Building a PC for Home media?

[admin_exported]

Hey

I ruined my processor by trying to jam it in when the motherboard slot was locked [:$]

Anyway, got a nice mate that has a spare one, so I will need a Graphics card.

What I want to do, if possible is buy a card that has HDMI, and I can use with my amp, Pioneer VSX-819.

And use my stored media and use for home cinema and music

Any thoughts on this ?

Dont want to spend a lot as just bought a Quad core and cant afford much for a card.

Thanks

 

[cram]

I've been using an ATI 5450 card linked via HDMI to an Onkyo 876. This has worked fine for me. Media is stored on a pair of NAS devices.

 

[Anonymous]

Consider getting one of the newer Nvidia cards like the Asus GeForce G210 : http://www.ebuyer.com/product/176604

I have one of those in my small Media Center. It is low profile, audio is outputted in bitstream over HDMI leaving all the decoding to my amp.

Also, if you download/purchase the latest version of CoreAVC to decode your movies, it supports full GPU accelleration and will actually offload the video processing to the graphics card (look up CUVA technology inside CoraAVC http://corecodec.com/products/coreavc) instead of the processor. I can watch 1080p mkv movies on my media center now and run at about 15% CPU which is great - means my Media Center can still multitask and doesnt run very hot.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that guys, 2 nice cheap options with hdmi.

Will look at bench marks and see which ones best.

But totally forgot, need a HDD as only bought a barebones and put my old HDD in the new one.

Do you think I should:

1. buy an external and just transfer date onto that, and it can have my O/S on it?

2. Buy an internal and stream?

I am leaning towards the external, as have some blu-ray backups, and I dont think they will stream to well over homeplugs, or is it not like the PS3 were it stutters on MKV 10GB files?

Thanks again guys

 

[Anonymous]

I considered buying a HTPC / making one myself but they are very power consuming and can be loud.

Ive got a WDTV Live which is very small box that allows a USB hard drive to be plugged in, well x 2 of them and can access any networks shares too

This is what it looks like running, it includes movie sheets etc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVZ23bfUnfY

I then have 2 x 2TB hard drives in a Synology ds210j which plugs into my router and allows my PC and 2 WDTV Lives to access all the music, videos etc

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002U42XGI/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=103612307&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B002YUB6RU&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=07Y4HD2AETMP4Q4PK0DR

The synology will download NZB, Torrents etc and allows you to play music form the box to my iphone via a free app. It can also be managed and only costs sometihng like £20 in electricty a year if left on 24 hours a day

 

[Anonymous]

The thing is, I got the procesor free, and all I need is the HDD as I have the Operating system and memory and case and motherboard, so would work out cheaper this way, and also I can look on internet as well if need be, and have spotify downstairs as well, which would be cool.

 

[cram]

Are you saying you want an external drive because you want to plug it into other devices. If you are going external you are probably going USB which isn't a great way of booting up/running your PC

 

[Anonymous]

You need an internal hard drive for the OS - otherwise the pc will be unbareably slow.

Ideally u'd by an external networked drive for your media - plugged into ur wireless router, to make the media available to other devices on your wired/wireless network even when the pc is off.

If ur not gonna play the latest pc games a radeon 5450 (£35) would be ok,

if u wanna play some modern games then a 5750 (£130) would be better - if u wanna play the latest games u will need to pay (a lot) more.

Graphics cards can be the most expensive part of a computer these days.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that guys.

I have always been considering the network drive but they seem so expensive.

Would I need two? One for the PC upstairs and one down?

Also would you recomend to still have a cheap 120gb internal just for the O/S?

And no I wont be gaming, so its just for HD video.

Thanks guys

 

[cram]

duplicate post - would delete but the delete option errors

 

[cram]

For the new pc get an internal drive.

 

[Anonymous]

matt_jaggsy:

Consider getting one of the newer Nvidia cards like the Asus GeForce G210 : http://www.ebuyer.com/product/176604

I have one of those in my small Media Center. It is low profile, audio is outputted in bitstream over HDMI leaving all the decoding to my amp.

I don't think this is good advice. That card does not bitstream HD formats. It will decode them, but it can only pass 7.1 LPCM and bitstream regular (low res) DTS and dolby.

If you want to bitstream DTS-HD Master and True-HD to your receiver (and why wouldn't you want that) you need an Ati Radeon 5### card.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh, thanks for that, will get that one then.

Just need a cheap hdd, trying to find a 60-120gb one, but they are a lot more than I thought.

Might get one used off ebay I think, as only want to spend like 15-20 pounds as it only needs to hold the operating system

 

[Anonymous]

canada16:

Oh, thanks for that, will get that one then.

Just need a cheap hdd, trying to find a 60-120gb one, but they are a lot more than I thought.

Might get one used off ebay I think, as only want to spend like 15-20 pounds as it only needs to hold the operating system

I don't know where you'll place this HTPC, but I assume it will be near your seating position. Keep in mind that a hard drive can make a lot of noise, especially older models can make a constant whine, as well as loud clicks when reading and writing. There are quite silent HD's by Samsung and Western Digital (the 5400 rpm models), but those are well over that budget. If it has to be that cheap a used 2.5" notebook drive is a relatively quiet option.

Some lower end Ati Radeon 5### cards can be had with passive cooling as well (no fan), this will make a big difference to the overall noise level of your HTPC as well.