Hey guys,

I'm trying to figure out what all hardware I'm going to need to build a decent media center. I'm going to use it to connect directly to my TV. I want to use it to watch TV and record shows, I basically just want it was a DVR, but I like the idea of having it for storing music and movies and whatnot as well.

I have:

2 x 350 gb WD 7200s
512 of generic RAM.
Decent older motherboard, I don't remember what socket though. I'm probably going to get another one anyway, probably going with another AMD.

What I need:

Video Card
Sound Card
CPU
Any other suggestions.

So, anyone have a list of the hardware that I would need? I want the best possible picture quality going to my TV. My TV doesn't have VGA-In, so I need one that will give me a good picture with either S-Video or RCA Jacks. This thing is going to be specifically a TV/Movie/DVR system, I am NOT going to be playing games on it at all. And I play on using Windows Media Center Edition. So, I dont care if the video card is beefy enough to play games, just as long as it will give me an excellent picture when I use my DVR and DVD player part of the system.

Thanks in advance for all the help!

For a CPU you should be fine with just about any AMD.You can pick up a S939 Athlon 3200 for $59 which would be just fine for everything you need. You may also be interested in getting a seperate cooler for it if you're interested in keeping quiet/oc'ing.

I would recomend getting a seperate graphics card even if you've got integrated graphics. If you intend on watching HD content you'll definatly want one. I would recomend an ATI graphics card because they are far superior in terms of video quality/graphics acceleration. A Radeon X1650 would probably be just fine.

Forgetting the most improtant part... the tuner..

Unless you want over the air HDTV pick up an ATI theater 550 based card like this one
Newegg.com - MSI MS-8621-010 TV Tuner Low Profile PCI Card - Retail

ATI also makes an HDTV Wonder if you want that capability.

Might be benificial to pick up two tuners, so you can watch tv and record a different channel. I know the WIndows Media Center in vista supports it, but I don't know about other versions.

I have a media PC that I built some time ago and made some bad desicions that I can help you avoid.

CPU: Celeron 2.93GHz
It has enough power for media playback & recording + folding but runs a little hot. I would go with an Athlon64 or C2D

Video: NVidia 5600XT passive cooler
Video playback works fine and has drivers for media center. For newer content like Blu-ray and HD-DVD it doesn't have a chance. I would get a 7600 or higher.

TV Tuner: Hauppage 150
Do not think of getting a tuner without hardware encoding. The Hauppage 150 (or 500 for dual tuner) or the ATI 550 (or the newer 650) are what you should get

Remote control: Hauppage
I have the Hauppage remote that came with the TV tuner card. It does the job.

HD: WD 200GB
Get a big HD - the bigger the better.

RAM: 512MB
This is what I had lying around. This is what I would consider the minimum. On the other hand you will not benefit from having a lot of RAM on a media center PC so unless you have some lying around or got a great deal on some RAM, 1 gig would be overkill.

Case: Modified mATX tower case
I have modified a mATX Acer tower by chopping it and making it only slightly higher than a mATX mobo.
The PSU was relocated and the intake has a 120mm fan. Since the case is very cramped the air flow through the case is very bad. The CPU is running very hot. I have just purchased a Ahanix D.Vine 5 but I haven't installed the system in it yet, and I am not sure if I will use it since it is really too big for my media cabinet.

My general guidelines would be: unless you plan on playing HD video from Blu-ray or HD-DVD, get a mid-range system (from a video/RAM/CPU) standpoint with a large HD and a high quality tuner. Tuner support is the most important thing when building a media center PC.

I planned on getting a Hauppage TV Tuner.

I have a quick question though, since this is my first media center i'm pretty much clueless on how they work. I know the Tuner card is what actually lets you watch the TV, but is it going to be setup like a normal computer and use the video card as the output to my tele, or is it going to be the Hauppage card that actually does that?

Thanks

Quote: Originally Posted by DeadOnShot I planned on getting a Hauppage TV Tuner. I have a quick question though, since this is my first media center i'm pretty much clueless on how they work. I know the Tuner card is what actually lets you watch the TV, but is it going to be setup like a normal computer and use the video card as the output to my tele, or is it going to be the Hauppage card that actually does that? Thanks

The Video card gives the output, either through VIVO or the S-video, depends on the card.

I've not got mine hooked up to a tv, so I don't know too much about it.

Well I know that a TV's native resolution is far different than that of a PC monitors and most of the time it ends up looking like garbage on a TV. But I think you can drop the resolution down far enough to get it to look decent, using S-Video anyway. I imagine it'd look a lot better with VIVO.

Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it. Should have it done in a couple weeks.

I got something like this ASUSTeK Computer Inc. bundled with a 2800+, then two Hauppage PVR-150s. It was cheap and does everything I want it to (that being, only a DVR), all with onboard video and sound. When I found the right drivers it even worked in linux

Quote: Originally Posted by _Sexy_Pants_ I got something like this ASUSTeK Computer Inc. bundled with a 2800+, then two Hauppage PVR-150s. It was cheap and does everything I want it to (that being, only a DVR), all with onboard video and sound. When I found the right drivers it even worked in linux

Nice, but will that support standard video? I dont have an HDTV.

Yep! That's the yellow one (or svideo, if your TV is better than mine)

Quote: Originally Posted by _Sexy_Pants_ Yep! That's the yellow one (or svideo, if your TV is better than mine)

Sweet, I'm probaby going to order that motherboard tommorow. Yay for media centers and pointless computer stuff to spend money on!