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DriverHeaven Article |
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The media centre bug bit me roughly a year ago or so, I’d had messed about for a while with a Radeon All-In-Wonder 9800SE in the past; however, I’ve never seriously set out to use it for heavy multimedia purposes. When my VCR started to show its age and my mates began moaning about the recordings I was giving them, I began looking into building myself a media centre. I went into the task believing it would be a simple thing to do. I knew my stuff as far as PCs go and I thought it wouldn’t be harder than choosing a TV card and off I went… boy was I wrong. The multimedia market is a minefield of products with hugely different specifications, software and prices; it’s rather difficult to decide what’s best. A year later, having tested TV and audio cards from all the major manufacturers as well as oodles of software, I’m a whole lot wiser in the multimedia department. Therefore, the aim of this guide is to let you know what is best to buy in the mainstream price range, as well as what will give you a stable and easy-to-use multimedia system with the hopes of make building a system a whole lot easier.
Hardware: Is it possible to build a media PC with the cheapest components? Absolutely. You can easily build a media PC around a CPU like a Celeron with minimal memory and onboard graphics, etc. However, having tried to do so myself, I would recommend you aim for a mid to high end system. The reason for this is that the cheaper media centre will be ideal for doing one thing at a time, although as soon as you begin multitasking like recording TV whilst encoding a DVD, the entire system grinds to a halt and it’s really inconvenient to use, especially if it’s your main method of watching TV. It’s not going to last you very long either and add to this that the length of time your encode increases considerably; you’ll end up never being able to fully enjoy the system. Here is the Driverheaven recommended specifications for a midrange multimedia system: CPU: AMD Athlon64 3500+ (Socket 939) Case if going full ATX: *your choice* Case/Mobo/PSU/Cooling: if going for Small Form Factor: Shuttle SN95G5V3 Some reasoning behind the above: We could have gone for an Intel P4 as our CPU of choice for the mainstream multimedia system as there is no doubting they are strong performers in the encoding tasks you’re going to be performing. They are also very hot, which is not ideal for a media system. Due to this, we recommend the much cooler AMD Athlon64. The reason behind our choice of the 3500+ model is that it blends excellent performance with a very reasonable price.
We’ve gone for an all-in-one solution as far as encoding and graphics are concerned. Having used a multitude of stand-alone TV cards, I have yet to find one that combines both outstanding hardware specifications and an excellent software bundle. ATI’s 9800 and 9600 series of All-In-Wonders provide exceptional TV quality whilst the ATI Multimedia Centre is one of the most feature-packed media suites available on the market. The two models listed also offer basic gaming capabilities in recent titles. If the All-In-Wonder doesn’t tickle your fancy, then my next recommendation would the ATI Theatre 550 Pro. (Although only if you are going to use Windows Media Centre Edition 2005, we’ll cover why in the software section.) An ideal graphics card to go along with your T550 would be Powercolor’s fan-less X700 Bravo (It would mean going AGP) that provides decent gaming capabilities mixed with silent operation and a HDTV output.
Memory: An absolute bare minimum for memory in a multimedia system is 512 MB. You’ll get by on that in almost any situation and that is why we’ve recommended this in our specifications. If there was one area where you could spend money above and beyond our recommendations, then this would be it. Grab 2x512 MB if your funding permits it and you’ll have a smooth running PC, even in the most demanding of situations. As far as brands go for the mainstream system, I’d say don’t look further than Crucial. Their memory is always stable and reasonably priced. Hard Drives: Why two drives I you ask? Well, there isn’t any essential need for two, but it’s more of a choice and convenience. I’ve found that with one drive, it’s best to have an OS on one partition and everything else on the other. Therefore, with the recommended specifications, you have a 40gb drive for your chosen OS and a 100gb drive to store all your media files. Another positive aspect is if your OS plays up, you don’t need to worry about backing up your files before reinstalling. Western Digital is our brand of choice as far as the HD goes due to the low amount of noise emitted and the stability of their drives. Although we recommend staying away from the raptors as they are noisier and hotter than the standard drives (Ideal for gamers, but not for media systems). Optical Drive: Our favorites here at Driverheaven have been the recent Liteon and MSI drives; however, I’ve been using an NEC for a certain period of time as well, as have some of the other staff members, and we swear by them due to their remarkable stability. I simply cannot remember the last time I’ve had a coaster created by an NEC drive. They are truly great drives and are reasonably priced to boot.
