suggestions for pc /hdtv

[drck]

1. What is the purpose of the computer?

basically i need to buy a new tv and a laptop/pc for my home. already heaving a laptop.also interested in buying xbox 360 in future so right now just need a basic pc which can handle hd movies on 22/24 inch monitor with HDMI out so that i can buy a HD set top box of any provider and connect it directly to monitor without worrying about tv tuner card? if its possible?? dont know....

2. Are you open to alternate ideas/products giving similar better performance but offering more VFM/ sellers? If not- why?

yes i need a VFM offer not behind Intel inside brand name. i m open to all.

3. What is your MAX budget?

35K. want to save some for xbox in future so happy with basic system.

4. Planning to overclock?

never assembled a pc before. not planning to overclock.

5. Which OS are you planning to use?

i have a free copy of windows 7 ultimate.

6. How much hard drive space is needed?

500 gb is more than enough for me.

7. What resolution will the screen run at & whats the size of the screen?

preferable 24 inch can compromise to 22. true HD resolution. HDMI port.

8. How would you rate your hardware knowledge from the count of 1-10? (1 being the lowest, 5 being you are somewhat in sync with the current performers and 10 being the highest)

may be 3

9. Have you ever built a desktop before or will this be done by an assembler?

never done before. mostly by an assembler.

10. When are you planning to buy the system?

next 15 days to one month.

11. Are you one of the types looking out for "future proof" configurations?

no i need basic one mostly ll b used by my wife.

13. Which city do you live in and are you open to buying from shops from other city/states?

Gujarat. mostly ll be buying from Ahmedabad/ rajkot.


i dont mind age old c2d processor. i dont know minimum graphic card requirement to run true HD movie on 24 inch screen without skiping frames.
also dont know if i can connect a STB to monitor with HDMI cable without using tvtuner card.

suggestions needed.

[Cilus]

After going through your requirments, I summarized that you need a good HTPC

Well lets see what we can have at 35k

Athlon II X3 435 2.9GHz/Athlon II X4 620 2.6 GHz(if available) @ 4k
Biostar TA785G A3 @ 3.7k
Kingston/A-DATA 2 X 2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz @ 5.4k
500 GB Seagate SATA HDD @ 1.9k
Zebronics Reaper Cabinet without SMPS @ 1.7k
Gigabyte 80 Plus Active PFC 460W @ 2.2k
Mouse & Keyboard: at your Choice @ 0.6k
LG 22X SATA DVD Writer @ 1.1k
BenQ 22" G2220 FULL HD LCD Monitor @ 7.5k or BenQ 24" G2420 FULL HD LCD Monitor @ 11.3k
Sapphire Radeon HD4670 512MB @ 3.8k


Total is coming as 35.7k if you are going for the 24" monitor which is recommended actually for HD movies. You can reduce your budget by purchasing 2 GB ram and buying another 2 GB module later.
This machine will be extremely good for HD movies and decent for casual gaming. HD 4670 can play all the latest games in lower detail

[Cool Buddy]

You can skip the graphics card if you don't plan on gaming. You can buy Biostar TA785G3 HD motherboard @ 4k which has HDMI & DVI both. the 785G chipset boards have enough graphics processing power to run HD Movies smoothly. This will leave you with enough money to get 4 GB RAM, Athlon II X2 630 and a wireless keyboard mouse combo which is really recommended for an HTPC

[Jaskanwar Singh]

Originally Posted by Cool Buddy

You can skip the graphics card if you don't plan on gaming. You can buy Biostar TA785G3 HD motherboard @ 4k which has HDMI & DVI both. the 785G chipset boards have enough graphics processing power to run HD Movies smoothly. This will leave you with enough money to get 4 GB RAM, Athlon II X2 630 and a wireless keyboard mouse combo which is really recommended for an HTPC

dude do u think onboard graphics will be able to handle a 24" monitor

[Sam]

Originally Posted by Jaskanwar Singh

dude do u think onboard graphics will be able to handle a 24" monitor

HD movies & everything - (minus) gaming, yes.

