Lately I've been mulling over the idea of building a home theater pc on a relatively small budget. I've never built a computer myself, however. I'm not asking anyone on here to necessarily "build" the computer for me but I'm just curious what you guys recommend for components for $400 or so. I just don't want to have too high of expectations for what can be achieved for such a small budget.

 

I can list what i bought and the price. I think mine was around $500 or so. If i looked for deals im sure i could've made it cheaper.

 

why not just get an out of the box one

 

Mobo:
Asus P5E-VM w HDMI - $125
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131237

Chip:
Intel C2D e8400 - $170
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115037


Case, PSU, Memory = whatever Frys.com is shipping free :hs2:

 

case = 50-100
psu = 50 - 100
memory = 50-100

avg of 75 x 3 = 225 + 170 + 125 = 520. i guess if he got his own software and monitor. i just bought a comp for my dad (internet some pics) nothing serious from dell and it was 500 taxed/shipped.

i dont know - when i was looking to build my comp finding all these parts then the software and everything seemed like a big hassle - plus i didnt like the fact that all items were $xxx only after rebates. that is just me

 

http://www.dell.com/content/products...s=dhs&ref=dthp

 

Jae, what kinds of things can you do with your setup? Did you install a Blu-Ray drive? What OS are you running...XP, Windows Media Center, or something else?

I don't like how those look..and I'd like to put a system together myself, as long as it's not too much of a headache. :hs:

 

I found a couple cases that I like. I'm not sure how well they'd work for HTPCs though:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811133045

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811144162

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...TER%20Mystique

 

Who would the Dell SC servers serve as something to connect to your TV to play music and surf interweb?

 

I was going to put a Bluray drive in and use my USB 360 HD-DVD drive but then my friend told me about .mkv files and i've been watching movies with that, and might i add they come out phenomenal.

I'm currently running Vista Ultimate. I had a tuner card i had from a previous build that wasn't compatible with Vista so i'm now on the prowl for a HDTV Tuner.

Here's what mine is like and price i paid (prices may be different now):

Case:
Antec New Solution NSK2480 Black/Silver 0.8mm cold-rolled steel MicroATX Desktop Computer Case 380W Power Supply - Retail - $99.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129034


CPU Cooling:
Scythe SCMNJ-1000 80mm Sleeve "NINJA MINI" CPU Cooler - Retail - $34.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835185046


Media Remote:
Microsoft A9O-00007 WinXP Media Center Infrared Remote Control $38.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16880100851

Ram:
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail $79.00

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231122

Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail - $89.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128090

Video Card
SAPPHIRE 100234VGAL Radeon HD 3450 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $40.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102757

All that cost me $414 shipped from Newegg

The hard drive i got from microcenter near me, it was a 320 on sale for $60 so i bought that. I'm running this processor, i got it from Amazon,

Processor:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 5000+ 2.6 GHz Processor with 1024KB L2 Cache and 64-Watt Socket AM2 Black Edition(ADO5000DSWOF) - $81.23 shipped


The remote i bought, i already own a Harmony 550, so i taught the harmony all the aspects of what that remote can do and then threw it in the closet to never be seen again. I just really wanted the receiver as i've heard nothing but good things about the receiver.

I'm also using just a generic SATA DVD drive. For the most part that is my complete build. Now i did buy the Logitech DiNovo Edge keyboard for the Wow factor. What i love most about this build is that when i first started it up, i thought something was broke because i didn't hear any fan noise. I opened it up, and sure enough, all 3 fans were blowing on medium speed and i could hear NOTHING. Cooling is good and adequate and the case is built extremely well. You can check out reviews for it on silentpc.com