Help me build a PC

Since my home theater pc died (just a stock mac mini) I need another one. I'm not going with another mini due to cost. There are folks that build HTPCs but man are they expensive. Like $1,000!! I want to keep it to $350 or less if at all possible. So I have two options. Buy or build.
In the buy department, I see this here. I use my TV as a monitor and already have a keyboard and mouse. My question is, can I upgrade internals down the road if they go bad or need more power? I'm thinking RAM, processor, or motherboard. Or is this a total throw-away thing?

You can skip this next part, I'm just babbling on.....

Now, the other option is to build. I've been using macs for soo long I have no idea what to do to build a PC. I read forums and threads and they are talking in another language. I guess it'd be like someone stumbling on this form for sports car options and one guy saying 'you need an NA, just make sure you get the long-nose crank' and another saying 'the E30 is the only real choice'. I don't get their lingo.

You can start reading again here. I get back to the point.

That brings be to needing your help. Can you help me pick out the components to build a HTPC? Here's what I want:
1 - surf the web on my TV
2 - stream netflix, youtube, Hulu, and all that stuff.
3 - record live tv - I have a eyeTV Hybrid USB tuner
I'm sure I'm leaving something out. If you have any questions, ask away.

If you have the space, just pick up a cheap Dell or something. That's exactly what I did for my TV when I cut cable.

My Xbox does most of what I need, and it plays Xbox!

There are a bunch of ways you could do that. Biggest thing you need is a hard drive. A big one. Everything else you could do easy. Or just buy.

To truly do PVR and store recorded shows, you'll need a ton of fast drive space. So ideally you'll want RAID and at least 7500RPM drives.

Unfortunately those aren't quiet, so many put them in a server situated away from the living room.

Other than that, to stream videos over the web and browse, anything over 1GHz and HDMI capable is sufficient, stuff it with RAM and go as far as you can with the video card and the speed will be there.

Seriously, I use a $50 1Ghz and 1GB Raspberry Pi micro computer that is the size of a deck of cards to stream video over the web and from my video server. It can also browse the web well, with the exception of Flash video which is slowly going away, but with *IX it's pretty efficient and works well.

It works so well that I've got 4 now in the house to replace the old Pentium 4 PC's I had been running as HTPC's and they don't need to be shutdown or rebooted nearly as often thanks to the lack of security vulnerabilities and BS Adobe bloatware on the systems.

turboswede wrote: To truly do PVR and store recorded shows, you'll need a ton of fast drive space. So ideally you'll want RAID and at least 7500RPM drives. Unfortunately those aren't quiet, so many put them in a server situated away from the living room. Other than that, to stream videos over the web and browse, anything over 1GHz and HDMI capable is sufficient, stuff it with RAM and go as far as you can with the video card and the speed will be there. Seriously, I use a $50 1Ghz and 1GB Raspberry Pi micro computer that is the size of a deck of cards to stream video over the web and from my video server. It can also browse the web well, with the exception of Flash video which is slowly going away, but with *IX it's pretty efficient and works well. It works so well that I've got 4 now in the house to replace the old Pentium 4 PC's I had been running as HTPC's and they don't need to be shutdown or rebooted nearly as often thanks to the lack of security vulnerabilities and BS Adobe bloatware on the systems.

Does the Rasberry stream Netflix, youtube, and the like?

turboswede wrote: Seriously, I use a $50 1Ghz and 1GB Raspberry Pi micro computer that is the size of a deck of cards to stream video over the web and from my video server. It can also browse the web well, with the exception of Flash video which is slowly going away, but with *IX it's pretty efficient and works well.

Ok, so I just read this guide and am thinking about going this route. It's certainly cost effective. But, I almost never watch TV as it's broadcast, how do I add a hard drive to the system. And can I install a PVR program on it, like eveTV?

I don't record TV, but I do run a Pi2 with OpenElec (XBMC) as a media device. There are tutorials on how to do so.

