Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Looking to build a media center PC....need some advice.

asudevil83 · 07-30-2005, 08:56 PM

i'm going to be moving into a buddy of mine's house early next month. the room that i'm getting isnt the biggest room, and in fact its pretty fucking small. so space is an issue right now i'm looking to buy a PC, and figure that the best way to get what i want and best way to max what i get for the money is to build my own. and a SFF one would be a nice way to save space.

i figure a GREAT way to save some space is to consolidate electronics. so that means building something that'll become my theater, gaming system, and regular PC. and i also figure that i can give myself a little bonus by adding some great features for a small price.

so this is what i've found so far. its pretty much a complete system, so i'm just looking for some recommendations and advice.

CASE - $92?
i had settled on a case that would be perfect for what i wanted to do. the Antec Aria mATX case. its small, slick, and still does exactly what i need. comes with a 300W power supply which is a plus.
Picture

MB - $87?
this is where i'm having issues. i had settled on a motherboard, but i stupidly overlooked one thing. i need a Micro ATX board. DUH....but oh well. i originally was going to purchase an ASUS A8V-E. PCI-E x16 slot, 2 PCI-E x1 slots, and 3 PCI slots. the best feature was the built-in wireless.
INFO

but after that dissappointment i found one that MIGHT work. The MSI RS480M2-IL. PCI-E x16 slot, and 3 PCI slots. as far as features go, i dont know if it competes with the Asus. but its gotten great reviews at Newegg, so i think this should suffice.
INFO

the other option would be to stick with the ASUS and find myself another case. but the MSI would eliminate the immediate need for a Video Card, so that's a plus.

CPU - $190
i'm thinking athlon 64 for this. Athlon's run cooler the P4's, and i just like the design better. so the processor i want is Athlon 63 3200+ Venice. its not too expensive, but still has plenty of power.
INFO

Memory - $84
2 sticks of 512MB Corsair Memory. i'm not a memory buff, so i'm a little iffy on what to do here. i know Corsair is a reputable name, and figure that this should be good enough.

HD - $98
Western Digital 200GB HD. here, i need a good amount of space. if i'm going to be recording television, then space on this HD will be taken up fast. i'm on a bit of a budget, but i figure that 200GB should be plenty for now.

DVD-RW - $45
Lite-on 16x DVR, 6X DVD-RW, 16X ROM.....blah blah. i've heard some good things about Lite-on, and finding a DVD-RW for a decent price is good enough for me.

Video Cards - $89? AND $99
MSI RX600XT-TD128EII. i'm not a HUGE gamer, but i want to be able to play some games sometimes. this is a middle of the road card. cheap, but packs enough punch to play recent games. i'm not TOO concerned here. i could save some money with the MSI board and go the integrated route for now, but i think that i'm going to need a decent Video Card for this next piece of hardware.
INFO

Fusion HDTV 5 Lite - i'd like to be able to watch some high quality tv. my buddy has Cox Digital Cable, and i figure that i'd be nice to watch sports with a NICE signal. $100 extra isnt much to turn my computer into an HDTV reciever.
INFO

OS - $125
Windows XP Media Edition. it does pretty much everything i need. no explaination needed here.

Monitor - $240 after rebates
Fuji Plus FP-988D 19" 12ms LCD. i plan on using a monitor as my television. Fuji makes a pretty nice one, and its not all that expensive. its gotten great reviews on NewEgg.
INFO

so based on all of this i think i can build myself a great little PC for $1200 or so. i just need to figure out what to do about the Motherboard. do i go the ASUS way and find another case? or should i stick with the MSI? and if i do stick with the MSI should i stick with the onboard graphics or pick up the video card? additionally, because the ASUS comes with built-in wireless, i'm saving some money there.

i myself am a little iffy on getting a board with integrated video. i've never upgraded from onboard to off-board video, so i dont know if there would be any issues with it and the HDTV receiver. any help would be great.

