Building Media PC

[saltynay]

Well you want to use hdmi right then you need to interlace the audio with the video to send it through to the tv you do this by connecting the soundcard and graphics card together so that they can talk with each other. If you don't want to send audio down the hdmi cable then just connect the soundcard directly to your speaker system. A soundcard is a generic umbrella term for lots of different brands and models each with there own connection details. I would reccomend using a digital out like a spdif out on the card and dirrectly attaching it to the receiver/amplifier.

The timings on the ram are good btw and the price is very decent, we don't reccomend rubbish parts without instantly arguing and flaming each other

 

[Druid]

Alright then, gonna go with this:

CPU: Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 Wolfdale 2.66GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
Mobo: Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TForce TP45HP LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards - really have no clue with mobos, just found this one in recommended components topic
Ram: Newegg.com - OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory
GPU: Newegg.com - ASUS EAH4870 DK/HTDI/1GD5 Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards - price just went up on these too
PSU: Newegg.com - hec X-Power Pro 650 650W Continuous @ 40°C ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply - Power Supplies - this brand reliable?
HDD: Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives
Case: Newegg.com - Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases
Sound card: Newegg.com - ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 Channels PCI Express Interface Sound Card - Sound Cards
optical drive: Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 6X Blu-ray DVD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-Ray DVD Drive & DVD Burner with LightScribe Model iHES206-08 - Blu-Ray Drives - no idea if that's good enough
OS: Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD - Operating Systems - anything wrong with OEM?
heatsink: Newegg.com - Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound - Thermal Compound / Grease
HDMI cable: Newegg.com - SYBA 15 ft. HDMI to HDMI Cable Model SY-HDMI-MM15 - Cables
SPDIF cable: Newegg.com - Rosewill RCW-930 12 FT. High Performance Audio cable M-M - Audio Video Cables - is this what you're saying I need?

So, all that, and I need to know the advantages of the g15 keyboard over the g11 that would make the cost double.

 

[saltynay]

We have a psu brand list
http://www.techist.com/forums/f76/read-first-updated-power-supply-guide-137927/
HEC is on the avoid so I wouldn't get it Corsair 620tx would be better.
Get this motherboard instead Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
Get the d2x or d2 they are newer
OEM is for system builders like us there is a limitation that you can only use the code on a single pc but you just call up windows and tell them you upgraded your motherbard if you need to make radical changes.
That cables rca you can do two ways with the d2 or d2x either use the 7.1 analogue 3.5mm jacks which come with 3.5mm to phono cables or this
Hosa S/PDIF Digital Transfer Cable ? 3m from zZounds.com!
Prices haven't changed with the 4870 they have been like this for the last 2 months
Personally I would get this one for its much better cooler then saphire that is at $179 Newegg.com - ASUS EAH4870 DK/HTDI/512MD5 Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
May want to reduce that cable length 15ft is a bit long for a digital signal if it has to be that long then get a premium quality cable, I like the monster ones

 

[Druid]

CPU: Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 Wolfdale 2.66GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
Mobo: Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
Ram: Newegg.com - OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory
GPU: Newegg.com - ASUS EAH4870 DK/HTDI/1GD5 Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards - price just went up on these too
PSU: Newegg.com - PC Power & Cooling S75CF 750W EPS12V SLI NVIDIA SLI Certified (Dual 8800 GTX and below) CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies
HDD: Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives
Case: Newegg.com - Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases
Sound card: Newegg.com - ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 Channels PCI Express Interface Sound Card - Sound Cards
optical drive: Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 6X Blu-ray DVD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-Ray DVD Drive & DVD Burner with LightScribe Model iHES206-08 - Blu-Ray Drives - no idea if that's good enough
OS: Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD - Operating Systems - anything wrong with OEM?
heatsink: Newegg.com - Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound - Thermal Compound / Grease
HDMI cable: Newegg.com - Rosewill RCW-906R 10 feet HDMI to HDMI Cable V1.3 - Audio Video Cables - how is 10 ft?
SPDIF cable: Newegg.com - Rosewill RCW-930 12 FT. High Performance Audio cable M-M - Audio Video Cables

So that sound cable will work?

