New Build need advice

[Chromey]

A buddy want a HDtv/media box.

If i know him good enough, Hes not gunna wanna spend too much.

Hes gunna use it for DL music, Listening to music, Watching movies in HD/blueray.

He also wants a min 500GB HD.

Let me know what you guys think please.

500 to 700$ Max
.

[Chromey]

HELPitup

[Kilauea]

Does he need a mouse, keyboard, speakers, monitor, o/s ?

[Chromey]

Nothing else is needed. He Has his Old stuff.

Update.

He will be running the new System on a 20" And on a 50" TV.

Will he need a Video Card, Or do they make Mobos That can handle duel set-up?

If i need a Card, What would be Best and Cheapest.

[MAK]

See the HTPC $1000 build thread at HTPC $1000 build

Specifically, see jdrom17's post:

At the most on Intel's side, E5200. Don't need anything above that. Though I'd imagine the E3200 would be plenty too.

Something like this would do: NCIX.com - Buy NCIX Value Bundle Deal Intel Pentium Dual Core E5200 Gigabyte G41M-ES2H & Kingston 2GB HyperX RAM - G41-E5200-2GB In Canada.

I'd probably toss in a HD4350 as well since I'm not too sure how good Intel outputs HD.

End Quote.

I would agree with this. Add in a Blue-Ray player and the software, and you are almost there.

I would start with the HDMI on the motherboard and see how well it works with the 50" TV. You may find it adequate, but then it may have issues like the display doesn't fill the whole screen area, the colours or the frequency is off, or the audio is not going through the HDMI cable.

If you're not happy with the motherboard's HDMI, you may want to add in a very cheap ATI HD4350 (silent or regular one). The (ASUS) ATI 4350 allows you to very nicely control and tune the display, and it also has audio (through the HDMI).

[kingnubian]

a Budget of $1000 can be cut in half for a great HTPC. For around $450 my latest build includes.

Silverstone GD04B HTPC Case
Intel E5200 + Gigabyte G41M-ES2H Motherboard ($109 bundle NCIX & Motherboard has HDMI out.)
2gb Kingston Ram
Corsair VX450 Power Supply
Seagate 1TB 7200.12 Hard Drive
I'll probably add an Nvidia GT220 Video card soon after

I'll be using XBMC under Linux so I went with the Nvidia GT220 over an ATI due to much better Linux support for Nvidia. If I was running under Windows I would go for an ATI 4350, try out the onboad HDMI or another GT220.
I may add a BluRay drive later but ti's not important now.

An HTPC does not require raw power just a selective choice of components for the 1080p crowd.