There isn’t any excuse for not having a surround sound system and as our media system includes one, the T5900 speakers from Creative are an ideal choice for anyone with a mid-sized media room. Within my 13’ by 14’ media centre, the T5900 fills it with quality sound without breaking a sweat.
Remote: If your purchasing “Windows Media Centre Edition” you’ll also receive the MCE remote. It’s small and easy to use with well thought out shortcut buttons. If you decided to not go along with MCE, then we recommend the All-In-Wonder bundle, which includes the Remote Wonder. It really is a wonder to use remote and although it’s larger than the MCE remote, it’s just as easy to use, even though its competition features more functions. The other notable difference is the Remote Wonder is radio controlled, so it doesn’t require a direct line of sight with your computer, (it even functions through walls) although the MCE remote is infrared only. Keyboard and Mouse: This is another section where it boils down to personal choice. I have used Logitech’s wireless keyboard and mouse bundles on all of my Media PC builds and they work fine with XP and MCE. If you have a preferred manufacturer, then feel free to use their product instead. (Although be sure to make it wireless! The last thing you want to be doing is getting up and going to the PC every time you need to use the keyboard.) Now, you have to make a choice and it’s down to your tastes once again and how much space you have available. You can opt for a full ATX motherboard and buy a case to fit it in or you can take the smaller, more ergonomic look of a shuttle case. Full ATX case: There are a few cases on the market that are ideal for media centre systems. Thermaltake sells some as does Artic Cooling, so should you want a full ATX motherboard/system; these are brand names you can trust. ATX Motherboard: We’ve gone with the Asus A8V Deluxe. There are so many motherboards out there that can accommodate the above components; however, having used many Socket 939 motherboards, we’ve found the A8V to be one of the top performers as well as having an excellent bundle and top stability. It’s a fan-less design, which assists noise reduction within the case and as for future proofing, it also supports the new Dual Core Athlon CPUs. Finally, it has onboard surround sound; (including digital out) meaning you won’t need a separate audio card. (Ideal for the budget conscious system builder.)
Power Supply Unit: If you’re going for the Full ATX system, your case may come with a PSU. If so, great! However, if it doesn’t, then one of the quietest running and reasonably priced PSUs out there is the Antec 350w. I’ve one running all of the above components; power and noise have never been an issue. Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer64 The Freezer64 is the best air based cooler I have used to date. Installation is a breeze and when operating, the fan is almost inaudible. Additionally, the cooler is rated up to Athlon64 5000+, so it’ll last you through a few CPU upgrades.
Small Form Factor: If you’ve opted for a small form factor, then there isn’t a need to look any further than the SN95G5V3 from Shuttle. We tested the same unit here on Driverheaven and found it to be a great performer. The unit is quiet, easy to build and packed with features. You get onboard surround sound (including digital out) to output to your T5900 speakers and future proofing for support for Athlon64 X2s. The other upside is that this system looks gorgeous.
Improving the System: So that’s wraps up our recommended specifications for a midrange system that should handle your multimedia needs with ease. However, if you want the best of the best, then there are a few additional options for you. Memory: As noted earlier, 1GB of PC3200DDR would be ideal. Graphics Card: ATI have released a version of the AIW card based on the X800XT chip. This card provides the same multimedia functionality as the 9800 SE and dramatically improves the gaming performance of your system. In addition, the X800XT supports HDTV output.
CPU: For everything you do on your multimedia system, the A64 3500+ will handle it perfectly. Of course, there is always something faster coming along and should you have the funds for it, the Athlon64 X2 chips will perform the same tasks with the same quality, but faster. You’ll notice the improvements immediately if you are multitasking through heavily CPU dependant applications. Both of our recommended motherboards/systems support the X2, so you don’t need to worry about compatibility.
Audio: We’ve suggested you use the onboard audio for your media system, and in all our testing, we had the onboard solution working absolutely fine. If you would like a stand-alone product then, you should consider the Audigy 4. No PCI-E? For this system, no. The reason behind
this is the lack of a decent AIW products on store shelves
that employ PCI-E. The X600 version is out; however, the
outlay for a new motherboard and the AIW would not be
worth it in. Although an AIW X800XL is in development
to combat this issue.
Contacts: Reviewer:
Stuart
"Veridian3" Davidson
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