Well, here we have a machine which I’ve spec’ed out at around $600. That does not include the Terabyte Hard Drive that will go into it; nor the Vista Ultimate which will also be installed. The purpose of this is to serve as the “living room PC” which will hook up to the large TV, which I have not even begun to shop for yet. Our total budget for this HTPC + HDTV is $1500, so if this PC costs me $600, then that leaves me $900 to spend on a TV. I think I should be able to get a pretty decent 42-48″ TV for that.

This computer’s purpose will be to record / download shows, Stream videos, and house all of our home movies, rips of favorite DVD’s, and all of our music. I plan on using just the Windows stuff that came with my PVR-150, the TV capture card.

Interesting features of this computer, above & beyond what might be a “regular” computer, are:

• Very large fan on the side of the case. These extremely large fans are good because they can move large amounts of air very quietly.
• One Terabyte hard drive, with probably more to be added later
• 8gb of RAM, all of which Vista 64 Ultimate should be able to see & take advantage of
• After-market CPU fans & case fans, all of which were the best combination of quietness & price
• Video card which blows away my current card, even though it costs $80 and my last video card, bought 2 years ago, cost about $200. That’s the way it goes with vid cards.

 

ENERMAX Chakra ECA3052B Black SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case – Retail

Model #:ECA3052B

Item #:N82E16811124114

Return Policy:Standard Return Policy

In Stock

Mail-in Rebate

$69.99

ENERMAX UC-8EB 80mm Case Fan – Retail

Model #:UC-8EB

Item #:N82E16811999199

Return Policy:Standard Return Policy

In Stock

$6.49
-$1.00 Save
$10.98

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK – Retail

Model #:F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK

Item #:N82E16820231166

Return Policy:Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy

In Stock

$64.99
-$10.00 Instant
$109.98

GIGABYTE GA-MA790GP-DS4H AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard – Retail

Model #:GA-MA790GP-DS4H

Item #:N82E16813128352

Return Policy:Limited 30-Day Return Policy

In Stock

$139.99
-$10.00 Instant
$129.99

MSI R4670-2D512 Radeon HD 4670 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card – Retail

Model #:R4670-2D512

Item #:N82E16814127383

Return Policy:Standard Return Policy

In Stock

Mail-in Rebate

$79.99

Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC 430W ATX12V Power Supply – Retail

Model #:W0070RUC

Item #:N82E16817153023

Return Policy:Limited 30-Day Return Policy

In Stock

Mail-in Rebate

$40.99
-$5.00 Instant
$35.99

AMD Phenom 9850 BLACK EDITION 2.5GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HD985ZXAGHBOX – Retail

Model #:HD985ZXAGHBOX

Item #:N82E16819103249

Return Policy:Processors (CPUs) Return Policy

In Stock

$159.99

ZALMAN CNPS 9500 AM2 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink – Retail

Model #:CNPS 9500 AM2

Item #:N82E16835118004

Return Policy:Standard Return Policy

In Stock

$59.99
-$9.00 Instant
$50.99

Subtotal:

$647.90 – $65 Rebates = …Eh, around $600. (Not including the TB Hard Drive and the Vista Ultimate).