07-30-2005, 08:56 PM	#1 (permalink)
asudevil83 Psycho Location: Scottsdale, AZ	Looking to build a media center PC....need some advice. i'm going to be moving into a buddy of mine's house early next month. the room that i'm getting isnt the biggest room, and in fact its pretty fucking small. so space is an issue right now i'm looking to buy a PC, and figure that the best way to get what i want and best way to max what i get for the money is to build my own. and a SFF one would be a nice way to save space. i figure a GREAT way to save some space is to consolidate electronics. so that means building something that'll become my theater, gaming system, and regular PC. and i also figure that i can give myself a little bonus by adding some great features for a small price. so this is what i've found so far. its pretty much a complete system, so i'm just looking for some recommendations and advice. CASE - $92? i had settled on a case that would be perfect for what i wanted to do. the Antec Aria mATX case. its small, slick, and still does exactly what i need. comes with a 300W power supply which is a plus. Picture MB - $87? this is where i'm having issues. i had settled on a motherboard, but i stupidly overlooked one thing. i need a Micro ATX board. DUH....but oh well. i originally was going to purchase an ASUS A8V-E. PCI-E x16 slot, 2 PCI-E x1 slots, and 3 PCI slots. the best feature was the built-in wireless. INFO but after that dissappointment i found one that MIGHT work. The MSI RS480M2-IL. PCI-E x16 slot, and 3 PCI slots. as far as features go, i dont know if it competes with the Asus. but its gotten great reviews at Newegg, so i think this should suffice. INFO the other option would be to stick with the ASUS and find myself another case. but the MSI would eliminate the immediate need for a Video Card, so that's a plus. CPU - $190 i'm thinking athlon 64 for this. Athlon's run cooler the P4's, and i just like the design better. so the processor i want is Athlon 63 3200+ Venice. its not too expensive, but still has plenty of power. INFO Memory - $84 2 sticks of 512MB Corsair Memory. i'm not a memory buff, so i'm a little iffy on what to do here. i know Corsair is a reputable name, and figure that this should be good enough. HD - $98 Western Digital 200GB HD. here, i need a good amount of space. if i'm going to be recording television, then space on this HD will be taken up fast. i'm on a bit of a budget, but i figure that 200GB should be plenty for now. DVD-RW - $45 Lite-on 16x DVR, 6X DVD-RW, 16X ROM.....blah blah. i've heard some good things about Lite-on, and finding a DVD-RW for a decent price is good enough for me. Video Cards - $89? AND $99 MSI RX600XT-TD128EII. i'm not a HUGE gamer, but i want to be able to play some games sometimes. this is a middle of the road card. cheap, but packs enough punch to play recent games. i'm not TOO concerned here. i could save some money with the MSI board and go the integrated route for now, but i think that i'm going to need a decent Video Card for this next piece of hardware. INFO Fusion HDTV 5 Lite - i'd like to be able to watch some high quality tv. my buddy has Cox Digital Cable, and i figure that i'd be nice to watch sports with a NICE signal. $100 extra isnt much to turn my computer into an HDTV reciever. INFO OS - $125 Windows XP Media Edition. it does pretty much everything i need. no explaination needed here. Monitor - $240 after rebates Fuji Plus FP-988D 19" 12ms LCD. i plan on using a monitor as my television. Fuji makes a pretty nice one, and its not all that expensive. its gotten great reviews on NewEgg. INFO so based on all of this i think i can build myself a great little PC for $1200 or so. i just need to figure out what to do about the Motherboard. do i go the ASUS way and find another case? or should i stick with the MSI? and if i do stick with the MSI should i stick with the onboard graphics or pick up the video card? additionally, because the ASUS comes with built-in wireless, i'm saving some money there. i myself am a little iffy on getting a board with integrated video. i've never upgraded from onboard to off-board video, so i dont know if there would be any issues with it and the HDTV receiver. any help would be great.