[Mr.Digital]

I would suggest:

i5 661 3.33GHz intel processor
Intel H55TC motherboard with HDMI support.
2*2GB Coasair RAM 1333 DDR-3
500GB SATA WD GREEN HDD
LG DVD RW
Cooler-master Elite 330 cabinet.
Cooler-master 450W SMPS.
22" Samsung LCD monitor.
Creative 2.1 SBS speakers (optional)
Logitech/Microsoft MM keyboard + Optical Mouse

[drck]

Originally Posted by Cilus

After going through your requirments, I summarized that you need a good HTPC

Well lets see what we can have at 35k

Athlon II X3 435 2.9GHz/Athlon II X4 620 2.6 GHz(if available) @ 4k
Biostar TA785G A3 @ 3.7k
Kingston/A-DATA 2 X 2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz @ 5.4k
500 GB Seagate SATA HDD @ 1.9k
Zebronics Reaper Cabinet without SMPS @ 1.7k
Gigabyte 80 Plus Active PFC 460W @ 2.2k
Mouse & Keyboard: at your Choice @ 0.6k
LG 22X SATA DVD Writer @ 1.1k
BenQ 22" G2220 FULL HD LCD Monitor @ 7.5k or BenQ 24" G2420 FULL HD LCD Monitor @ 11.3k
Sapphire Radeon HD4670 512MB @ 3.8k


Total is coming as 35.7k if you are going for the 24" monitor which is recommended actually for HD movies. You can reduce your budget by purchasing 2 GB ram and buying another 2 GB module later.
This machine will be extremely good for HD movies and decent for casual gaming. HD 4670 can play all the latest games in lower detail

thank you very much for quick reply.
after searching over internet i was thinking its better not to compromise on screen size so i gave a second thought of increasing budget to 40k so that i can also buy a wireless keyboard and mouse combo suggested by cool buddy.

what ll be the price of wireless keyboard.
@ mr digital
what ll be the price of your rig anyway.

please suggest me an external tv tunar card as it is wise to use it i ll also get a remote with it. i read somewhere true HD support ll cost more than 6k. is it true??

[Cool Buddy]

Originally Posted by Jaskanwar Singh

dude do u think onboard graphics will be able to handle a 24" monitor

of course it will. In case you don't know, these motherboards have enough power for some casual gaming at low resolutions. And if my Nvidia Geforce 6150 IGP can handle 1600x900, HD 4200 will easily handle Full HD

Logitech wireless combo costs around 1.2k, but that is a pretty basic model. You can get good combos within 2k.

I always suggest wireless mouse if movie watching is a primary purpose coz you always watch from a distance and you often need to play, pause, rewind, reduce/increase volume etc. Plus HTPCs are often placed in the drawing room and wired devices don't look good there.

---------- Post added at 06:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:57 PM ----------

I would suggest not to go for an intel config, you won't get any real advantage as far as your purpose is concerned. If you increase your budget, better put the money in good quality monitor, speaker & cabinet or buy a discrete graphics card.

[Jaskanwar Singh]

cool buddy and sam, thanks for the info once again..

DO NOT go with i5 661
core i5 661 costs 12k and is a waste. even i5 750 priced at 10k is better than that and more future proof. AND INTEL HD GRAPHICS SUCK. REALLY SUCK.
you want need that much power anyway....

So here is a suggestion from my side--

Athlon II X4 630 2.8GHz @ 4.9k
Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-US2H @ 4.6k
Kingston 2GB DDR3 1333MHz * 2@ 5.1k
Sapphire Radeon HD4670 512MB @ 3.7k
Samsung 500GB SATA @ 1.8k
LG H55N DVD @ 1.1K
FSP Saga II 400 Watts @ 2k
Cooler Master Elite 310 @ 1.5k
BenQ 24" G2420 FULL HD LCD Monitor @ 11.3k
Wireless K&B @ 2k

Total - 38k

do you need speakers also????
in case you need them go for Altec Lansing VS-2421 @ 2.4k

[Sam]

Originally Posted by Jaskanwar Singh

cool buddy and sam, thanks for the info once again..

my pleasure buddy

Originally Posted by Jaskanwar Singh

DO NOT go with i5 661
core i5 661 costs 12k and is a waste. even i5 750 priced at 10k is better than that and more future proof. AND INTEL HD GRAPHICS SUCK. REALLY SUCK.

i5 661 ---> dual core + HT. what a waste.

[Ponmayilal]

I am going to give you something different.

