newbie needs advice for htpc build?

[stu1873]

hello, this is my first post but i have been looking at threads in the forum over the last few days to figure out how to build an htpc.

i am planning on using my official copy of vista premium along with mediabrowser or mediaportal.

my planned htpc will only be used for music, movies, web surfing and i would also like to rip my large collection of dvd's to the hdd.

i am looking to spend no more than £250-300 to build my budget htpc and so far after reading have decided to use these components.

Asus M4A78-SK+ AM2 AMD 780G motherboard £41
AMD Athlon 64bit X2 5050E AM2 ADH50501AA5D0 45W £41
WD Caviar Green WD15EARS 1.5TB SATAII 64MB 3.5 Inter HD £66
Antec slimline case 350w £85

i am not sure on how much ram i will need as i will be using vista. will 2gb be fine to allow it to run smooth?

i have no need to get a bluray drive as i use my ps3 to watch them so i need to get a decent dvd-rw drive to rip my dvd's. can some one point me in the right direction to buy a decent dvd drive and ram at a good price.

also as my knowlege of pc's is limited is the components i have chosen so far all compatible?

any help will be greatly appreciated

regards
stuart

 

[Andy98765]

Where do you plan to get.
Asus M4A78-SK+ AM2 AMD 780G motherboard £41
AMD Athlon 64bit X2 5050E AM2 ADH50501AA5D0 45W £41
I have not seen them for sale in over a year.
The latest versions are a 880G MBoard and say a 245e or 255e processor.
For a 32bit system get 2 gig
For a 64 bit system get 4 gig.
For memory try using Crucial as it will advise exactly what memory the board wants. RAM Memory Upgrade: Dell, Mac, Apple, HP, Compaq. USB drives, flash cards, SSD at Crucial.com
As for a DVD drive then any £15-20 one will do.

 

[stu1873]

thank you for replying.
I have been using ebay and ebuyer to source my parts.
I will have a look for more up to date parts today.

cheers
stuart

 

[stu1873]

ok, i have had a look on ebuyer today and narrowed my components down to these.

http://orders.ebuyer.com/customer/shopping/index.html?action=c2hvd2NhcnQ=

i am going to get one of these cases from ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360289933495&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

will these components be ok for an htpc and will i need to buy any extra cables or should the case have all the cables and connectors i need?