Need help/suggestions building a HTPC

[WilBro]

I presently watch my movies on my 23' monitor but in the next 2 weeks I will be getting a hdtv with hdmi inputs and all so I was thinking of building a htpc to watch my movies on.
I was going thru Newegg and saw these 2 boards
1. Gigabyte
2. Asus

which do you think is better?

and what about this processor AMD Athlon 11

also I plan to put about 4 Gigs of RAM in it, not sure about the case as yet, I am not planning on spending more that US$300 on it

I REALLY NEED YOUR INPUT ON THIS GUYS, serious replies,sugestions and questions only

[WilBro]

almost 24 hours have passed and not 1 response, come on people unnu do better than that nuh please

[Avatar Roku]

I was looking at the thread and I came up with this build. Best thing It could come up with considering the budget.


Athlon II 250 $58

ASUS 785G AM3 Motherboard $80

G Skill Ripjaws 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 $50

Seagate 2TB HDD (For your Movies) $70

Blu Ray Reader $40

Coolermaster 500W PSU $40

TOTAL = $338

[WilBro]

Thanks Avatar, I should have really thought about DDR3 instead of DDR2. I am planning on eventually getting a htpc case but right now may just throw it in a regular case. What about heat, will that be an issue with htpc cases?

[Avatar Roku]

Thanks Avatar, I should have really thought about DDR3 instead of DDR2. I am planning on eventually getting a htpc case but right now may just throw it in a regular case. What about heat, will that be an issue with htpc cases?

Should not be a problem considering it is only 65W.

[crosswire]

Came across this product. Not a HTPC, but it can play hd movies from a hard drive
newegg - Masscool MP-1371RS
(Product site)
I am not recomending it because I have not seen any reviews. I am keeping my eye on it though. I want to know what size hard drive max it can use, and what file system it supports eg NTFS. It also lacks a blu ray drive, but it is at $90 + $70 for hard drive

[WilBro]

Came across this product. Not a HTPC, but it can play hd movies from a hard drive
newegg - Masscool MP-1371RS
(Product site)
I am not recomending it because I have not seen any reviews. I am keeping my eye on it though. I want to know what size hard drive max it can use, and what file system it supports eg NTFS. It also lacks a blu ray drive, but it is at $90 + $70 for hard drive

hmm, very interesting I may just consider this option, in the reviews almost everyone is saying the Patriot brand is better in term of getting firmware updates and such so I may choose that one

[semitop]

yeah a built media player could be the right choice. But that one doesnt do bluray so pretty much out.

[lojikal]

hmm, very interesting I may just consider this option, in the reviews almost everyone is saying the Patriot brand is better in term of getting firmware updates and such so I may choose that one

The important thing is to look at the products you may be interested in. look at the reviews, pro's and con's and make your decision based on your pocket.

[WilBro]

The important thing is to look at the products you may be interested in. look at the reviews, pro's and con's and make your decision based on your pocket.

I have been watching and reading some reviews and seeing that it is just $95 bucks I think I may just get it and then eventually order parts for the htpc (includindg a good case)a lil by lil...... I already have a 500GB laptop hard drive (so far I think it supports up to 1TB) here so that can be used

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdTFsA3XL-Q