can get for my money; DVD (Don't need Blu-ray); all the usual external connectors - USB3, HDMI, LAN, etc etc etc. Any recommendations? That are easy to put together?
Thanks very much, hope I'm not asking too much.
...Whether tis nobler in the minds eye
to suffer the pain of putting something together
or to take my wallet out and buy something pre-built.
will it work? Can I do it?
Believe it or not, this forum was recommended to my by a PC World employee, whilst I was shopping for a TV. Now that I've a TV and Blu-ray player installed (I haven't had a TV for 8 years!) I'm looking to replace my ageing 2002 PC with something smart, silent and powerful - running Windows 7 for its media server capabilities.
Looking around, there doesn't seem that much to buy - I can see that Dell are about to update their Zino to a 410, and the 'leaked' specs hint at quad core. But I think it's not quite what I want, and maybe a can get more power for my pound with a custom build. So here's my questions, thanks in advance.
1. Should I even consider building a HTPC myself when all I've ever done before is replace the odd memory / graphics card / HDD? There's various sites I've seen which attempt to show you how to do this, but all look reasonably difficult.
2. Can I get a much better HTC for est cost of £600?
If I were to attempt to build something myself, I really like the look of the Silverstone ML02 case (are there any alternatives?). I know it doesn't look like the Dell, but probably a slim good looking horizontal case is best for my v small set up.
I'd want at least 1Tb; best processor, memory and graphics card I can get for my money; DVD (Don't need Blu-ray); all the usual external connectors - USB3, HDMI, LAN, etc etc etc. Any recommendations? That are easy to put together?
Thanks very much, hope I'm not asking too much.
...Whether tis nobler in the minds eye
to suffer the pain of putting something together
or to take my wallet out and buy something pre-built.
will it work? Can I do it?
