Building a HTPC (Home Theatre Personal Computer)

[galbicake]

I was able to snag a Ultra Microfly Case for a great deal. So now begins my long journey of filling it.

I already have a Antec 350W PSU lying around. I just took a plunge on a 160GB HD.

I would like some recommendation & bargain prices in a few areas:

- Motherboard (preferably Socket 939)
- Video Card (assumption is PCI-E?)
- TV Tuner card (thinking about Hauppage 500 but seems very expensive)
- Beyond TV (or GBPR?)
- RAM (probably 2 x 1GB sticks of value RAM...)
- Sound Card (may be unnessary since this will be running off a 24" TV)
- Wireless desktop (thinking about Gyration)

Thanks!

 

[Raduque]

I can't recommend a specific mobo for you, but just about any stable 939 mobo w/ at least an A64 3500 should do. Since you're only connecting it to a small SDTV, an x1300se should do fine, as well.

Hauppage 500 is dual-tuner.. do you need to be able to record two shows at once? If so, and you're trying to keep the price down, pcalchemy.com is selling the PVR150MCE with no FM tuner for around $60 - a pair of those will work just as well as a 500, and you can buy them one at a time. NVidia Dualtune if you can find one, is also a good alternative in the single-slot dual-tuner.

Also if you're going to plug the output from your soundcard into the back of the TV, then yea, you can get by with just onboard.

I unfortunately can't help with your front-end or wireless kb/mouse combo, I use Media Center and a remote, and VNC to do maintenance.

 

[adammthompson]

Motherboard--Asus A8N-VM, $81 Newegg. You get HD audio, which is probably a good idea if you're going to do w/o a separate soundcard.

Video--Is this just for HDTV or also for gaming? If no gaming, then just use the onboard graphics. If gaming, how about a GIGABYTE GV-NX76T256D-RH GeForce 7600GT with passive cooling ($146 Newegg AR).

RAM--I'd say 2 x 512 MB sticks of value RAM, like Corsair Value Select.

Wireless desktop--Too much a matter of personal preference. I'd probably go for a reburbished Logitech MX3000 keyboard/mouse for $41 from Justdeals.

 

[galbicake]

I guess I can go dual card since I have 4 slots.

Thinking about it, I should probably go with 2 PCI cards, 1 PCI Sound card & 1 PCI-E video card?

Just thinking outloud...