The building a PC/laptop guide

I'm looking to hook this thing up to my TV and use it as a media center.

core i3 isn't very good. If you're looking for a decent machine on a budget, you might want to wait until AMD comes out with it's Trinity processor. Its an APU, which combines a CPU and GPU onto the same chip (which is especially good if people start programming more things to utilize things like OpenCL which will offload some processing assignments from the CPU to the GPU). The graphics chip embedded into the trinity is also a 7000 series radeon, and if for some reason that isn't enough for you, you can still add another graphics card later.

core i3 isn't very good. If you're looking for a decent machine on a budget, you might want to wait until AMD comes out with it's Trinity processor. Its an APU, which combines a CPU and GPU onto the same chip (which is especially good if people start programming more things to utilize things like OpenCL which will offload some processing assignments from the CPU to the GPU). The graphics chip embedded into the trinity is also a 7000 series radeon, and if for some reason that isn't enough for you, you can still add another graphics card later.

Thank you

After thinking about it a little more I think I'll just build one from scratch. I need a good assignment right now

I thought it was always cheaper to build one from scratch. If you have the know how, that's the way to do it.

Yes you do that

Make it from scratch, order the parts for Newegg and if you have the know-how, just combine.

Just thought I'd throw in my two cents even though this thread looks to be dead. I'm pretty biased against HP's, just don't care for 'em. When making your own, I'd suggest going with more than 4 GB RAM and if you use Windows upgrading to 64 bit. Make sure you stick with 4 GB minimum, and go up to 8 GB. It's a cheap way to improve performance that really works. Half that 1 TB hard drive down to 500 GB and spend some of that extra money on upping your RAM. No one really needs a TB of space, although I'm sure some will disagree.

HP stands for "huge problems", bro. Most of the laptops we get at the computer shop are unfortunately HPs, so I too am a little biased against them just because of my frustrating and repeated experience with them. If you can find similar specs from a different manufacturer, like Lenovo, go for that instead.

If you're trying to play MKVs or bluray movies directly from the computer, i3 is fine from what I've seen. 4 GBs of Ram is fine as well, but another gig or too wouldn't hurt just form a multitasking standpoint.

Hope that helps...

Do it yourself and most of the parts can carry over to the next upgrade you do. Those OEM cases and Motherboards are a pita. Plus the power supplies are usually junk.

I thought it was always cheaper to build one from scratch. If you have the know how, that's the way to do it.

Desktops, yes. Laptops, no. And that's still only if you know what you're doing, imo.

And that's still only if you know what you're doing, imo.

That's too true. One of my friends asked about a computer after seeing my gaming kit and after talking with a him a bit I wound up recommending something similar to the OP. You can have brand preference among the OEM's too, but I always had decent luck with HP's. I also didn't want to have to build one for him and then be tech support for the next two years - you have to be able to do all that yourself for a do it yourself box.

I tore apart an old netbook just because I didn't need it anymore and I was swapping a hard drive just to see what I might do with the working parts. The connectors inside those things are just awful. They all are too happy to come apart but getting them all back in the proper order (even after having taken picture of all the steps) was next to impossible. Keyboard has never been the same. I don't know where you would even start when building a notebook by hand. Best I could I think of would be a boutique shop.

Desktops, yes. Laptops, no. And that's still only if you know what you're doing, imo.

I thought that the computer in the OP was a desktop. The link didn't work for me, but he did say that the display didn't matter because he was going to hook it up to his TV so I assumed that we were talking desktop.

I would never, ever, under any circumstances attempt building my own laptop. Building a desktop is rather easy though if you know what you're doing.

I don't know why the link came out all weird, but I think it's fixed now.

It's a PC, I would NEVER attempt to build a laptop lol.

I thought that the computer in the OP was a desktop. The link didn't work for me, but he did say that the display didn't matter because he was going to hook it up to his TV so I assumed that we were talking desktop.

I would never, ever, under any circumstances attempt building my own laptop. Building a desktop is rather easy though if you know what you're doing.

