Setting Up a HTPC system needs advice.

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It has been awhile since i upgraded my pc. sadly my old pc is out of commission. I am planning to get a new one instead. I No longer have any idea of what the new technologies are.

What i have:
- 42" plasma tv
- sony vaio fw series laptop
- windows 7 ultimate
- 20k is the budget but flexible

What i need:
- A separate computer that keeps on downloading movies/torrents efficiently.
- i prefer not to get hardware components that i do not need or may seem overkill for the task it performs.
- hdmi slot so i do not have to transfer files from pc to laptop to play the movies
- has the capacity to play blue ray media without slowing the entire system as it plays.
- large storage capacity.
- if i failed to include something important to consider pls. advice.

Choices so far:
- Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB SATA-II - storage (low power consumption)
- Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C4DHX (4GB kit) - memory
- AMD Phenom x4 9950 2.6GHZ (playback is smooth with blue ray media)
- still researching on other specs.

These are specs that i have so far based on what i've read, pls. correct me if the information is wrong.
Thanx!

[vipvip68]

Good day bro,

Naa koy questions sa imo setup... Imong 42" nga plasma 1080p na ba?

This htpc you're planning to setup, do you also plan to play games on it?

When you say you need a hdmi slot so you dont have to transfer files from pc to your laptop... do you aim to connect your laptop to the TV? or will you connect the htpc to the tv? I'm confused as to what tasks you want the laptop and desktop to do...

Please tell us how you plan to use your laptop when you already have your htpc.

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Thanx for your reply.

yup plasma is 1080p

nope. not into games. only movies/series.

my pc is old. and when i got the plasma i used to connect it with vga to pc but not satisfied with the quality. at that time i felt that pc hardware prices were to high and would wait until it goes down. got a laptop with hdmi slot to compensate. anyway long story short. i do not have to use my laptop if i do not have to, provided that the new specs of the pc can support what i need. i also have 2 components both jvc for sound hopefully i can make use of it.

[vipvip68]

Thanx for your reply.

yup plasma is 1080p

nope. not into games. only movies/series.

my pc is old. and when i got the plasma i used to connect it with vga to pc but not satisfied with the quality. at that time i felt that pc hardware prices were to high and would wait until it goes down. got a laptop with hdmi slot to compensate. anyway long story short. i do not have to use my laptop if i do not have to, provided that the new specs of the pc can support what i need. i also have 2 components both jvc for sound hopefully i can make use of it.

Sa akong personal experience having a htpc... youll still need a laptop for browsing the web and officework.

So basically.. the htpc will function as an always on media player/downloader.

Since you're not into games so much and don't want to buy anything unnecessary, I suggest you find a microATX motherboard with built-in HDMI. Maybe an AMD board with 780G chipset.

You might also want to include a good htpc remote to use with windows media center in Win 7.

If you're particular about the appearance sa htpc.. you could get a htpc case to make ur pc look more like an appliance.

[dmelsie]

i suggest this for your htpc

amd athlon 2 x4 620 around Php 5k but not more than 6k
(phenom X4 9950 is old processor, x4 620 is the cheapest new type of quad you can get)

or pwede ra mag athlon X2 or phenom X3 its your call, depends sa budget nimo

msi 785g-e65 around Php 4950 to 5k sumthing depends sa store

(DDR3 mobo microatx with hdmi, hd4200 on board much faster than 780g lower power consumption sa memory because DDR3 and much improve audio capabilities compared sa 780g with sb 700)

or gigabyte 785g-us2h around 4.7k i think

same with msi nay hdmi and hd4200 pero DDR2 lang siya

i suggest go for western digital 2TB green hard drives, 10k sumthing
2 green 1tb drives seems a cheaper solution than this pero advantage sa single 2tb is much lower power consumption, lower temps, lesser noise (kay 2 naman mag spin spin nga hdd if mag 2 1tb ka hehehe)

1TB is not enough for hd movies, dili molapas og mga 100 movies and masulod hehehehe sa 1tb especially if most are 1080 hehehe

as for the case i recomend silverstone sugo series, pretty descent na, and dili sad mag hoot ang items sa sulod

20k budget is a little bit lower, for what i suggest, if ganahan ka mo hit sa around 20k system unit budget
monaog ka sa lower specs

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thanx for the reply. took me awhile to respond, had to do a little research first. so i could understand more.

for the processor i narrowed it down to 3. minimal price difference among the ff:
Phenom X4 9650 (2.3G) Box
Phenom II X3 720 (2.8G) 6mb black ed.
Athlon II X4 620 (2.6G) 2mb AM3

for the case. i like the silverstone sugo SG06 i am concerned that certain hardware components may not fit. i also thought about using my old generic case for now and just wait til i can get lascala L16M. (this model comes with a remote, dont have to buy one)

mother board: DDR3 mobo microatx with hdmi, hd4200 on board (no idea how much this runs for)

storage: 1TB for now. can add more later.

am i missing anything?

i agree with vipvip68 that the laptop would be used for office work.

can probably stretch the budget a bit. within reason.