~pcwiz Posted August 15, 2008 Share Posted August 15, 2008 I'm planning on building an OSx86 home theater rig for my HDTV, so I need some parts, but for cheap. It doesn't matter if they are used, but preferrably if I could get all the parts for around $200 or so that would be really nice...I'm already getting the motherboard (Intel Bad Axe 2), just need some of the other parts. EDIT: Decided on some parts CPU: Intel Pentium Dual Core E2160 Dual Core Processor LGA775 1.8GHZ 800FSB 1MB Retail GPU: ASUS EN8400GS SILENT/HTP/256M GeForce 8400GS 500MHZ 256MB DDR2 PCI-E VGA DVI HDTV Out Video Card RAM:Patriot Signature Line 2GB 2X1GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 CL5 240PIN Memory Dual Channel DIMM Kit Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB SATA2 8.5MS 7200RPM 16MB Cache Hard Drive OEM 5YR MFR Warranty Optical Drive: Pioneer DVR-216DBK Black 20X SATA OEM DVDRW No Software Case: Antec NSK4480 New Solution ATX Mini Tower Case 3X5.25 2X3.5 3X3.5INT 380W ATX12V V2.0 Black Wireless Card: ASUS WL-138G-V2 Wireless G Network Adapter PCI Card 802.11G 54MBPS The total comes to about $355 with tax and shipping for the above parts, no motherboard because I'm already getting that (Bad Axe 2). If anyone knows were I can get some discounted prices on the above parts or if anyone knows any coupon codes for NCIX (place where I'm getting the parts from), it would be appreciated. Thanks P.S. Maybe this should be in the Marketplace, if so, feel free to move it Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/121193-parts-for-home-theater-pc/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
vbetts Posted August 15, 2008 Share Posted August 15, 2008 I do have a quick question... Isn't a bad Axe 2 a little bit overkill for an e2160? It's nice, but if you're paying full price for one just for the e2160, then it doesn't seem worth it...Unless you got it pretty cheap. Where do you plan on ordering the parts from? I would actually also suggest going with the 7 series, they're cheaper and do about the same thing, play high def quality the same, besides DX10, which is useless for osx86. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/121193-parts-for-home-theater-pc/#findComment-857940 Share on other sites More sharing options...
~pcwiz Posted August 15, 2008 Author Share Posted August 15, 2008 Well I'm getting the BA2 for free, so yes it is overkill but oh well, I can upgrade the processor if needed later. I'm ordering them from NCIX.com which is one of the few good online computer parts retailers that actually ship to Canada I was gonna go with a 7300 or 7600, but I decided on the 8400GS as it appears to work fine with OSx86 and because it has HDCP support for playing HD content like Blu-ray, plus, its cheaper than a 7 series Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/121193-parts-for-home-theater-pc/#findComment-858006 Share on other sites More sharing options...
vbetts Posted August 15, 2008 Share Posted August 15, 2008 I now hate you. D: Very much... Is the 8400 really cheaper than the 7300? Wow, then go for it I guess. As for where you're ordering the parts, I don't really know of any canadian sites, Newegg might ship to Canada, but I don't know if Canada money is more or less than American money. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/121193-parts-for-home-theater-pc/#findComment-858030 Share on other sites More sharing options...
~pcwiz Posted August 15, 2008 Author Share Posted August 15, 2008 Hmm...the 7300 might be cheaper actually. You can grab an 8400GS for around $40. I've seen 7300s for like $20, but the place where I'm getting the parts from (ncix.com) the price is lower for an 8400GS. 8400GS for $40 vs. 7300GS for $88 Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/121193-parts-for-home-theater-pc/#findComment-858034 Share on other sites More sharing options...
vbetts Posted August 16, 2008 Share Posted August 16, 2008 D: Yeah, you're better off getting the 8400... If you're up for the suggestion, would you be okay with ebaying a 7300? I'm finding them for $30 usd here. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/121193-parts-for-home-theater-pc/#findComment-858043 Share on other sites More sharing options...
~pcwiz Posted August 16, 2008 Author Share Posted August 16, 2008 I would, but seeing as the 8400GS is only $10 more and is newer generation, I'll stick with the 8400, but thanks for the suggestion Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/121193-parts-for-home-theater-pc/#findComment-858058 Share on other sites More sharing options...
vbetts Posted August 16, 2008 Share Posted August 16, 2008 Well then, that works out. Have you considered bluray at all? I don't know if Bluray works on Mac right now. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/121193-parts-for-home-theater-pc/#findComment-858104 Share on other sites More sharing options...
