Media centre PC help required.

[donuticus 10]

Ok i'm looking for a media centre PC that can run everything in my flat, i.e. DVD, Audio (at least 5.1DTS), TV Recorder, and all the other stuff, dont need a monitor as I will be using my TV instead. Also need it to run Adobe Photoshop CS 2 and AVID HD, anybody know of good links to online or high street (preferable) stores that would be able to provide such a machine ?

 

The only machine I've come across is the Sony VAOI desktop is tis any good ?

 

Budget is fairly negotiable, but cant be exorbitant.

 

Even if you cant recommend an exact product what sort of processor should I be looking for. It used to be a lot easier when the processors had speeds in their titles. Now its all duocore this and twin intel that.

[xafier 10]

I'd be tempted to build myself if I was you, the thing you really need to be looking at component wise is the sound card, make sure it has a decent dedicated sound card... none of this onboard stuff!

 

Also probably a graphics card that has HDMI through DVI so that you can watch stuff on a HD TV at 1080p

 

Aside from that I think any machine with a newish processor and a gig of ram would work... most likely you'd want to build it to be as close to silent as possible

[sallonoroff 10]

what sort of processor should I be looking for. It used to be a lot easier when the processors had speeds in their titles.

 

Clock-speed is less important than it used to be... AMD showed that the best chips weren't necessarily the 'fastest' ones... and now Intel is showing that if you can't increase performance by making the chips faster, you just add more 'processors'...

 

Anyway, to answer your question... almost any half-decent processor will handle the 'media center' aspect of your needs, but you might want something 'top-end' if you're doing intense stuff with Photoshop and Avid...

 

So a Core2Duo at least...

 

 

.

[donuticus 10]

Thanks to all so far. I wouldnt know where to start by building my own. Does anyone have any further advice.

[sugarcube 10]

the thing you really need to be looking at component wise is the sound card, make sure it has a decent dedicated sound card... none of this onboard stuff!

 

wouldnt completely agree there, ive a 5.1 onboard Nforce sound card and found it was *very agreeable* compared to my audigy on sound quality, but would throw a tantrum if i played any games with it. Plus you only need to worry about that a bit if you have a decent cinema sound system which will keep the fidelity of the output intact.

 

what i think is the more important is the graphics card.

 

and while on that subject, does anyone know of any video cards which have a TV/S-video/RGB/whatever input and output? the only one ive come across so far is the legacy voodoo methinks number 5 but not sure. suggestions for tuner/output cards very welcome as i want to build a DVR/DHCP NAT router/NFS box myself from an old macine i cant find any other use for.