Building my own PC

[thermal]

Well, since it has been dead around the site..... so why not start a post somewhere since I know most of you beecheess are computer geeks...

Ok... here we go.

My fiancee and I wanna do something together....like a project. So we've decided to put together a CPU that will allow us to plug it in to our 1080p TV. We obviously want to have the capability of surfing the web as well via a wireless card. We are not trying to build a super entertainment CPU. I dont need to have a BluRay player since I already have a PS3.... however, the use of HDMI interface came to our mind.

Keep in mind that I have no experience in building PC's. I have less than basic know-how... but I do have a good idea on what needs to be had to build one after reading a few articles online. The only thing is, most of the links I read online are dated pretty old.... you, college peeps gotta know what is "decent" out there nowadays.

Enough of that talk.... please reply and make suggestions:

1) Motherboard. My girl periodically plays online video games.... not hardcore stuff tho. So, I'm looking for something with a decent onboard video card and sound card.... although, I am really contemplating on having an upgraded sound card.

2) Hardrive. We are thinking around 250gb.... with an 80gb slave/backup. We are mostlikely going to store several movies.

3) HDMI card. no clue about this......

4) Memory. Will a 1gb good enough? I want something decently fast.

5) USB interface. I think I can figure out how to do this... cant be too hard.

6) CD/DVD RW. Gotta have decent speed.

7) Wireless Card.

8) Power supply.

I know that I'm not giving you guys/gals that much info here... hehehe. But if you could give me suggestions, brand, and maybe even cheap places to buy these things, that'll be greatly appreciated.

... wish us luck... We are actually pretty excited about this THANKS!

[ebpda9]

if you want to output to tv then i suggest a nice AGP videocard. Maybe you could have the internal videocard run a separate monitor, and with a touchscreen.

Depending if you want to use vista then i think you should go for the maximum ram the motherboard will allow. Anyway the vista home premium comes with a nice media center, and the TCP/IP stacks in vista are a lot faster than XP, so internet browsing and downloads in vista are a lot faster than any other os out there.

[thermal]

That I didnt know about Vista.... I'll look into that. I did thought about an upgraded video card. I see what you mean about maximizing the RAM tho... thanks Stef!

I just realized that the case comes with the power supply already....

[ebpda9]

yeah most cases come with the power supply already. Just make sure you get a powersupply that has enough juice to run all that computer. Depending on the processor and video card i would say you would nedd at least a 400w one.

[thermal]

yes masta .... thanks bro.

[Racing Rice]

HDMI video cards DO exist, but they are more then likely pricey.

MSI's NX7600GT - is an HDMI video card that starts around $190 or so. I also recommend.

Check out these links for some ideas about building a Multimedia PC.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1602268,00.asp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldJNp6wdfqI
http://electronicdesign.com/Articles...eID=13330&pg=9
http://www.electronichouse.com/artic...i_media_pc/C43

I would use newegg.com to for the hardware. I've always had good luck. Start pricing the parts you want to use. I would suggest getting 2GB of memory if you decide to go with Vista, just to be on the safe side.

USB should be on the mother board, that shouldn't be an issue.

Wireless I recommend Linksys. I've always had good luck with their products.

Harddrive, the bigger the better.

CD/DVD RW are easy to find at a reasonable price.

Power Supply 400W would be minimum. I would figure out what video card you are going to run because some of the newer ones require higher power Power Supplies.

Motherboard and Processor, I would get a Dual core at minimum..

[thermal]

Thanks bro... will surely look into all those links. I saved a few videos as well... your youtube link is awesome tho!!!

[Racing Rice]

Good luck with the build, if you have anymore questions don't hesitate to ask.

[GT40FIED]

Ok...so I'm late to this one...fuck off.

I just got done putting a new PC together primarily for video editing/processing (should work pretty much the same for multimedia use). Basic specs are AMD 6400 "Black Edition" dual core CPU, 4GB memory, 300GB HDD, and an Nvidia 8500GT 1GB video card all with an Aseus motherboard (no clue which one, though). It destroys movies like a bastard. My old PC would encode movies to DVD at roughly a 1:1 ratio...this one clocks in at over 5:1 usually. Takes about 20 minutes to encode a full movie. It's really just disgustingly fast. All in all cost me about $1000.

Observation: Why can't anyone make non-gay cases these days? I didn't want one with a wondiw or fancy lights and shit...but it seems like that's 99.9% of the market these days.

[ebpda9]

tuck i inst bought me a tablet P.c. Portability is more important\ for me these days.
i hate the lighted cases. I mish is could find something basic for my home sewers project. oh well I'll inst disable the lights.

[ChrisCantSkate]

^drunk?

[GT40FIED]

Probably just foreign.

[ebpda9]

Originally Posted by ChrisCantSkate

^drunk?

nope. just using the pen to write instead of the keyboard. I hate it when it gets the word right then at the last second it changes cause vista thinks i mean something different. trying to write engine codes or mpg, mph is also an experience

[hvxll2]

Good

[susu]

Wow! Thanks for your sharing.

[franchesska]

I gave up on TV. I watch films on the computer

[franchesska]

It's easier and more convenient. And now there is more space in the house.