New media PC advice request

[Boffinboy]

Hi all, thanks for taking the time to read my post! I've had a look through the stickied FAQ and that has been very helpful however I still have a few questions on specifics which I was hoping those with experience with various components may be able to answer.

Budget ~400 pounds

I am planning to use the media pc for:-
- Music, lossless copies of my CDs. I have an iphone so possibly using Itunes as it works as a great remote with the PC/TV screen off etc. however potentially I could keep music to sync to the phone separately (using itunes) and use another multi-purpose media player on the media pc.

- DL'ed videos, avi's etc. up to 720p and potentially any Hulu-like service if one is ever released in the UK

- Recording/watching freeview TV

- Potentially streaming stored media online to my phone via Orb or similar

I do not need it for blu-ray as I have a separate blu-ray player. As I understand it I therefore do not need a motherboard that is HDCP compatible.

As I am attempting to keep the cost down I had planned to go for and AMD 5050e paired with a 780G motherboard, however I have read on the forums that the deinterlacing performance of the onboard graphics is quite poor. This would obviously be a problem for TV-usage. Is the performance of an Intel combo using the 9300/9400 better? Or would I be better off using discrete graphics such as a radeon 4350 or similar?

Also, any advice on frontend software that has good TV recording scheduling etc. but still performs well for music and video downloads would be great.

Thanks in advance - Boffinboy

 

[anth.payne]

You will probably get plenty excellent advice here. But just to start, the 780G mobo should suffice, you could also consider the 790GX. My preference is the 9400 board, but I appreciate this is more expensive.

For a front end, I think MediaPortal and VistaMC are just as capable as each other, although MediaPortal is probably more customisable.

Your other big spend may possibly be your HTPC case - comes down to how fussed you are about the 'looks'.

Scan.co.uk should have everything you need for components.

[Mod Comment - Theydon Bois] Please do not advocate illegal downloading streaming sites. This particular one uses the same excuse as many others - "...we do not host the content and cannot comment on its legallity.." etc etc. Which means it is.

 

[Boffinboy]

Thanks Anth, do you have any reason for the preference for the 9400? Any ideas on relative image quality with interlaced video?

I'm likely to order at Scan as that's where I ordered the majority of parts for my main PC.

With regards to Hulu it is essentially a legal delivery system for most TV shows in the US, the shows are free to view but contain advertisements. Rumours of a UK rollout in Sept are floating around, which would be great.

 

[Theydon Bois]

Please make sure that any posters refrain from posting regarding illegal streaming or downloading sites, otherwise infractions will occur.

Hulu is moot at the moment as it is an American based site and will not work here, and as mentioned, could be a legal streaming site due to advertisements.

 

[Lampshader]

Rumours of a UK rollout in Sept are floating around, which would be great.

I didn't know that i shall keep an eye on that