A full-pledged Mini HTPC sans optical drive, sans OS. Cost: Rs.17300 (I bought one at SP Road,Bangalore. Distributor: Adhitya Infotech)

Samsung external USB DVD writer - Rs.2500 plus or minus OR Sony-NEC Optiarc USB external BD-ROM optical drive- Rs.11700. (ebay.in)

Windows 7 Home Premium (Retail) - Rs.5750 - Rs.6000


It is a Zotac MAG (Mini All-in-one Giant) HD-ND01.

Intel Atom 330 (Dual Core) 1.6MHz

Zotac Ion custom motherboard

Nvidia Ion Graphics Processor

2GB DDR-2 800

160 GB HDD

Gigabit 10/100/1000 LAN

802.11n Wireless

SD/SDHC/MMC/MS/MS Pro/XD card reader

Onboard 8 channel Digital Audio, Stereo Analog Audio

VGA, HDMI, S/PDIF, Mic/Headphone, 6xUSB, RJ45 ,eSata I/O

Purevideo HD support - full hardware decode with low CPU usage.

7.32"x7.44"x1.50". Stand for Vertical mount and Vesa mount provided.

Power: AC adapter DC 19V, 3.42A

For more details and full resolution pictures see here .

[drck]

Originally Posted by Ponmayilal

I am going to give you something different.

A full-pledged Mini HTPC sans optical drive, sans OS. Cost: Rs.17300 (I bought one at SP Road,Bangalore. Distributor: Adhitya Infotech)

Samsung external USB DVD writer - Rs.2500 plus or minus OR Sony-NEC Optiarc USB external BD-ROM optical drive- Rs.11700. (ebay.in)

Windows 7 Home Premium (Retail) - Rs.5750 - Rs.6000


It is a Zotac MAG (Mini All-in-one Giant) HD-ND01.

Intel Atom 330 (Dual Core) 1.6MHz

Zotac Ion custom motherboard

Nvidia Ion Graphics Processor

2GB DDR-2 800

160 GB HDD

Gigabit 10/100/1000 LAN

802.11n Wireless

SD/SDHC/MMC/MS/MS Pro/XD card reader

Onboard 8 channel Digital Audio, Stereo Analog Audio

VGA, HDMI, S/PDIF, Mic/Headphone, 6xUSB, RJ45 ,eSata I/O

Purevideo HD support - full hardware decode with low CPU usage.

7.32"x7.44"x1.50". Stand for Vertical mount and Vesa mount provided.

Power: AC adapter DC 19V, 3.42A

For more details and full resolution pictures see here .

bingo... that was running in my mind since 2-3 days. went through ur review.. can u post ability of zotac mag about playing true hd movie rip on 24" screen without skipping frames...

how s build quality and noise level?

[Ponmayilal]

As for the build quality, I cannot fault anything. Of course I cannot open the unit without voiding the warranty but I can do it with Zotac Zbox which I have to stuff with a 500GB HDD and 2GB memory. So wait till I take it up.

I have already moved the Zotac MAG to the living room and connected it to my LG TV with HDMI input and to my Philips AV receiver with optical digital output. Since the TV is never free I am unable to force the pace of the trial.

Right now I have two .mkv movies loaded into its belly. Need to make some settings in the Shark Codecs for SPDIF pass-through and I will be through. Tomorrow I will finish with it and then a complete review with screenshots, pictures and "How to" will follow. ( What you have seen is only a preview). So hold on for a day or two more.

What I can say at this point of time is that the built-in Atheros Wi-Fi is a complete let down. (It has been indicated by other reviews too. Though I was not surprised, I did not expect it to be this bad to the point of being useless.)

The signal strength was only one bar and it took nearly 15 minutes to copy a 70MB file from my primary PC (10' away with two walls in-between) at the speed of about 65 KB/s. I disabled it and plugged in my D-Link DWL-G122 wireless adapter. The signal strength was full five bars and it copied the same 70 MB file within seconds at a speed of 25MB/s. I didn't even have time to take a screenshot.

But for the wireless, most reviews have given excellent ratings for it as an HTPC. And I expect it to be so.

EDIT: 30/06/2010 1900Hrs: The how to setup Zotac Mag Mini-HTPC and pictures posted here .