Ya, I looked it up, it's a desktop. Figured I'd just go ahead and address both since I enjoy the topic and once actually thought about building a laptop instead of a desktop.

You can always go the refurbished laptop route and just upgrade the RAM and HDD (hell, even upgrade CPU based on socket) if you already have parts. But that's really meh and technically not building from scratch. But if you bought the laptop mobo, then bought the shell, and screen, and keyboard, see where I'm going with this?

I was really jus wondering if anybody actually tried it, building a laptop from scratch, jus for the hell of it. Sorry if it was kinda a hijack : ).

I would never, ever, under any circumstances attempt building my own laptop.

I might consider it if I had a Raspberry Pi, though I can probably think up more fun uses for it than a laptop.

Updated the topic to reflect the direction this thread has gone

Updated the topic to reflect the direction this thread has gone

Well then, I'll make a rather extensive post in a moment or two.

I might consider it if I had a Raspberry Pi, though I can probably think up more fun uses for it than a laptop.

Cool Change spj.

I like those new Zotac itty bitty form factors. They need to work on the power requirements a little to get them down for temperatures and corresponding noise but a pc screwed onto the back of a tv networked to a NAS or a home server is the ideal setup now. No wife factor involved and with a decent remote it's capable of doing a whole lot more than most people realize. Itching to build something ITX. Thought I'd add, waiting for Trinity is a big bonus for this option.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5738/zotac-zbox-nano-xs-ad11-plus-redefining-the-small-form-factor-pc

HYFR.

Funny you bring up that Raspberry Pi, Poker, cuz I swear VP of our school's IT Club brought that up to us the last meeting.

He was talking about integrating different electronics to this one central node, like the garage door, fridge, and climate control. I told him if he did that, the second he put it on the net he'd be asking for it. Still cool though, but I'd like to see an improvement on the processor speed before I would involve it in something like home entertainment, even if we're just talking music. Based on the wiki page, the ARM11 is still 32-bit and only 700Mhz. Something as small as Pi will eventually go the away of the atom processor and have a dual core chip instead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raspberry_Pi

I'm going to do some homework, otherwise I'm never going to leave this thread. :drool

Cool Change spj.

I like those new Zotac itty bitty form factors. They need to work on the power requirements a little to get them down for temperatures and corresponding noise but a pc screwed onto the back of a tv networked to a NAS or a home server is the ideal setup now. No wife factor involved and with a decent remote it's capable of doing a whole lot more than most people realize. Itching to build something ITX. Thought I'd add, waiting for Trinity is a big bonus for this option.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5738/zotac-zbox-nano-xs-ad11-plus-redefining-the-small-form-factor-pc

yeah, but can the zotac compete with this little guy?

at only $35 or so, I know which one I'd rather glue to the back of a TV.

---------- Post added April-14th-2012 at 02:57 PM ----------

HYFR.

Funny you bring up that Raspberry Pi, Poker, cuz I swear VP of our schools IT Club brought that up to us the last meeting.

He was talking about integrating different electronics to this one central node, like the garage door, fridge, and climate control. I told him if he did that, the second he put it on the net he'd be asking for it. Still cool though, but I'd like to see an improvement on the processor speed before I would involve it in something like home entertainment, even if we're just talking music. Based on the wiki page, the ARM11 is still 32-bit and only 700Mhz. Something as small as Pi will eventually go the away of the atom processor and have a dual core chip instead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raspberry_Pi

I'm going to do some homework, otherwise I'm never going to leave this thread. :drool

Keep in mind that it is ARM based, rather than x86, which means its not bogged down by the archaic architecture. The thing is powerful enough for 1080p video, so it's got something going for it.

yeah, but can the zotac compete with this little guy?

at only $35 or so, I know which one I'd rather glue to the back of a TV.

