gogogadgetearl . theoretical media center setup
2007.09.22
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so a buddy of mine just put together a media center machine. he's had the tv for a couple years now, but just within the last month did he start taking full advantage of its 1080 awesomeness. comparing my 20" trinitron and soft-modded xbox to his setup in all of its glory has found me wanting. for the last couple of days i've been checking out all the sites, comparing prices, reading editor and consumer reviews. this is what i've come up with. granted, actually buying it is many months away (perhaps even a year or more), which means by the time i get the money together to get it, it'll be out-of-date. but, if i were to recommend a media center setup for right now to anyone, this is what it would be:
case
motherboard
processor
video card
tv screen
of course, you'd have to also get some ram (nothing over 4 gigs for a 32-bit OS) and a power supply (400watts minimum), and some sata drives to store all those high-def videos, encoded in MKV, 'cause you ain't gonna need a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player. for under 3 grand (under 500 if you've already got the tv, ram, PS and hard drives) you can have a stinkin' sweet setup.
...one day, media center, one day...
comments
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oh yeah, you'd also want some 5.1 or better surround sound goodness. i've got a thx certified logitech 5.1 system for the pc. it does me quite nicely. i'd recommend something by them or klipsch.
- [ 2007.09.22 | 1:22:34pm ]
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Yeh, you will definitely need a sound card that isn't on the mobo so you don't lose the processing power when you run 5.1. I would also suggest a water cooling device because that card is gonna SCREAM and the processor needs a much bigger fan than the one that comes retail. there is nothing I hate more is hearing ambient noise in my surroundings when i am listening for the ambient noise in a film.
- [ 2007.09.24 | 8:06:19am ]
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i would disagree. i'm running a similar setup currently, it's just not quite as new. it's a 64 x2 4200+proc with the stock heatsink and fan. and it stays very cool, even under load. the video card i have currently is a little old--a 6800 xtreme pci-e x16--it can get hot, but nothing to be concerned about. i'm pretty sure that the fan on the leadtek card would do fine--if not, getting a pci card fan would probably keep the heat down. the card i've got now does 720p beautifully, but nothing beyond that. the 5.1 i haven't tested--at least not with an hd video. with a standard dvd, the mobo's sound decoding doesn't cause any trouble at all.
i would agree that a water-cooling system would be nice, but i don't think it necessary whatsoever. my current setup stays around 27 Celsius, with the proc sometimes hitting 35 or so (but consistently at 30 or less). that's because i went with the 65w proc. i would bet that the "theoretical" system, if in a well-ventilated area, would be warmer than all of that, but not by much and would still be quite quiet.- [ 2007.09.24 | 11:14:21pm ]
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I agree with casey about the stock HSF for AMD processors, they work incredibly well for their size, I never had a need to replace it when I had my AMD64 chip. I did try watercooling to see if it would make a difference, and while it did, it was only around 5 degrees Celsius at its peak performance. I really would recommend staying away from pci slot fans, in my experience they are a waste of power with zero positive performance differences.
I think I have a similar setup to what you guys are talking about when it comes to home theater, except its spread out over the whole house. I use my PC to record and encode video, then send it to a 1TB MyBook World Edition sitting behind my Xbox360 through a wireless N network so that I don't strain the internet while streaming TV. Yes, the 360 only reads WMV format, (unless you count DVR-MS formats for recording TV in MCE, and it all outputs to a 52" Projector HDTV, (it was cheap), and a 5.1 RCA System in a box, (also cheap). I was considering a HTPC for the longest time, but after I bought the 360, things pretty much shifted to using the Media Center Extender.- [ 2007.09.25 | 8:14:46am ]
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casey, that video card is way overkill. if you're only watching tv and movies on the system (not playing the latest hardcore games), there is no reason to get anything more than this...which is less than half the price of the card you posted. plus, that card doesn't have a fan, so that will keep the ambient noise down, too. :-)
Also, 32-bit Windows systems can't handle any more than 3GB of RAM (not 4).- [ 2007.09.28 | 2:13:35pm ]
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once again, i have to disagree. the video card my buddy got is a fanless 7200gt (or 7300--i forget). it'll play 720p, but nothing higher. granted, the tv i listed probably wouldn't show much, if any, difference in the video quality--but i want the machine to be capable of doing it. and the fanless part does cut down on the noise, but drastically raises the overall temperature of the card and case. plus, by the time i get the money together for it, i'm sure the card will be greatly reduced in price.
concerning the ram--our machines at work have 4 gb in them -- they show in vista as 3.5. i simply meant that 4 gb is the most you would need, and it would just be easier to get 2 (or 4) sticks totaling 4 gb; 3.5 would be awkward to do.- [ 2007.09.29 | 12:05:24am ]