media center pc

magicalbeef

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im looking at building a media center pc, i want to run my virgin media tv through it, and record from it (not sure if i can watch one channel and record another?), as well as play 360 through it (again if possible) i will be using my hannspree 37" tv to output onto, so ideally the output would be in hdmi. it needs to be able to play all my videos and music. i dont need a dvd drive or any other drive ie floppy card reader etc as i want to set it up so all my media is streamed from my main pc, but i need a big drive to save all of my tv programs etc on. im looking at a budget machine as other than the os and recording software/ video codecs i wont have anything else like games or other apps running. also needs to look nice, in shiny black if possible, and needs to be as quiet as poss. so people, over to you, thanks for any help in advance :)
 
i run a aopen xc cube.it is my everything i do all the above on mine plus play games,watch movies and download 24\7 i have a slightly older one but i upgrade my components now and again.it has NEVER crashed hanged overheated or anything.plus it is tiny and comes in the black you like i have a gun metal silver case and i love it.you can pick them up cheap on ebay and upgrade it yourself.the fan is temp. regulated and it only spins if the cpu needs to cool but it is quieter than my clock on my wall ticking away when i lie in bed.check out you will be surprised
 
looks really nice mate, i may look into getting one. any one else got any other suggestions?
 
I think you'll be better of getting a DVB-c card to get the best results when recording your VM feed. Check the DVB forum for advice on which is best for the features you want (i.e. watch one channel record another): https://www.digitalworldz.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=289

Not sure why you'd want to hook your 360 up through the PC, rather than straight to the TV? Assuming you've not got the 360 with built in HDMI why not use the component (YPbPr) or VGA (if the TV has PC in). If its because the TV only has a single HDMI socket there you can now get HDMI splitters for less than £100 (they where £300+ only last year). There are even some amps that come with multiple HDMI input to single output should you want a home cinema system.

As for case I really like MSI's AM2 based Media Live case: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/128368 It does look expensive until you look at the specs, its bare bones and the mobo has HDMI out and gigabit ethernet. Its got wifi and bluetooth built in. It comes with a slot load dvd drive (not many bare bone cases come with the optical drive) and a card reader. Plus its comes with an MCE compatible remote and LCD display too. It is only available in silver though... Pair it with 2GB of DDR2, a 500GB+ HDD and a dual core processor of your choice (single core is an option, but you may have issues when multitasking things, like on the fly recording á la sky+) all yours for less than £400 (barring the DVB-c card).
 
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i can plug in the xbox through component, your right. as for the case, as much as it made me drool i dont really have that sort of money to spend on a case. what sort of spec would you say id need to run this? motherboard, memory, processor etc? ive posted on the dvb-c thread so i should find out some info on the cards :)
 
Media centre cases tend to cost a bit more money than towers etc...

My parents HTPC runs MCE 2005 on an AMD X2 3800+, with 2Gb DDR, DVB-t tuner and has 500Gb+ HDD. It cost ~£600 just 2 years ago. You can get much better for cheaper at the moment. For example, check out some of the budget dual core setups here: https://www.digitalworldz.co.uk/index.php?threads/148488/
 
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OK you have not said:-

1) What software you you want to run

2) why / how you wish to integrate the PC and XBox 360

My suggestion would be to use XP MCE, this has all the functionality that you have asked for it can also use the 360 as a client from which you can control MCE.

This way you just have the 360 under the TV and the PC hidden elsewhere so it does not matter what it looks like saving money.
 
ill run mce as i have a copy already. the 360 doesnt really need to connect. i want the unit to run as quiet as poss, and if i had to id just hide the unit behind the tv, as i could just put the usb reciever near the tv unit.
 
thats a real ncie case, but i havent got that sort of money for a case. im going to get a dvb-c card to record my virgin into. ive got loads of movies already so im going to network the media center to my main pc, so i can share all mty media over the network. i just need to know what sort of hardware/ price im loking at to be able to do all the tasks i want, and it needs to be quiet to boot.
 
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