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General discussion

Building a Media Center PC.........Comments?

Jun 9, 2005 4:16AM PDT

Hi everyone, I want to build two seperate Media Center PCs. An Intel based and the other one, an AMD based. So please suggest two configurations. My budget for each PC is $1200 max which should include a 15" LCD monitor too. I know the budget is quite tight but thats why I am asking for help and expert opinions from you all.

Discussion is locked

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$1200
Jun 9, 2005 4:25AM PDT

That budget isn't tight at all. You should be able to easily afford a 2.5gh+ p4 or celeron. Also upgrade to 17 inch LCD, 15 inch is far too small to see... A 17 inch LCD only costs about $2000 - $250 these days, providing you don't get brand names like Sony. Get a good AGP graphics card. Avoid PCI Express, as it cost more and is actually slower. Don't get an extra sound card. Human ears can't tell the difference between a Creative Labs and an onboard sound card anyway, so there is no point. A rewritible DVD drive shouldn't cost more than $200. If everything is done right, the final cost should be well below $1200.

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mind if i correct you...
Jun 9, 2005 6:22AM PDT

A) you don't buy a Creative Labs sound card for sound quality, and in some instances you can tell the difference (some onboard (especially found on lower segment Intel boards) is just horrid) you buy it for it's feature set, including THX, along with 7.1, and the high quality that it can maintain for recording and toying with music, it's not about what the human can and cannot notice the difference between, it's about offloading work from the CPU (which it does) and about giving you better features/better recording quality (the Line-In on some onboard just sucks, while an Audigy 2 ZS/Plat. has many features, and supports more line-in, along with optical)


BUT
if your sourcing to an amplifier, optical/digital, DO NOT USE CREATIVE, use a different brand like M-Audio or Turtle Beach, as Creative is reported to have many issues with digital output to amplifiers

in addition, if your using an nForce3 or nForce4 for the systems (nForce3 is Athlon64 only, nForce4 is both Pentium 4 or Athlon64, and for the AMD it should be at least an nForce3, don't get a VIA chipset, it may be $10 cheaper, but you really get what you pay for with VIA (VIA is probably less likly to support the dual cored chips on their value chipsets also, but idk if nForce3 would support em either, so just get a Socket 939 nForce4 with an Athlon64)

also, in addition
PCIE is FASTER THAN AGP
it provides more bandwidth, and it provides the card with more electricity (meaning you don't need a molex connector for the card, at least for some) along with full duplex, compared to AGP 8x's half duplex (so basically PCIE can send it's maximum ammount of data into the card, while at the same time recieving it's maximum ammount of data from the card, while AGP is send, then recieve, plus PCIE has a higher max)


in SLI PCIE currently is running x8
which means 8 lanes
which is still slightly faster than AGP 8x (due to full duplex)
while x16 is twice the bandwidth or more

the only cards that suck on PCIE are the GeForce PCX, which are GeForce FX chips adapted over using the HSI bridge, and they don't do so well in 3D05 (their AGP versions do better)

but GeForce 6600, 6600GT, and Radeon X600Pro, X600XT and X700Pro (X600XT is comparable to 6600, X700Pro is comparable to 6600GT (can't remember if X700XT exists, if it does, it's the comparable one to 6600GT, can't be bothered to look that up right now though))

but those above cards are all rather quick
perform slightly better on PCIE (no adaption to AGP, and the higher bandwidth is nice (with AGP 8x your approaching the ceiling (AGP 4x is fine for 99.9% of all games (doom 3 is the exception) while PCIE you have more breathing room)

PCIE is supperior to AGP 8x
and the rumor on these forums that it costs dozens of times more is TOTAL CRAP

PCIE versions of MOST video cards are cheaper (cards designed for PCIE, not AGP adaptions)
PCIE equipped motherboards aren't so expensive (I believe their at the lowest in the $60 range...)

PCIE offers future expandability for the next generation of cards

so please, can we stop this whole "PCIE IS EVIL, LETS YELL AT IT UNTIL IT GOES AWAY" belief
and accept a few things:

A) PCIE is the new thing, it's the new wave, and the next generation of GPU's are all native PCIE, not AGP

B) PCIE is superior to AGP 8x, by leaps and bounds

C) PCIE is not expensive beyond all belief

D) on any computer costing over $700 PCIE should be included, with a PCIE graphics card

also
for your system
i'd suggest a new Intel Pentium D (newegg has them now, Tiger has the Athlon64x2 if you want one of those, but their more expensive) the dual 2.8GHZ one is around $313 (around the cost of a 3.4GHZ 6 series, or less)

it provides 64-bit
doesn't have HT, but it does have 2 2.8GHZ cores (so it's better than HT)
and it's avliable now
i'd suggest that for a CPU for the media PC for a few reasons:

A) it'll encode/render video and audio faster than almost any CPU (as it's like having 2 CPU's)

B) it'll provide a very powerful system

C) it keeps you on the cutting edge of technology, dual cored 64-bit CPU's are seeming to be the new wave, this is one of them

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Beware the OS.
Jun 9, 2005 5:54AM PDT

Many will haphazardly install TV tuners and more that have ZERO support in Windows Media Center. It's a common complaint.

Bob

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check out this mobo
Jun 9, 2005 6:41AM PDT
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eh shuttle esp for media center
Jun 9, 2005 7:32AM PDT
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$1200 isn't needed..
Jun 9, 2005 11:42AM PDT

If it's primarily used as a media center, you don't need the highest end equipment..

Here's what I'd do..

Pick up a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150MCE TV tuner w/radio tuner and a PVR-150 w/remote SageTV bundle here:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00064GI2O/qid=1118365274/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/104-3059912-7255961?v=glance&s=electronics&n=507846

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0007Q8GM6/qid=1118365348/sr=8-6/ref=pd_bbs_6/104-3059912-7255961?v=glance&s=electronics&n=172282

Also download MediaPortal: http://mediaportal.sourceforge.net/

Build your PC after purchasing the cards above.. Try looking for a soundstorm certified nforce2 motherboard from this list:
Abit AN-7 / Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe / DFI NFII Ultra Infinity /

Small form factor board: shuttle SN-45G

If you go with a above listed board, you won't need a additional high end sound card. In fact you'll have one of the only PC products on the planet that can provide true dolby digital encoded surround sound through the digital outputs on the board.

Install a 2500+ mobile(and overclock) or 3200+ barton AMD Athlon cpu.. From Newegg if possible.

Any recent video card supporting DirectX

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Building a Media Center PC.........Comments?
Jun 20, 2005 4:29AM PDT