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Yes another one ... please evaluate

post #1 of 13
2/8/08 at 9:39am
Thread Starter 
I went to Newegg and created a list of the parts I think I am going to be getting for a new HTPC/ mid-end gamer. I was wondering if you all could take a look at it and comment:
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion...le=HTPC%2FGAME

My goal is playback of DVD and Blu-Ray, I don't need DVR as my FIOS box does a reasonable job of that. Right now all my movies are currently ripped to a server that I will be connecting to over cat5. I have a valid copy of Vista Ultimate and I will be using the MyMovies plug in. I have not settled on a Blu-ray playback device yet.

I wanted to add in a nice sound card, but since it seems nothing really decodes the HD versions of DD or DTS yet, I will wait, and just use the on-board SPDif for now.

I am not really a gamer, but I would like this PC to be able to play games at moderate levels. I don't need Crysis at super high levels, but I would like COD4 at good levels. Also, can anyone recomend a decent PC based game controller, I have never really be comfortable with a keyboard and mouse for gaming, and my living room isn't really setup correctly to use the keyboard and mouse anyway.

This will all be connected to my 50" Panny 1080P plasma, and the audio will be run through my Pio 1014 (hopefully will be upgrading that soon as well)
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post #2 of 13
2/8/08 at 9:42am
- get 2gb of ram
- just buy the wired (or wireless w/ receiver) xbox 360 controller
- other than that, looks fine.
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post #3 of 13
2/8/08 at 9:49am
Instead of four 1GB sticks, buy the 2x 2GB kit... less chance of getting a bad stick or having compatibility issues amongst the four.
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post #4 of 13
2/8/08 at 10:18am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mva5580 View Post

- get 2gb of ram
- just buy the wired (or wireless w/ receiver) xbox 360 controller
- other than that, looks fine.

The xbox controller works with a PC .. .how knew?

I know 4GB is overkill, but the RAM is cheap and supposedly SP1 of Vista will recognize the 4GB, so I figure it can't hurt.

I will look into just getting 2x2GB instead of 4x1GB though
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post #5 of 13
2/8/08 at 12:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by davdev View Post

The xbox controller works with a PC .. .how knew?

I know 4GB is overkill, but the RAM is cheap and supposedly SP1 of Vista will recognize the 4GB, so I figure it can't hurt.

I will look into just getting 2x2GB instead of 4x1GB though


I thought only 64bit will see 4gb and up

and x86 will only see around 3.25 ish
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post #6 of 13
2/8/08 at 12:57pm
Quote:




I am not really a gamer, but I would like this PC to be able to play games at moderate levels. I don't need Crysis at super high levels, but I would like COD4 at good levels. Also, can anyone recomend a decent PC based game controller, I have never really be comfortable with a keyboard and mouse for gaming, and my living room isn't really setup correctly to use the keyboard and mouse anyway.

This will all be connected to my 50" Panny 1080P plasma, and the audio will be run through my Pio 1014 (hopefully will be upgrading that soon as well)

Then you don't need that expensive of a video card. An ATI HD 2600 XT or Nvidia 8600 GTS will run your games fine. Since you are running Vista, go ahead and use that money to get 4 GB of ram instead. You will still come out ahead. ATI has better hardware acceleration for movie decoding in most reviews that I have seen. The 8800GT is really a heavy gaming card than a movie playback card.

My system plays back HD movies just fine with my hd 2600 XT and I am only using a Pentium 520 (2.8). And mine is going to a projector at 92".
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post #7 of 13
2/8/08 at 1:00pm
32-bit Vista can only "see" 4GB (2 to the 32nd), but some of that space is already in use for other devices. How much you'll lose depends on the devices. For example, two 512MB video cards will need a 1GB by themselves. The system itself needs some space regardless of your other devices, but if you have a modest graphics card, you might see a little over3.5GB.
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post #8 of 13
2/8/08 at 1:14pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by SpeedEng View Post

I thought only 64bit will see 4gb and up

and x86 will only see around 3.25 ish

From what I have heard, SP1 of Vista x86 is supposed to increase the amount of usable RAM.
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post #9 of 13
2/8/08 at 2:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by davdev View Post

From what I have heard, SP1 of Vista x86 is supposed to increase the amount of usable RAM.

Not really. It's just going to tell you the amount of physical RAM in the system instead of the amount of addressable RAM.
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post #10 of 13
2/8/08 at 4:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dj9 View Post

Not really. It's just going to tell you the amount of physical RAM in the system instead of the amount of addressable RAM.


That is correct. I have SP1 installed on a Vista Enterprise x32 system at work and it only sees 3.25GB of the 4GB in task manager. But if you view system properties where it tells you the CPU type and speed, it says 4GB there.

BTW, that system has one 320MB Geforce 8800GTS.
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post #11 of 13
2/8/08 at 4:54pm
Why is the e8400 so expensive? Microcenter is cheaper than that.
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post #12 of 13
2/8/08 at 7:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dj9 View Post

Not really. It's just going to tell you the amount of physical RAM in the system instead of the amount of addressable RAM.

+1.
Vista 32bit can see 4Gb but can not use more than 3.2 Gb.
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post #13 of 13
2/9/08 at 7:09am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the help guys. I have been rethinking my objectives and I may just make a more simple media center (DVD and Music playback) and get a PS3 for my gaming and Blu-Ray needs. I figure with the 1300 I was going to spend, I can put $400 towards a PS3 and then I can probably do a decent HTPC for around $600, and put the other $300 towards movies and games. With all the reading I have done lately, I am just not convinced Blu-Ray is PC Ready, especially on the audio side.
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