Computer guys, hardware recommendations?

[z31maniac]

Hahaha, that's what I was thinking but wanted to double check.

I'm going to go with that combo you posted up, add in 4gb of DDR3 1800 memory, and the few other things and go for it.

Hopefully I'll have it all put together and ready to go by the end of next week.

[StereoInstaller1]

Oh, how big a power supply should I buy for all this?

BluRay, internet, all of that crap is just about zero stress to a modern PC: IF you aren't gonna be gaming with todays games, go for the quietest you can find, basically ignoring wattage.

[nando]

oh I should disclose I'm an AMD shareholder but I wasn't until after I built my last machine. ;)

[z31maniac]

^That's alright. I'd rather purchase an AMD than an Intel, the computers I built in high school and college I always used AMD.

It's just been so long since I've spec'd one out, I wanted some additional input.


Regarding my dual HD idea. Is there even going to be a difference between a 7200 and 10000 rpm HD as far as speed? IE, worth the cost? Or should I just double up on 1TB drives for mega-storage space, unless I'm willing to put the OS on a SSD.

[nando]

maybe if you spend all day on it surfing pr0n, but if it's a HTPC that mostly plays movies and streaming TV shows, I doubt it. Windows7 boots pretty fast anyway, especially if you use sleep mode instead of powering it all the way down.

[StereoInstaller1]

I hear "sleep" (Suspend to RAM, right?) actually works on 7. I hope it does, my XP Pro SP3 fully updated HT3.0Ghz P4 desktop keeps waking itself up, I now have to physically shut off the monitor...how annoying.

I think an HTPC needs a good sleep mode...now if I could figure out a way to wake on a bluetooth trigger, so it knows when I am in the room!

[nando]

there's sleep and hybernate.. I don't think hybernate worked so well in XP. I use sleep all the time on my XP laptop though.

[StereoInstaller1]

Which one pops right back up?

[BraveUlysses]

Wait, I'm not seeing enough of your requirements for this project...what are you looking for the HTPC to accomplish that a PS3 with ps3mediaserver cannot do?

You're not looking to rip DVDs/BRDs, right? Not looking to play emulated games, right?

If you're looking for something to stream high-definition video, the PS3 works perfectly. Stream from your main PC and save yourself 300-500 bucks.

Regarding my dual HD idea. Is there even going to be a difference between a 7200 and 10000 rpm HD as far as speed? IE, worth the cost? Or should I just double up on 1TB drives for mega-storage space, unless I'm willing to put the OS on a SSD.

Definitely don't need more than 5400rpm drive, and certainly not a SSD or 10k drive.

[nando]

Which one pops right back up?

sleep mode, takes like 5 seconds to wake my Win7 machine.

[z31maniac]

Wait, I'm not seeing enough of your requirements for this project...what are you looking for the HTPC to accomplish that a PS3 with ps3mediaserver cannot do?

You're not looking to rip DVDs/BRDs, right? Not looking to play emulated games, right?

If you're looking for something to stream high-definition video, the PS3 works perfectly. Stream from your main PC and save yourself 300-500 bucks.

It's also replacing the computer we have now and going in the living room.

[z31maniac]

Well I ordered the CPU/Mobo/video card suggested by nando (even though the video card is a bit overkill for how I'll use it I think), added in 4gb of DDR3 RAM, a nice power supply, DVD burner, Antec case, a 120gb HD for the OS and a 1TB drive for media storage

[StereoInstaller1]

Which case? HTPC specific?

[z31maniac]

I ordered an Antec 300 Illusion series. All the nice HTPC cases were too pricey for my liking. And I read lots of complaints about being low on space as well.

We got it put together and Windows 7 loaded on today. Still doing a bit of tweaking here and there, but I'm posting from it now in the living room.

We will be canceling the Cable TV in just a few days.

Just gotta figure out how I'm going to get F1/WRC.

[bramon]

So, bringing it back from the dead, I'm looking into building a gaming desktop, basically the only requirement is to run Skyrim on it's highest setting and not feel like I'll have to upgrade it in 3-4 years, so maybe be able to play a new game in 5 years on a very good resolution... I was looking at a parts list like one of these - Tier 7 and just wanted to know what some of you thought.

http://www.hardware-revolution.com/mainstream-gaming-pc-v301-updated-hard-drives/#CPU