Price wise no comparison and cool factor I'll give to the Pi just cause it is. Paying more does get you more though and the next generation of tv back pc's are going to able to do it all, with connections for everything but the Pi's kitchen sink. For $35, get both? That's too cool. Portal 2 on my 46" without all the cords and heat is what I'm talking about. These steps now are leading us in the right direction that's for sure. I like it.

there should be plenty of build guides for an affordable HTPC (home theatre personal computer) build. putting it together isn't difficult at all and some guides you find should give you step by step pictures of everything.

basically it's cheap processor, cheap video card, and monsterous amount of storage with some kind of network adapter (ethernet if you can get a cord from your modem/router or wifi if not).

edit: oh and that rasberry pi is really cool.

Keep in mind that it is ARM based, rather than x86, which means its not bogged down by the archaic architecture. The thing is powerful enough for 1080p video, so it's got something going for it.

Tru, and I started lookin into that recently.

Couldn't find anything showing it could handle say a 6 GB mkv file (even from an external HDD, since SD it comes with ain't big enough for that), which is what I would want to use it for. Saw them playing some games, but most of the 1080p demos we're either that or trailers. No doubt, it's going to get stronger, I just hope no one tries to kill it patent-wise before she gets a chance to really take off.

OK, so you want a HTPC. You don't want a desktop.

Building a HTPC is something that I've always wanted to do myself but haven't ever done it. It is different than building a desktop but the general concepts are pretty much the same.

First you need to decide what you want your HTPC to do. What are you going to be using your HTPC for? Are you just going to watch cable and the occasional Bluray? Are you going to record TV? Are you going to go for heavy gaming with this machine? This is the first important decision to be made in building a HTPC.

Now that you know what you want out of your HTPC, there are a few basic decisions to be made before the real build can start. Some would say that the processor is the most important decision, I'd argue that what case you will be using is the most important. There are a few different form factors that can be used in a HTPC, ATX, micro ATX and micro ITX. I'd probably go with ATX because it's the largest and most like a standard desktop. ATX motherboards will likely be easier to work around and allow you for more expansion. It is really about preference though.

A couple of cases:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112228

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811204037

Next step is to pick the type of processor you want to run. Basically, you can choose either Intel or AMD. I'm not as up to date on the most advanced processors as some others on this board may be but I'll give you some general ideas. Intel will generally give you the best performance. AMB will generally give you the most processing power for the buck. Most importantly, you should select a processor that has a socket that won't be outdated if you ever want to upgrade. The processor determines what motherboard you'll be running, so make sure you don't end up getting a motherboard that will be dead in a year!

A couple of processors:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727 (AMD)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 (Intel)

Now onto the motherboard. You can get a whole lot of options in a motherboard. Obviously, you'll need a motherboard that accepts the processor that you selected. Hell, you could even pick the motherboard before the processor if you really wanted. There are other things to keep in mind in general. How much RAM and what kind of RAM will this motherboard use? In general, you want the most advanced RAM with the highest amount of slots. You need to decide how many PCI Express X16 slots you want. If you're going to be gaming, you'll probably want at least 2. Other options like how many SATA slots you'll need also determine what kind of motherboard you'll be buying.

A couple of motherboards:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138344 (Intel)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131736 (AMD)

Next step is to decide what kind of video card you want. You don't "need" a video card, most motherboards have on board video. If you're going to be watching your HTPC on a HDTV, it's a best bet to get one. Depending on what kind of use you want of your HTPC, you may want a relatively low end video card. A video card with a passive heat exchange system may be better suited for those just in it for the movies than a massive video card (or cards) with huge fans.

A couple of video cards:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130587 (high end)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133356 (low end)

...to be continued. The Caps game is starting.

My goodness that was one heck of a breakdown!

Thank you so much for that.

Tru, and I started lookin into that recently.

Couldn't find anything showing it could handle say a 6 GB mkv file (even from an external HDD, since SD it comes with ain't big enough for that), which is what I would want to use it for. Saw them playing some games, but most of the 1080p demos we're either that or trailers. No doubt, it's going to get stronger, I just hope no one tries to kill it patent-wise before she gets a chance to really take off.

The whole idea of Raspberry Pi is actually education. These people wanted to make something cheap that schools could buy up and mess with all they wanted. You gotta respect the amount of work that went into this to sell it for so little for the purposes of education.