Thread: New Media Center Specs

Hey guys,

I was looking at getting a computer as a media center (seeming as a lot of the media centers out there today don't offer what i want, and charge more than the cost of a cheap computer anyway)

Tasks I want it to do is:
Record TV to HDD
Replay files stored on the HDD to the TV (HDMI)
Play DVD's and Blueray's to the TV
Play music to my sound system (Sony 7.2 speaker with Receiver/amp) preferably by optical
Connect to my wireless internet (with wireless keyboard and mouse)
Seed torrents

What i'm looking at getting:
Processor: Dual core 2.4Ghz
Ram: 4GB
Graphics: ATI or Nvidia 512Mb Card
Soundcard: ???
HDD: 2 x 1TB
Wireless Network Card
TVout Card




Just wondering if anyone has anything similar or can give me further tips as to what to get. I want to it be fairly cheap, as it doesnt really have to do much work. I'm not really good with soundcards or graphics cards, so if someone can advise me of some decent cards with the power to do what i want, it would be great.

By the way, my tv is a 37" Sharp Aquos LCD. I may be upgrading in the future, but not in the near future.

Thanks in advance

Seeing as you're basically using it as an everyday PC, I would up those specs. I had an E6600 with 4GB and those didn't really help me with my everyday purposes. Basically, I used it to create torrents then seed said torrents, compress/decompress files, watch my 1080p video files, play the occasional game, and the basic web surfing. When I had any of those going simultaneously, it would drain all my system resources. 1080p files would stutter even with CoreAVC. I currently have a Q6600 with 8GB ram and loving it. I do all those and maybe burn a few DVDs with no problems.

I agree with el2em. You need a better pc. You might even want to go with a quad core. But more ram is a must. Blu-ray will eat up your ram.

well my MCE handles 1080P quiet well and my specs are below not that crazy...

Intel DC E5200
2Gb DDR2 RAM
2 x 1.5Tb / 1 x 750Gb SATA2 Disc's
Hauppage HVR1300 TV Tuner
GeForce 9600GT (512mb DDR3)

I have the shark007 codec pack installed so I can turn on DXVA support so all movies run smooth as :)

you dont need anything too crazy for a MCE :) just a card that supports DXVA

Don't listen to everyone. Those specs will be just fine for 1080p video and doing everything you want as a computer. I don't think you will be watching a 1080p video as well as playing video games on the same pc at the same time like el2em said. LMAO

My HTPC Specs:
AMD Phenom 8750 Toliman 2.4GHz 3 core 95w
GeminII S RR-CCH-PBU1-GP 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler
Onboard ATI Radeon HD3200
MSI Media Live Diva 5.1 plus the preamp soundcard MS-7411 Motherboard
4 x 1 terabyte sata segate 7200.12 hard drives
4 case fans - 3 x ENERMAX UC-8EB 80mm; 1 x Scythe KAMA FLEX 92mm
Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS
SILVERSTONE Media Center / HTPC Case