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1st PC build in 3 years, need some info please

B

bswail123

Member
I have built many PCs in my past, but have had no need to do much tweaking in the past few years. My needs have recently changed as I have moved up to HDTV and Blu-Ray. My newest toy, however, is the Popcorn Hour A-100. The PS3 servers as the primary Blu-Ray player and the Popcorn goes alongside my DVD in the other room. Instead of buying another Blu-Ray player or PS3, I am looking to upgrade my PC to something that can convert my current Blu-Ray movies into MKV format so that I can watch on my Popcorn Hour in the other room.

1. What YOUR PC will be used for.
Mostly watching and converting Blu-Ray discs into MKV video for Popcorn Hour, web surfing and lite (and I mean lite) gaming.

2. What YOUR budget is.
under $2,000

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
USA, probably Newegg or zipzoomfly

4. IF YOU have a brand preference.
No real brand preference, I have always had the best luck with Intel even though they can be more pricey. Nvidia graphics boards are what I am use to as well.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
my current LCD is fine as far as i am concerned (17in), not sure if anything else is worth keeping.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
just looked at a few, no search (hey at least I found the sticky for the requirements of posting a build request 🙂

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Default speeds

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
with in the next 30-60 days (90 days if next month is slow at work)
 
1. What YOUR PC will be used for.
Mostly watching and converting Blu-Ray discs into MKV video for Popcorn Hour, web surfing and lite (and I mean lite) gaming.

2. What YOUR budget is.
under $2,000

You can use less then half of that limit and get great results for your designated use. Something like E8400 CPU, a $100 Gigabyte Mobo (EP45 DS3L), and ATI 4850 (when it reaches $150 shipped, and starts pushing into the budget price range). Don't forget a good quality power supply - Corsair 550W is solid, and BFG's new models are nice (only the ones rated continuous 40c!), and there are deals for PCP&C. You won't need more then 600W, even with a good safety margin. Total with other components should be around $800-900 max.

There is also the option to go even lighter, saving on every component and still getting good dual core performance for your main tasks - I can see a microATX setup for $500 possible.

Check the LCD thread and consider getting one of the 22" or 24" widescreen ones with a chunk of your budget - that is, unless you're already connected to a separate HDTV, then the 17" will be fine.
 
cool, thanks for the info on the specific parts Amart. Adding in new RAM, HDD and BD ROM drive, its looking like a $1100-1200 project. Definitely in budget.

--EDIT--

one more question about BD-ROM, do PC BD-ROM drive suffer the issue with Profiles that the standalones do? Or does the playback software tell the disc/player that it can handle 1.0, 1.1, or 2.0? I don't want to have to upgrade my BD-ROM again in a few months because a 2.0 disc won't play or be able to use all features. Thanks
 
A Quad CPU might be better now depending on How you are using your computer but what are you expecting it to proof in the future.

Future proofing in computer hardware means that the hardware that a person buys now would be upgradable with components that are Not yet released.

Or if there is No software that really uses the current capacity of a component and one is expected in the near future, one could by it now and hope that it would be compatible with the new software when it comes out.

Example for Future Proof would be buying a Motherboard with an expectation that few years from now it would accept whatever new CPU comes out.

In reality this term shown to be useless, the past shows us that almost nothing that produced was future proof for its life cycle and was capable to stand New innovative releases.

Therefore, while the future proof might have some psychological value to End-Users, it really means Nothing technology wise.
 
I'm sorry that I was not clear with my "future proofing". I guess what I was getting at was whether or not paying the extra would provide me with any benefits in the future that the dual core would not. Thanks
 
one more question about BD-ROM, do PC BD-ROM drive suffer the issue with Profiles that the standalones do? Or does the playback software tell the disc/player that it can handle 1.0, 1.1, or 2.0? I don't want to have to upgrade my BD-ROM again in a few months because a 2.0 disc won't play or be able to use all features. Thanks
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure this is a software issue, because the Blu-Ray player in the PS3 can be updated to whatever new specifications come out, i.e. it can upgrade from BR 1.0 to 2.0.
 
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