self build media centre

[bigdavie0]

hope someone can help.
i am thinking about building my own media centre but need advice on what things to purchase.
i want the media centre for my living room,so it will have to be quite low in noise also i would like it to fit in with my other equipment.
i have an alphason stand (ag93) with sky box ect. on and a 42 inch plasma wall mounted.
any help and guideance would be welcome
regards.

Do you know how high your HTPC can be. Some of the bigger boxes are as tall as a full on AV amp.
I didn't have enough room so went for the slimline (100mm) mediaPC.tv case. The thing with slimline cases though is your choice of motherboard (typically uATX only) and expansion (mine uses risers to give 2 PCI + 1 AGP slot, others require half height cards).
If you have the room for a full height case though I'd go that route, simply for the better expansion and potentially more airflow.

[bigdavie0]

thanks for the reply oneEleven
i want a pc case that looks like a.v.equipment (like the elonex artisan),i will be using it mainly for recording and watching tv ect.
i have a main computer but i want to build a good looking media centre for use in the living room.
if you or anyone could give me advice on what i would need to buy to build one i would be gratefull (eg.case memory,graphics card,tv cards ect.)
cheers

[lisag]

Hi, that is a big question, there are endless amount of possibilities, and everyone has a different opinion on which they prefer, or think is best.

To get you started....

CPU - Intel/AMD, whatever you prefer at least 3ghz but would normally say buy the one just below the one that is ridiculously expensive.
Memory 1GB RAM, faster the better, Crucial is good
Mobo - find one that has all the features you need..!
Sound - onboard sound should be ok or separate sound card if you prefer,
Graphics - recommend the Gigabyte fanless 6600/6600GT with the nvidia purevideo dvd codec
TV Card - dual tuners, for Freeview go for Black Gold/Sweetspot MCE/Nebula, for analogue the Hauppauge MCE approved range
Digital connection to display if poss,
There is a new Microsoft MCE keyboard due soon that looks good,

And, think about noise vs heat so go for passively cooled components, or silent fans (particularly PSU) where possible.

lisa