First time build

mossy9984

hey looking for advice on first time build budget is around 500-1000 euro pc will be used primerly as a media center for streaming/downloading and watching media on hdtv will need the following

Case
PSU
Operating system
CPU
motherboard
ram
graphics card
HDD
disc drive

murphthesmurf

Hi there, basically your looking at building a Home Theater PC then.
You'll want a nice quiet case like this -
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/fractal-design-define-r3-titanium-grey-mid-tower-case-with-frontal-door-no-psu
You want need to much power cpu and graphics wise, so maybe 1 of these cpu's -
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel-core-i3-2100-1155-sdy-bridge-31ghz-5-gt-s-gpu-850mhz-3mb-cache-core-r-31x-65w-retail
with this motherboard -
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-p8h67-m-lx-intel-h67-s-1155-pci-e-20-(x16)-ddr3-1066-1333-sata-3gb-s-raid-matx-vga
and one of these graphics cards -
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-sapphire-hd5770-pci-e-20(x16)-4800mhz-gddr5-gpu-850mhz-cores-800-2x-dl-dvi-i-hdmi
some ram -
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/4gb-(2x2gb)-corsair-xms3-classic-ddr3-pc3-10666-(1333)-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-9-9-9-24-150v
hard drive, these are good -
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/ss1tb-samsung-hd103sj-spinpoint-f3-sata-3gb-s-7200rpm-32mb-cache-89-ms-ncq-oem
PSU, something like this -
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/500w-antec-bp500u-gb-basiq-power-80mm-quiet-fan-dual-rail-atx12v-v201
I quoted them all from Scan for speed, but shop around see what deals you can get. The main thing for a HTPC is to keep it nice and quiet, I use my PC for watching films, but as I also use it for gaming and overclocking I have quite a noisy case which can be annoying when watching films.
The ATI 5770 is a favourite for HTPC builds, more than enough power, and nice and quiet. The Fractal design case I speced is nice and quiet while keeping things plenty cool enough.

murphthesmurf

All the above comes to £486 sterling, not including shipping.
You could go for a slightly cheaper graphics card such as a ATI 5670 or even as low as a 5450. The other option is to get one of the new Intel sandybridge cpu's that have a gpu (graphics processing unit) built into them, or the new AMD apu's which are the same sort of thing (a cpu and gpu in one). like these -
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel-core-i5-2300-socket-1155-sandy-bridge-quad-core-28ghz-gpu-850mhz-6mb-cache-95w-retail
or the AMD version (which maybe has a slightly better gpu) though i'm not sure of the availability of these yet. The cpu would cost slightly more, but no need for a gpu so save money that way.
Note, this system would only really be suitable for HTPC or internet surfing, photo editing etc. If you have any intention of doing any gaming now or in the future, this system would not be suitable.
Have a read through Toms hardware website and forums, they do a bit with HTPC's on there for some more info and alternatives -
http://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCMQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tomshardware.com%2F&ei=Jh92TamLMIy4hAfppaH-Bg&usg=AFQjCNEag1Mur5C1_dzeUbsLofiq6WkKcQ

VenomIreland

murphthesmurf wrote: »

Hi there, basically your looking at building a Home Theater PC then.
You'll want a nice quiet case like this -
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/fractal-design-define-r3-titanium-grey-mid-tower-case-with-frontal-door-no-psu
You want need to much power cpu and graphics wise, so maybe 1 of these cpu's -
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel-core-i3-2100-1155-sdy-bridge-31ghz-5-gt-s-gpu-850mhz-3mb-cache-core-r-31x-65w-retail
with this motherboard -
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-p8h67-m-lx-intel-h67-s-1155-pci-e-20-(x16)-ddr3-1066-1333-sata-3gb-s-raid-matx-vga
and one of these graphics cards -
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-sapphire-hd5770-pci-e-20(x16)-4800mhz-gddr5-gpu-850mhz-cores-800-2x-dl-dvi-i-hdmi
some ram -
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/4gb-(2x2gb)-corsair-xms3-classic-ddr3-pc3-10666-(1333)-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-9-9-9-24-150v
hard drive, these are good -
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/ss1tb-samsung-hd103sj-spinpoint-f3-sata-3gb-s-7200rpm-32mb-cache-89-ms-ncq-oem
PSU, something like this -
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/500w-antec-bp500u-gb-basiq-power-80mm-quiet-fan-dual-rail-atx12v-v201
I quoted them all from Scan for speed, but shop around see what deals you can get. The main thing for a HTPC is to keep it nice and quiet, I use my PC for watching films, but as I also use it for gaming and overclocking I have quite a noisy case which can be annoying when watching films.
The ATI 5770 is a favourite for HTPC builds, more than enough power, and nice and quiet. The Fractal design case I speced is nice and quiet while keeping things plenty cool enough.

No need to make it like a desktop if it's a HTPC, this would do nicely (swap back in the 5770 and change the Athlon to a Phenom II X4 if you will be doing any gaming at all) :

mossy9984

Thanks lads really appreciate the help i think ill stick to a tower case but as space is not an issue as tower will be hidden behind tv stand also am thinking of over specing pc as budget is not really an issue girlfriend will be contributing most funds as bday present ha ha and am thinking of doing some gaming prob just real time strategy ps1 and ps2 emulators what kinda spec will be required to run these???

VenomIreland

mossy9984 wrote: »

Thanks lads really appreciate the help i think ill stick to a tower case but as space is not an issue as tower will be hidden behind tv stand also am thinking of over specing pc as budget is not really an issue girlfriend will be contributing most funds as bday present ha ha and am thinking of doing some gaming prob just real time strategy ps1 and ps2 emulators what kinda spec will be required to run these???

The Phenom II X4's and a 5770 (GTX460 if 1080p) should be more than enough for that and others.

Effluo

No matter what your budget is, spending more money on a machine to do your kind of tasks would be pointless.
Performance benefits would just be minimal in ratio to the cost.
Even the pc's specced here are probably overkill.


You could do what you want with one of those atom/ion platforms for circa €300 built.

I know ebuyer don't deliver to Ireland anymore, but they're not the only people to supply these things
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/236580


If I were you however, I'd probably get a blu-ray drive with the pc too, if it's going to spend it's life behind the tv then you might aswell add that extra functionality for around 50euro more.


Good wireless keyboard(with a big range) and it will become a great tool. You might look into those wireless keyboards with trackpads built into them, they're essentially made from htpc's

edit:
Found one
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/104608

Also if you're looking for playstation emulators check out these controllers.

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/usb-gamepad-with-analog-sticks-and-vibration-3686

I have some of those and they're great! I would order at least one more than you think you want, as with all game controllers they are liable to break. Delivery from that website is about 3 weeks and you have to make sure that your order is below 21euro in value each time as you will have to pay import taxes and admin fees if you spend more than that.(around 15euro more for each delivery) Delievery is free so you can make as many orders as you like and it will cost you the same amount.

Something good to get with those controllers is usb extenders too.
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/translucent-5ft-usb-2-0-extension-cable-2510

Get some of those in black to match the controllers.

murphthesmurf

As above. I'd probably go with the 5770 card as it'll be nice and quiet for when your watching films but still have more than enough power to play the games you want to. Its prob always best to spec it slightly higher than what you need imo, as it'll future proof it a little more. Also if you decide to have a dabble in any other kind of games such as COD then you can (on lower settings).
If you go for a tower case get 1 similar to what I posted as its nice and quiet, I know from experience that having a noisy system is real annoying when trying to watch films.