Interface is great. It uses HDIM CEC so I can control it with my normal TV remote. It plays great off the hard drive. It streams some services, but some you can't use the native app. I use my PS3 for those.

I might do a Pi2 for audio later, but I need to record and watch live TV.

In reply to DrBoost:

Externally via USB.

Regarding your question about the Lenovo you linked to - if you're lucky, you'll be able to put more RAM and a bigger HDD in, but that's about it. Small form factor machines like that are basically all proprietary and tend to use laptop components instead of desktop components.

We ran the previous generation of the Lenovo at work. Boxhead is dead on. It is a low/midend laptop without the integrated keyboard and monitor. They will do what you want to do if speced right.

Not the cheapest route but going with a TonyMac MacMini build would give you the most options. That way you don't have to pay the Apple tax for the hardware or deal with Winblows. Linux works well too.

about $400 before hard drives

Lately I've been dreaming of building a monster home server, so I'm not sure I can be of help.

And by monster, I mean 64GB+ RAM, 6+ cores, 4+ TB of SSD RAID...

Does anyone know if there's a reason I could not harvest the HD from my mac to use in a PC build? I'm thinking about a bare-bones kit, and I have a 2.5" 500GB 5400 RPM ATA hard drive and 8GB of PC3 DDR ram. Is that stuff worthy of putting in a PC I'm building?

If it's compatible I don't see a reason why not. The big question is if the RAM is compatible with the barebones you're planning to use.

You happen to be in Raleigh, NC? I'd be happy to build you a PC. After all the help this forum gives me.

I've got a geeked out HTPC.

DrBoost wrote: Does anyone know if there's a reason I could not harvest the HD from my mac to use in a PC build? I'm thinking about a bare-bones kit, and I have a 2.5" 500GB 5400 RPM ATA hard drive and 8GB of PC3 DDR ram. Is that stuff worthy of putting in a PC I'm building?

So first off HardDrives get replaced every PC build. The reason is they have a lifetime and are one of the cheapest components of computers. You can get a 1TB for nothing now adays. Is it DDR3 Ram? You can re-use that.

Coldsnap wrote: You happen to be in Raleigh, NC? I'd be happy to build you a PC. After all the help this forum gives me.

DrBoost wrote: Does anyone know if there's a reason I could not harvest the HD from my mac to use in a PC build? I'm thinking about a bare-bones kit, and I have a 2.5" 500GB 5400 RPM ATA hard drive and 8GB of PC3 DDR ram. Is that stuff worthy of putting in a PC I'm building?

So first off HardDrives get replaced every PC build. The reason is they have a lifetime and are one of the cheapest components of computers. You can get a 1TB for nothing now adays. Is it DDR3 Ram? You can re-use that.

thanks, too bad I'm not in NC. I don't know if it's DDR3. I searched the looong number and it appears it is? Here's where the googles led me http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-PC3-12800-1600MHz-204-Pin-M471B5273DH0-CK0/dp/B009AEYBYI

Yup. You can use that RAM still.

Thanks. The HTPC I'm looking do build might cost less than your case haha. What front end are you using? I was using eyeTV (came bundled withe the tuner) but might switch to mediaportal. I was just reading about it. Seems pretty great. And since Widows has stopped developing WMC, it'll be dead soon.

Curious...

What source are you recording from? OTA television?

Careful re-using ram. You can do it, but I'd memtest it and ship it out for RMA if you find an errors. RAM was the first thing to fail after the hard drive on my last computer build.

Thanks ProDarwin. Ram is pretty cheap. I know hard drives are as well, but since I have this one, I'd just like to know if I can use it.
On reply to OHSCrifle, ueah, recording OTA tv. I ditched cable a decade ago. I can't see paying for the crap they pass off as programming

I have reused RAM many times without issue but test it first. new drives are not pricey anymore so just get new ones.

to me, power supplies are the weakest point. They're always absorbing transients of the house power that get by most surge protectors...