Media Centre PC Build (cheapish)

[SuperPP]

Was thinking of finally getting myself a blu-ray player, but ended up around the £100 mark but no model seems to have all options (DNLA, MKV, Iplayer etc).
So started looking at how much a media PC could be built for.
Been a good few years since I built a PC, so not up to speed.

Found this motherboard combo on ebuyer, would it be any good as a base for the system.
Need blu-ray and good size hard drive (believe blu-rays can be ripped?).
Small under TV size case and HDMI.

Ideally run linux, but an easy setup (such as an Ubuntu variant install without issues).

Anyone help out (keeping price at a minimum)?

 

[oneman]

It would be helpful if you posted a link ?

Also have a look at getting a second hand Dell GX745 or GX755 SFF from ebay and adding a £30 video card with HDMI. Through in a decent wireless keyboard/mouse and your set to go.

 

[little_pob]

Try the Philips BDP5200/05 has DLNA, NTFS, .mkv via USB and iPlayer compatible.

Yes, Blu-rays can be ripped but have you seen the price of hard drives at the moment?

 

[SuperPP]

It would be helpful if you posted a link ?

oops...
Asus E35M1-M PRO Onboard AMD Zacate Processor DVI VGA.. | Ebuyer.com

 

[SuperPP]

now looked at the Philips BDP5200, but again something missing.
I need an optical audio output for my amp (why do blu-ray players tend to ignore toslink?)

 

[little_pob]

oops...
Asus E35M1-M PRO Onboard AMD Zacate Processor DVI VGA.. | Ebuyer.com

The E-350 is in my HTPC and my mum's desktop. It's fine for watching blu-rays @1080P in Win 7 with 4GB+ RAM, so it should be ok to rip them too. It'll likely struggle to convert them to .mkv at any decent speed though.

now looked at the Philips BDP5200, but again something missing.
I need an optical audio output for my amp (why do blu-ray players tend to ignore toslink?)

Probably because most amps these days have at least one HDMI input, which is of no help to those of use with older amps. I've go so far as connecting the optical out on the TV to the amp and plug everything into the TV...

 

[SuperPP]

would this base unit be any good?
eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace

fit a blu ray drive and hdmi graphics card

 

[oneman]

would this base unit be any good?
eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace

fit a blu ray drive and hdmi graphics card

It should be OK, you are paying for a monitor as well. 1GB of RAM would be OK for linux or XP. Add XBMC and you're sorted.

 

[little_pob]

would this base unit be any good?
eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace

fit a blu ray drive and hdmi graphics card

Going purely off the spec sheet on the Dell website:

You need to make sure the graphics card you get is PCI (not PCIe) and low profile. Ideally one that comes with, or you can get hold of, the low profile bracket too.

Also it's only got a single SATA connection on the motherboard, so you need to make sure you can source a low profile PCI SATA controller. The PCI slots look to be 32bit, so the maximum bandwidth is going to be 266MB/s (~2Gbit/s). As bluray was designed to be able to run over USB 2.0, which has a maximum bandwidth of 60MB/s, I'd connect the bluray drive plus any storage drives to this card, rather than using it for the boot drive.

Worth noting that there are no USB headers on the motherboard, so if you want to replace the floppy drive with a card reader at any point you'll probably have to route a fly lead through from one of the rear USB ports.

 

[oneman]

Just checked the GX520 on my desk and yes its PCI only. There is actually motherboard connections for a PCI-E socket but there is no socket soldered on.

So as per my first post, I would look for a GX745 as it comes with 2 x SATA and PCI-E.

e.g.

Dell GX745 Dual Core PC Base Unit | eBay


You could fit this BD-RW drive

laptop 6x Bluray Writer - LG BT10N.AUAA oem - Software not included - Scan.co.uk


When you do find one, the following graphics card should do the trick (check it comes with a low profile bracket, all the ones I have purchased do come with the bracket),

Sapphire HD 5450 Graphics Card - 11166-01-20R - Scan.co.uk

 

[SuperPP]

cheers for the info, do these graphics cards carry sound over the HDMI out?

 

[little_pob]

cheers for the info, do these graphics cards carry sound over the HDMI out?

In general, usually.

For the card oneman has suggested, then according to the spec sheet on the Sapphire website yes. Looking at the images of the card there doesn't seem to be a S/PDIF header on the card. Therefore it'll be a setting in either Catalyst Control Centre or Control Panel in Windows (or both).

 

[BIG-HOL]

maybe consider buying a acer revo and getting a usb blu ray drive if thats a must, there great htpc's, worth taking a look into before you commit to anything!

 

[oneman]

cheers for the info, do these graphics cards carry sound over the HDMI out?

The ATI card do carry DTS over HDMI but no optical out I'm afraid. If you need optical as well then I would look at the Revo.

 

[SuperPP]

Ok graphics card seems ok, I can live without optical (can send from my TV). Now just need to add it all up and convince myself this is what I need and not just a bluray player.

Sent from my SK17i using Tapatalk

 

[SuperPP]

which of these is ok:
Dell Optiplex 755 SFF Desktop PC Computer - 2.0Ghz Intel Pentium Dual Core | eBay
or pay a bit more for:
FAST DELL GX755SFF DESKTOP PC DUAL CORE 2.2GHZ 2GB 160GB FREE P&P | eBay
want to be able to play blu-ray without problems.

 

[oneman]

I'd probably go for the 2GB one

 

[SuperPP]

755 ordered

sent from android phone using tapatalk

 

[little_pob]

755 ordered

Going off the ebay pictures, just be aware you'll need a slim, laptop type bluray drive. The more usual 5.25" size will not fit.

 

[SuperPP]

Yes already know this (bumps price abit. But can find one for £55) looking for best value graphics card at mo...

sent from android phone using tapatalk