Weekend project progress report...
Sep. 24th, 2006 12:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rosebeeYesterday was a long day. I always forget how exhausting it is to be on your feet shopping in a noisy crowded environment for hours trying to decide what you need, what you want, and what you can afford.
We bought a bunch of things, and spent a bit more money than we were planning on. But we ended up with something we both really like, and something that will work very well for us for some time to come.
What we've bought so far:
1 Case = $220 - we got the Antec Fusion case
1 Operating System = $120 - Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition
1 Motherboard = $100 - Gigabite S-Series for AMD Socket AM2
1 Processor = $100 - AMD Athlon 64 3500+
1 stick of RAM = $100 (1 GB DDR2 RAM)
1 DVD Burner = $60
2 Hard drives 1=$120 Seagate 400GB SATA drive, 1 free drive from HTB's computer (an old drive he wasn't using any more)
1 PC RF Remote control = $50 (brand is Firefly PC Remote)
100 ft of white ethernet cable = $30
Total cost to date = $900
We've put all the above together, except we haven't installed the OS because we still need to buy a dual-tuner TV Capture card and a graphics card (since the on-board graphics on the motherboard doesn't have an S-Video out, and we're gonna need that in order to hook it up to the tv.
We're also going to have to get a splitter because the on-board sound on the motherboard has 8 channel audio, and my tv only takes stereo left & right. HTB says splitters of the kind we need exist.
Pictures will follow.
Here's a picture I snagged off of the internets of the case we bought!
I absolutely love it! It doesn't look like a PC at all, it looks a lot like another A/V component. The front has a volume knob, a firewire port, 2 USB 2.0 ports, a power button, a reset button, an integrated optical drive cover (so that I don't have to see the white/black/etc front of the DVD drive, it all matches), and a little display that we can program to scroll across all sorts of fun info (like weather, email updates, program info, and such)! :D
::bounces::
I'll be really happy when we get all the final pieces & it's up & running!
Today we string white ethernet cable (with the stapler/staple gun thing & staples we bought yesterday) and then we have to go shopping for a new tv stand.
My existing tv stand doesn't have enough shelves and while it's just wide enough to fit the HTPC it's not wide enough to allow the necessary airflow. Oops.
We bought a bunch of things, and spent a bit more money than we were planning on. But we ended up with something we both really like, and something that will work very well for us for some time to come.
What we've bought so far:
1 Case = $220 - we got the Antec Fusion case
1 Operating System = $120 - Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition
1 Motherboard = $100 - Gigabite S-Series for AMD Socket AM2
1 Processor = $100 - AMD Athlon 64 3500+
1 stick of RAM = $100 (1 GB DDR2 RAM)
1 DVD Burner = $60
2 Hard drives 1=$120 Seagate 400GB SATA drive, 1 free drive from HTB's computer (an old drive he wasn't using any more)
1 PC RF Remote control = $50 (brand is Firefly PC Remote)
100 ft of white ethernet cable = $30
Total cost to date = $900
We've put all the above together, except we haven't installed the OS because we still need to buy a dual-tuner TV Capture card and a graphics card (since the on-board graphics on the motherboard doesn't have an S-Video out, and we're gonna need that in order to hook it up to the tv.
We're also going to have to get a splitter because the on-board sound on the motherboard has 8 channel audio, and my tv only takes stereo left & right. HTB says splitters of the kind we need exist.
Pictures will follow.
Here's a picture I snagged off of the internets of the case we bought!
I absolutely love it! It doesn't look like a PC at all, it looks a lot like another A/V component. The front has a volume knob, a firewire port, 2 USB 2.0 ports, a power button, a reset button, an integrated optical drive cover (so that I don't have to see the white/black/etc front of the DVD drive, it all matches), and a little display that we can program to scroll across all sorts of fun info (like weather, email updates, program info, and such)! :D
::bounces::
I'll be really happy when we get all the final pieces & it's up & running!
Today we string white ethernet cable (with the stapler/staple gun thing & staples we bought yesterday) and then we have to go shopping for a new tv stand.
My existing tv stand doesn't have enough shelves and while it's just wide enough to fit the HTPC it's not wide enough to allow the necessary airflow. Oops.