~pcwiz Posted August 16, 2008 Author Share Posted August 16, 2008 I want a Blu-Ray Drive and hope to get one but Blu Ray is CRAZY expensive. The media is too expensive, a Blu Ray burner costs close to $300 in the place I checked, and a Blu ray reader costs in excess of $150! Its just too expensive to be practical. Throw in $100 more dollars over the price of a Blu Ray burner and I can buy a PS3 that can play Blu Ray as well as act as a game console. I'm gonna wait till Blu Ray burners get into the $50-$100 range before I consider one. I won't be able to get this right now, I'm about $150 short of what I need to complete this rig since it weighs in at close to $400, and that's without the price of the motherboard added Anyways, what I plan on doing once I get this rig is I install OSx86 Tiger on it and install ATV4Mac (AppleTV Take 2 for Mac) then hook it up to the HDTV and 5.1 Channel Home Theater and enjoy I'll also use it for streaming music and video from my other computers, saves me the cost and time of burning video files onto DVDs to watch them on the DVD player Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/121193-parts-for-home-theater-pc/#findComment-858196 Share on other sites More sharing options...
vbetts Posted August 16, 2008 Share Posted August 16, 2008 Oooh, Blu ray readers go around $110 usd here...But it's definately not needed right now, but it is very nice. Well, I have a question though... From what I understand, AppleTV doesn't output true hd content, I could be wrong and thinking that out of nowhere at all though, but if that's the case, will ATV4Mac on a Mac run true hd content? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/121193-parts-for-home-theater-pc/#findComment-858660 Share on other sites More sharing options...
m16 Posted August 16, 2008 Share Posted August 16, 2008 Why don't you use a Radeon 2400 card? Toms hardware says they are better for decoding video (albeit on windows...). They also have HDMI... Another big advantage of ATI is that they can carry audio with the HDMI port unlike Nvidia.. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/121193-parts-for-home-theater-pc/#findComment-858665 Share on other sites More sharing options...
vbetts Posted August 16, 2008 Share Posted August 16, 2008 8400 is faster, and if I'm correct on this, works better in osx86.(Could be wrong) Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/121193-parts-for-home-theater-pc/#findComment-858755 Share on other sites More sharing options...
~pcwiz Posted August 16, 2008 Author Share Posted August 16, 2008 The only advantage of the Radeon seems to be the HDMI port, but I already have an HDMI device plugged into my TV so HDMI is not necessary. What I plan on doing is attaching a DVI cable with a DVI -> VGA adapter and plugging it into the PC VGA input on my TV. ATV4Mac doesn't do true HD, but most of what I have isn't HD, so that doesn't matter too much. If ATV4Mac isn't satisfying, I'll just install Plex (XBMC on OS X) and skin it to match an Apple TV Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/121193-parts-for-home-theater-pc/#findComment-858761 Share on other sites More sharing options...
vbetts Posted August 16, 2008 Share Posted August 16, 2008 That works. I wish XBMC would be ported to Windows...I miss having it now...Worked so great on my old box... ._. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/121193-parts-for-home-theater-pc/#findComment-858765 Share on other sites More sharing options...
~pcwiz Posted August 16, 2008 Author Share Posted August 16, 2008 XBMC for Windows is in Alpha 3 stage: http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=35801 And there's this torrent on TPB called "XBMC for Windows [How to make it work]" that includes some DLLs and stuff that will make XBMC work under Windows. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/121193-parts-for-home-theater-pc/#findComment-858772 Share on other sites More sharing options...
vbetts Posted August 16, 2008 Share Posted August 16, 2008 DO WANT You are a god damn god for finding this. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/121193-parts-for-home-theater-pc/#findComment-858778 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile2go Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 Check out m1micro.com, they got some cool stuff, they have limited stuff but it looks like there gonna be a good place to find sylish htpc equipment. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/121193-parts-for-home-theater-pc/#findComment-896569 Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaaseyRacer Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 Will the 8400 allow you to use DVI in OSX? I thought I remember reading that it only worked with a VGA adapter. If that is the case I would drop $20 more and get an HD2600. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/121193-parts-for-home-theater-pc/#findComment-896708 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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