Hey guys,

For a while now I have been wanting to build a media centre to store, play, record video / audio etc to sit under my TV. Now, I know a while back CPC – that is how I arrived at X404, through their old forum – did something on building a media centre but it was too expensive, aiming at readers who wanted all the mid to top-end gear. I however, want to go cheap. Bargain Bucket Basement Blaster cheap! I want to build a MBBBB! So any thoughts or advice?

My own requisite is that the case is a typical media case – i.e. not a tower. Oh, plus I don't want to spend more than £300 (less if possible)!

Ok, this is one of my specialised subjects.

Is it just to watch divx's etc or do you want TV tuners?
Do you want bluray?
Do you have any spare hardware/software available?
Do you have a HDTV?

I can tell you that it'll cost you £120 or so for a htpc case so while it's possible to do it for £300 you'll need to use linux or already have a copy of vista/xp mce 2005

Ok, cool.

Not fussed about a tuner. Just need to play back absolutely ANY audio/video file I throw at it.

I have a 37 inch 1080p HD TV with every input under the sun.

I have a PS3 so I do not need a blue-ray drive.

I have a spare 230 GB hard drive which I can use, a copy of Windows Vista Ultimate, a 1GB stick of 800 mhz DDR2 memory plus a spare CPU fan and basically any cables you would need both inside the build and to connect it to the TV. I also have a spare Antec P-180 case too, but as I said, I don't want to use it as I want this thing visible, under my TV and just not a tower.

I just am sick of having my media all over the place (laptop/main computer/PS3/CDs/DVDs/USB Drives) having to transfer things all the time.

What would you suggest?

I'd say something like:
ASUS M3A78-EM 780G Socket AM2+ onboard graphics 8 channel audio mATX Motherboard 150278 17 in stock £60.77
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Socket AM2 2.3GHz 65W 1MB L2 Cache OEM Processor 145171 30 in stock £38.14
Arctic Cooling Freezer-64-LP Dual Cooling Low Profile Processor Cooler for AMD 939 and AM2 Processors 131148 35 in stock £13.76
2x Crucial 2GB DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 Ballistix Memory CL4 2.0V 166117 41 in stock £37.08
Antec Fusion Remote Veris Silver MATX Media Center Case - No PSU 148790 9 in stock £128.45
OCZ 400W StealthXStream PSU - 140mm Fan 1x PCI-E 4x SATA 152505 186 in stock £34.99 £
LG GH22NS40 22X SATA DVD±RW/DL/RAM Black Bare Drive - OEM 151999 > 200 in stock £15.99
Cart total inc vat: £329.18

You could save £19 by only getting 2GB RAM,

Cheers. I will check out the stuff, though it looks promising at first glance.

Where are you taking these prices from? Scan? Novatech?

ebuyer

http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/9606805/A ... oduct.html

+ Nas enclosure for your hard drive so you have a midpoint for storage + media centre remote & receiver will make it about £300, box will sit on your VESA mounts so totally out of the way

Saspro, that setup won't play 1080p rips like it should.

I have C2D E6750 @ 3.3ghz and it struggles with some .mkv file. I would suggest adding ATI 3000 series GPU for hardware accelarated HD playback.

There's a 3200 built into the motherboard

Ok, I didn't know that. In that case your setup is fine...

My HTPC setup is pretty similar to that recommended by saspro, and it works a dream. It might be worth waiting for the up-coming AMD 785G chipsets boards, as the 785 is an enhanced version of the 780 with better performance on video decoding.