s_inman
Prominent Member
Im am shortly going to be building my first htpc, I built a gaming rig around 4 years ago so I do know what to expect and plan on using some parts from that, mainly the hdd, dvd drive, my copy of XP etc.
I am swaying towards the antec fusion case as it looks nice and comes complete with a psu! What would you suggest as suitable cpu, motherboard, ram etc? I want to keep the cost to around 300-400.
I plan on mainly playing hd clips from usenet, 1080p is not necessary as my plasma only does 1080i/720p. but I may intsall a hd-dvd/blu-ray drive at a later date. NO gaming will be done on this HTPC as I have a 360 for that!
What would be the best way to connect to my plasma? I only have 1 hdmi and that is in use.. Would vga be ok? Does HDMI make that much difference? Would I still get a true HD signal?
One last thing, I have a sky dish but no box etc, would I be able to get a tuner card that I can plug directly in to the lnb on the dish and get the free channels? Mainly for bbc hd! If so what options are there as I am not sure what I should be looking for.
Sorry for all the questions but I am new to the world of htpc and want to get the best possible for my money .
Thanks in advance, Stuart.
I am swaying towards the antec fusion case as it looks nice and comes complete with a psu! What would you suggest as suitable cpu, motherboard, ram etc? I want to keep the cost to around 300-400.
I plan on mainly playing hd clips from usenet, 1080p is not necessary as my plasma only does 1080i/720p. but I may intsall a hd-dvd/blu-ray drive at a later date. NO gaming will be done on this HTPC as I have a 360 for that!
What would be the best way to connect to my plasma? I only have 1 hdmi and that is in use.. Would vga be ok? Does HDMI make that much difference? Would I still get a true HD signal?
One last thing, I have a sky dish but no box etc, would I be able to get a tuner card that I can plug directly in to the lnb on the dish and get the free channels? Mainly for bbc hd! If so what options are there as I am not sure what I should be looking for.
Sorry for all the questions but I am new to the world of htpc and want to get the best possible for my money .
Thanks in advance, Stuart.