I'll start off by saying that I have not built a computer in about 7 years nor have I paid attention to all the new stuff that is out there. I've done my research and here's what I have come up with. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. I plan to use the computer to do the following: -Watch downloaded movies, DVDs, and streaming sites like Hulu and Youtube and listen to music -Possibly act as a server so my roommates and I can access music and movies on our laptops and bedroom televisions Here's the build I came up with: Case and Power Supply $59.99 hec Black 0.7mm Thickness SECC 7K09 Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811121027 Motherboard $74.99 ASUS M3N78-VM AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8200 HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131318 Processor $59.99 AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 Kuma 2.7GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Dual-Core black edition Processor Model AD775ZWCGHBOX - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103300 Memory $25.99 Kingston HyperX 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 Desktop Memory Model KHX8500D2/2G - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104072 Hard Drive $89.99 Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148433 DVD $23.99 SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223B - OEM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151187 Card Reader $9.99 PPA 2377 USB 2.0 Multi Card Reader - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820401011 Keyboard & Mouse $24.99 Logitech Cordless Desktop EX 100 Black USB RF Wireless Standard Keyboard and Mouse - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126041 Total: $369.22 Notes: -I have a 1TB external HD already -I'm not adding a TV Tuner at this time because I don't have cable a the moment -While I don't have a set budget, I like to get the best value for my money and don't have unlimited funds. Let's try keeping it under $400. -I do NOT plan to game on this! This is only being used to listen to music, watch movies, view photos, and go to video streaming sites. All other functions will be performed on my laptop. If there is anything else, please ask and thank you for your help and suggestions!
Case: Cheap fan & power supply, power supply is non-standard and does not allow for installation of a good unit. Also, does not support full-height cards...so you will not be able to use most PCIe x16 cards when you go to Bluray. Apevia makes some nice micro-media center cases. The X-Master 500 Series is nice, has a decent (not great, but OK) power supply, and is available in 5 different colors: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144232 (Blue) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144233 (Green) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144230 (Silver) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144231 (Black) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144234 (Red) Motherboard=Bad...you can get a much better spec'd Gigabyte that will also be more reliable for the same price: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128379 CPU=Good, especialy if someone figures out how to unlock the other two cores Memory=Bad, I would go with this stuff instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227178 Hard drive=good DVD=Bad; I would get one of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136147 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827129040 Card Reader=Low quality; I would go with: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820816001 Keyboard & Mouse= Good BTW...TV Tuner cards are not for people with cable or satelite. These people cannot tune stations with their cards because most HD stations are encrypted, and cablecard is not available outside of the OEM channels. TV tuners are really only usefull through an antenna.
