Need advice on Media PC

[mark4311]

I am not very good with assembling myself so I'd like some advice on configuration that I can order.
I want a media PC capable of playing modern games (but not the latest and resource/money hungry), watching/recording TV and ocasinal working with AutoCAD. I don't plan to OC it.
I am thinking about (based on advertisements):

CPU: Intel P4 640 3.2GHZ LGA775 2Mb HT w/EM64T
RAM: Kingston DDR2 533 1GB
HDD: Seagate 200G 7200RPM SATA-150 8MB Cache
DVD writer: Pioneer DVR-109XLA - 16X DVD+/-R - Dual Layer 6X
TV Tuner: HDTV Tuner Digital External (Fusion DVICO) USB2.0

The bigest questions are:

Motherboard: ASUS - ?? or GIGABYTE -?? or MSI - ??
Video: ASUS AX800PRO-TVD-P-256 ATI X800PRO/256mb/AGP8X/TV-OUT/VGA/VIVO/DVI-I - ??
or Gigabyte AGP 256mb ATI X800 Pro Radeon TV/DVI/Twinview - ??
or Gigabyte RX80256d RX800, 256mb/PCIEx16, DSUB, TVOUT, DVI, Mutiview - ??
(honestly speaking I don't know half of what all these letters mean).
Case: ??? Available here (Australia) are Antec, AOpen, ATX, Coolermaster, Thermaltake, Chenbro...

I understand that some of the items could be overkill (or are they?)
One last requirement - PC should be not too noisy - what's the point of watching TV with constant fan humming?

 

[Yilar]

I might be calling the wrath of the board down over me But if you don't want to OC and just play some good games and work with your avarage apps, then I'd suggest getting a Dell. I have one as well, works great, zero hassle, fast results on games and you don't have to go through building the whole thing and all the compatibility issues involved.

 

[mark4311]

Originally posted by: Yilar
I might be calling the wrath of the board down over me But if you don't want to OC and just play some good games and work with your avarage apps, then I'd suggest getting a Dell. I have one as well, works great, zero hassle, fast results on games and you don't have to go through building the whole thing and all the compatibility issues involved.

So whats the specs of Dell. I heard with Dell you can order particular configuration.

 

[mark4311]

Sorry, Yilar, just find out your specs.
How good it is for watching/recording TV ?

 

[Yilar]

Sorry for the late relpy mark, forgot to check back.. It's great for watching TV, zero problems, I haven't tried recording on it yet. I have been doing some video stuff, off a handheld cam connected through firewire which worked very well. All in all, the systems hasn't given me any issues with any video related things. The only thing I did do was unlock my shaders/pipes so that the Geforce GTO now works as an Ultra.

 

[Liver]

AVSForum is all you need. Great enthusiast site or HTPC and displays and anything else you need with your AV needs.

One point there. NEVER post any prices, except MSRP, you will get banned if you post sale or merchant prices.

Liver

 

[akshayt]

Why not get amd 64bit

Amd 64bit 3200 venice - 3800 X2 or higher
1gb X 2 ddr 400 dual ch
256mb goefrce 7800gtx / 6800gt

 

[pulsedrive]

Mostly because for a HTPC Intel would be the better choice since they do multitask better with the kind of CPU he is looking at because of HT. Since I am guessing from his post that this is more of an HTPC that a gaming PC then Intel makes the more logical choice.