Lets talk HTPC's...

[n737nc]

I'm not sure if this is going to be a waste of money for me or not. But I'm trying to get some ideas together, and maybe.....just maybe actually build something.

OK, my main goal here is storage. I have a lot of DVD's, and storing them is turning into a difficult task. Downloading all of them into a HD, then packing them up in boxes, is very appealing to me.

Here's my list so far(please feel free to correct anything). This is just a starting point for me. I have no idea what I am doing here. Just going off advice from other people.

Case
Silverstone GD01B-MXR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163076

HDD
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152102

Power Supply
CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001

Memory
Crucial Ballistix 2GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565

Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS4
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128064

Processor
ntel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115029

CPU cooler
ZEROtherm BTF90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835887002


Now the Graphics card is one thing I need some help with. I'd like to get on with HDMI output. But I can have DVI and just get an DVI to HDMI adapter. But I don't know what I'm doing with graphics. Whats a good one? I want the best possible picture I can get.

Also, what opperating system chould I be considering? Seems like an awful lot of things out there are recomending Vista. But will all programs work with Vista? Is Vista going to be stable enough for this?


I need help :(

[Rafa]

I would get another HDD(smaller one, maybe 60-80 gig) to use to install all software, and leave the larger HDD to store movies and such. That's what I would do.

[n737nc]

[QUOTE=Rafa]I would get another HDD(smaller one, maybe 60-80 gig) to use to install all software, and leave the larger HDD to store movies and such. That's what I would do.[/QUOTE]


Makes sense.

[momo stallion]

the nvidia 8600gt is great card for HTPCs.
it's not too expensive and it has built in support for the new x/h.264 codecs which all the downloadable 1080p movies seem to use.

i cant verify it but people said they switch to it from better cards and have gotten smoother better video playback. id believe it.

[DarkWolf]

Honestly, if you don't care about recording TV, a PS3 might be the best and cheapest option. You can always put a larger HDD in it for more storage, or stream from network shares (including NAS drives), so you can have as much storage space as you can afford.

It plays most of the popular formats natively, and for those that it can't handle, you can always install one of the various Linux distributions for PS3, and have access to every format.

That's what I'm currently planning on doing. My current HTPC is about 4 years old, and in need of updating. It's going to cost me as much, or more than a PS3 to update. I haven't used it for TV recording in years (downloading TV shows is far to easy and convenient now). So I started looking at the PS3 as an alternative to updating a PC, and to me it just makes more sense.

[edit]Whoa... yeah I just added all that up. You're at almost $1100 before even getting to the graphic card. That's quite a bit more than my upgrade would cost for my HTPC (~$500).