Computer nerds... pls guide in PC rig config and prices

[eummagic]

In fact, Iam also sailing in the same boat and already setup & running the following config.

Intel i3 2.93GHz
Intel DH55PJ (Micro ATX MB)
Kingston 2GB DDR3 RAM
Western Digital 1TB Green Caviar SATA HDD
Graphics card (yet to be purchased, thinking of Sapphire or XFX brands in HD5000 series with 1GB DDR3 or DDR5)
Cabinet (Old ATX, to be changed to compact, more info below)

Currently, my HTPC connected to my VGA 17" samsung monitor and I tried playing Avatar, 1080p MKV file having bitrate of 20MBps and using the integrated HD graphics the video is smooth as butter and audio perfect sync.

Iam deciding for Graphics cards for the HDMI out purpose. I should have analysed more on MB with HDMI port and blindly bought this one - my mistake. This could have saved money.

Regarding cabinets, Antec was my first choice but then expensive and didn't fit my budget. Have analysed brands like Mercury (Link: Mercury Slim Series), Zebronics (Link: Zebronics Slim series) and need to get more info like whether SMPS with 500/600W form factor is supported in these slim type cabinets.

 

[thevortex]

SMPS - 500 W Seasonic

Cabinet - NZXT Gamma

 

[yugaaa]

Try www.deltapage.com for prices .

Coming to tech info

1. Any Nvidia gpu with HD support also does CUDA functions . GPU cards also act as processors . that is what CUDA is all about .

2 . A 1366 processor based system is too costly . nothing is future proof . Every 6 months you can expect something new in processor technology . So do not worry on this front .

3 . A celeron dual core with a Nvidia card is all you need for a HTPC . Even that is an over kill . The HD processing happens in the graphic card . so even a celeron processor is close to idle . For that matter you can buy even an AMD sempron and use Nvidia or ATI choice . Buying a low priced motherboard saves you money and gives you a lot of choices for enhancement .

4 . Try to get a dell or a fujitsu low priced celeron model . Reason is that they use BTX cooling and BTX for factor based boards have really huge heatsinks and big fans . So the fan noise is practically not there . For the graphic card , you can always get a off market pipe cooler if your graphic card is noisy .

5. USB 3.0 pci card (add on card ) will be soon avaliable in the market as an accessory card . so even the current USB 2.0 systems can be upgraded .

 

[heynownow]

Gawk! Gawk! Gawk!

The 48xx GPUs are supposed to be better than the 5xxx GPUs btw


Sent from my iPod touch

Not necessarily...The 4850/4870 the flagships of the 48xx series have 800 stream processors, whereas the 5870 has 1600

 

[heynownow]

and what about custom cooling and overclocking. I have a zalman 9500 cnps all copper custom cooler, but I have been lay and havent bothered to installed it yet. Would also urge enthusiast here, not to cut corners in the Cabinet department. Very important for long term performance and smooth running. I recommend the Antec 600 or 300 (if on budget). The lineups from NZXT are also sweet. Make sure u put additional LED fans. They look cool and does a good job for the ventilation.

 

[doors666]

If you will be using this for an HTPC also, for watching movies and listening to music also, try to get a fanless graphics card. other wise the fan noise itself will make your 5.1 system into a 6.1 system:lol:

 

[spirovious]

Not necessarily...The 4850/4870 the flagships of the 48xx series have 800 stream processors, whereas the 5870 has 1600

It depends on no.of that series.As you said 4850 vs 5870, 5450 has 80 stream processors & so 4850 will be better peformer but with old features.