I couldn't find that psu you were talking about, so I threw that one up there. Would this computer run good on a 500w psu? Could save on power bill that way I think.

The gpu you listed is 512 mb. Are they really that close in performance that it is worth downgrading?

As always, g11 vs. g15.

Btw, 64 bit vista only has issues with pre-vista stuff, right?

 

[saltynay]

That audio cable won't work mine is different to yours, yours is "Analog RCA Audio Cables" mine is a digital S/pdif audio cable.
The psu ony draws as much power as it needs from the wall and so the main issue is efficiency (amount of energy lost to heat) that psu is very good amperage, build quality with a high efficiency of 83%. You could probably get away with 500W if you wanted but it would need to be a high quality psu like the pc power and cooling they are a good brand.
Depends on the resolution you are using if your around 1680x1200 then yeah go with the 4870 512mb and save a few bucks if your playing over that resolution then get this
Newegg.com - BFG Tech BFGEGTX260MC896OCE GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
then use a hdmi to dvi caonversion cable.
Don't know about the G's never used either of them
64 bit very rarely has issues and if you mean 32bit windows xp as prevista stuff there can be conflicts but thats becase its written for 32 bit not 64bit there is a compatibility mode setting in 64 bit vista though so you can run the programs usually
Also get the newer version of the xonar the d2 or d2x

 

[1337_JohnN]

Newegg.com - HT OMEGA STRIKER 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Sound Cards
The sound card to get! And if you watch out, the price goes down to like $60.

 

[Druid]

CPU: Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 Wolfdale 2.66GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
Mobo: Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
Ram: Newegg.com - OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory
GPU: Newegg.com - ASUS EAH4870 DK/HTDI/1GD5 Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards - price just went up on these too
PSU: Newegg.com - PC Power & Cooling S75CF 750W EPS12V SLI NVIDIA SLI Certified (Dual 8800 GTX and below) CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies
HDD: Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives
Case: Newegg.com - Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases
Sound card: Newegg.com - ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 Channels PCI Express Interface Sound Card - Sound Cards
optical drive: Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 6X Blu-ray DVD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-Ray DVD Drive & DVD Burner with LightScribe Model iHES206-08 - Blu-Ray Drives - no idea if that's good enough
OS: Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD - Operating Systems - anything wrong with OEM?
heatsink: Newegg.com - Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound - Thermal Compound / Grease
HDMI cable: Newegg.com - Rosewill RCW-906R 10 feet HDMI to HDMI Cable V1.3 - Audio Video Cables - how is 10 ft?
SPDIF cable: Hosa S/PDIF Digital Transfer Cable ? 3m from zZounds.com!

Why do you want me to go gtx 260 core 216 over HD 4870 1GB? FarCry 2? Is the cooling on it better than on the one I picked out?

To john, is that sound card better than the one I have in the build?

 

[saltynay]

Simple the nvidia is faster....... more raw power unless your playing at resolutions at or above 1920x1200 then ati's gddr5 wins out but this is a media pc right so plugged into a tv at 1920x1080 max resolution

No that soundcard by john is worse but it has good price. Any chance you would actually listen to me and get the d2x or d2 instead of the dx?

Everything else looks good if you want you could get the E8400 which is a little faster but not much in itvreal world performance wise to be honest

 

[Druid]

Newegg.com - ASUS Xonar D2X 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Express Interface Sound Card - Sound Cards

Newegg.com - ASUS Xonar D2 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Ultra Fidelity Sound Card with Complete Dolby/DTS Sound Technologies - Sound Cards

How much better are those? They are a little bit expensive.

And yeah, I guess I'll go with the gtx.

 

[Evolv]

4870 1Gb and the Core 216 have roughly the same performance. Depends on what games you play. As shown here:
AnandTech: The Radeon HD 4870 1GB: The Card to Get

I personally would get the 4870. You can get a nice 1Gb version for like $225 after mail in rebate, and it will have a non-reference cooler. My brother has one and he can max out every game at 1680 x 1050.