# The Perfect Media Centre



## jonno112 (Nov 8, 2003)

I am after some advice on what i should put together to make a media centre for movies music and photos.

I have two 1 TB hard drives

what im after is a case, moby and Tv tuner.

I would like to keep the price under $500 but i am flexible.

Any help appreciated.


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## Zombeast (Aug 6, 2008)

here is a wide selection of media center cases
http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=690&name=HTPC-Media-Center-Cases
here is a wide selection of tv tuners
http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=47&name=TV-Tuners-Video-Devices
but do you mean mobo's (and if you dont live in america but you like one of neweggs products, just look for it in an online store you buy from)


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## jonno112 (Nov 8, 2003)

Thanks for the reply

I will check the site out.
Yeah moby = Motherboard sorry about the english.

What i was looking at is

Antec NSK 2480 Media Centre Case

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400/2.66GHz/6MB/1333FSB/LGA775
CORE 2 QUAD Q9400/2.66GHz/6MB/1333FSB/LGA775/Quad Core -- 423.50 

Motherboard -- Asus P5Q-DELUXE Intel Mainboard - 4x DDR2 / 8x Sata Raid / 1x IDE / Dual Gigabit Lan 284

Vista Ultimate

4 Gig Ram -- Corsair DDR2 4GB PC-5300/667 

2 1TB Sata HD Raided 0/1

DVD-RW

Hauppauge HVR-2200 Dual Hybrid Digital Tuner

Integrated 7.1 Channel High Definition Audio Auzentech X-Plosion 7.1 Cinema Sound Card 

Linksys DMA2100 Media Center Extender, 802.11n

I know this goes over the budget i had planned can anyone give advice on these specs.

Thanks


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## Zombeast (Aug 6, 2008)

now all you need is like an HD tv/moniter and some sweet speakers and your set with a nice media center


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## Zombeast (Aug 6, 2008)

i think i see a problem with that though, the mobo is a atx, while the case is a micro atx, youll need a bigger case i think


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## jonno112 (Nov 8, 2003)

Allready have a 42" Lcd Screen in place and ready to go.

Thanks for the heads up on that i will have to change the motherboard then.


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## Zombeast (Aug 6, 2008)

do you like the case that much, i think the mobo is a great one, good for what you need out of it, you can just get a standard atx case, but if you like the case more then...


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

I would think you need a low power setup for a MCE to keep noise and cooling to a minimum. Usually you find mAtx boards and low power cpu's like the E4700 or a E7200
and a quiet 450-550w power supply, the setup really doesn't need a Quad core unless you intend to do heavy video editing with the latest software that's written to use all four cores.


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## jonno112 (Nov 8, 2003)

The system will be used for downloading movies playing music and a fair bit of work maybe done on it in regards to editing movies, allthough your suggestion would bring the price down a fair bit.

I am also looking into media extenders, however, I am a bit confused about what media they play and whether it's straight of the main system.

So if i download an AVI (Xvid Divx) or a screener for eg, can i play it through a media extender?

The way i read on the MS site was you get HD movies online and you can use the extender to watch them on any monitor.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Try this Definition> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Media_Center_Extender
Normally with a dedicated MCE you place it with your AV components and run the monitor/TV through HDMI cable which is why the small case size, appearance and sound levels become important it acts more like a internet connected DVR and has normal PC functions. If your editing home movies as opposed to commercial film/ TV shows the requirements are lower for both software and hardware.
A good example of a Media Extender is a Xbox which ties into the network the pc can stream recorded content to the xbox which displays it on the TV and the Xbox remote can perform all the normal functions Pause, Slow, Stop Rewind Etc.


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