Building my own media centre PC - advice sought!

[ciphergoth]

Now we have a jolly huge TV and a GBP 25 DVD player, I find myself very tempted to build myself a Linux-based Media Centre PC. I'd love some advice on what I'm thinking of buying.

I want:

• Linux-based media centre PC running MythTV.
• Fits on TV stand (thus desktop case)
• Fast enough for software decoding while doing other stuff
• Not too noisy
• Ideally one that doesn't use too much power (environmental impact)
• Cheap
• Slight preference for AMD 64 for coolness value. (given up on this one)

I don't want

• Games machine (will never run Windows so no point)
• Very quiet indeed (no-one in the house seems to mind PC roar)
• Lots of compatibility hassles making it work

I already have

• DVD +-RW rewriter (ATA)
• AGP graphics card with TV out (NVidia MX400 MS-8826)
• Cheap sound card if I can't make the onboard one work with Linux

I'm thinking of buying: (prices include VAT) Updated with cheaper, quieter, slower choices.

56.09	Processor and fan	2.66GHz Intel Celeron 330D, 256K L2, socket 478, 533MHz FSB
97.98	Motherboard, case, PSU	Black ASUS Pundit barebones system
45.88	Memory	Ebuyer 512mb DDR PC3200 400MHz Tesco Value Ram
76.73	Hard drive	200 Gb Seagate Barracuda
62.64	TV card	Hauppage DVB-T PCI Nova 909
6.68	Video cable	Belkin PC-DVD to TV Cable Kit
5.86	Postage and packing
352.76	Total cost

So, what have I forgotten? What am I buying wrong? What won't work with what? What do I need to check about my existing bits of hardware? Where should I be saving money/spending more?

Comments

[simm42.livejournal.com]

Well since you are after small the zalman silent case is out - the hush case is a rather nice option for a passively cooled system

I'd say your other option for quiet is going to be water cooling - you really sont want fans in it for a media center

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

I'm not pushed about small actually - the case I'm getting is a full size desktop case. However, both the cases you name are more expensive than my current estimates for the *entire system*.

If I could get a much quieter system for relatively little extra money, I'd be interested, but we currently use a fairly noisy PC for watching DVDs and no-one seems to mind.

[simm42.livejournal.com]

Yeah the zalman case is very pricey :)

If you wanted cheaper and quiet watercooling is one way - probably about £150 for a cheap setup - maybe less - that would do your CPU, north bridge and HDD - you could then fill the case with foam pieces that would shut out the rest of the noise.

other options include going for a passively cooled PSU, zalman silent heatsink for the CPU (possibly consider underclocking the CPU aswell if you dont need full speed and it will run cooler)

www.quietpc.co.uk is a good place to look round

Its the old rule I'm afraid though: cool, quiet, cheap - pick 2

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

http://www.quietpc.com/uk/htpc.php

The HT-400 is very appealing but very expensive. Maybe I'll upgrade to it one day - the case is £200 and the power supply would be another £60!