my friend's parents just got a plasma tv and they want to get a htpc. it's going to be a pretty basic one. the budget is $500-600, not including the harddrives. i'm just wondering if the following would suffice:
cpu: am2 3800x2 $155
mobo: not sure? i know my stuff when it comes to gaming rigs...not htpc's though. he wants to spend ~$75
gpu: ATI AIW X1800XL...my friend wants to possibly game a bit on it. would the AIW X800XL be fine? or should he get something else? he wants to spend around $150 on the gpu
case: he said he'll get one off newegg for ~$100...any recommendations (cheaper is always better) SFF or HTPC case please
ram: i was thinking of having him get 2x512mb DDR2-533 A-DATA Vitesta ram. $100
i have a few questions now..
1. does he need a dual-core? would a single core 3800+ be fine?
2. what do HTPCs demand mostly? ram? cpu? something else?
3. would a seperate/different tuner be better?
thanks for all the help
cpu: am2 3800x2 $155
mobo: not sure? i know my stuff when it comes to gaming rigs...not htpc's though. he wants to spend ~$75
gpu: ATI AIW X1800XL...my friend wants to possibly game a bit on it. would the AIW X800XL be fine? or should he get something else? he wants to spend around $150 on the gpu
case: he said he'll get one off newegg for ~$100...any recommendations (cheaper is always better) SFF or HTPC case please
ram: i was thinking of having him get 2x512mb DDR2-533 A-DATA Vitesta ram. $100
i have a few questions now..
1. does he need a dual-core? would a single core 3800+ be fine?
2. what do HTPCs demand mostly? ram? cpu? something else?
3. would a seperate/different tuner be better?
thanks for all the help