Building a (very) cheap PC?

[Johno]

Hey,

I'm looking to invest in a small media center PC for the living room, I don't have a huge budget (around £220) and I am just wondering you think it would be possible to make a system for this.

It doesn't need to be very powerful, it will likely end up running Ubuntu or something of the like. It is only going to be used for media and internet browsing, so I would be very grateful if you could spec up a machine for around this price range.

No monitor and OS are required, a cheap wireless keyboard/mouse would also be nice to have priced.

Thanks! :)

[N!ck]

Hey,

I'm looking to invest in a small media center PC for the living room, I don't have a huge budget (around £220) and I am just wondering you think it would be possible to make a system for this.

It doesn't need to be very powerful, it will likely end up running Ubuntu or something of the like. It is only going to be used for media and internet browsing, so I would be very grateful if you could spec up a machine for around this price range.

No monitor and OS are required, a cheap wireless keyboard/mouse would also be nice to have priced.

Thanks! :)

Yes, you should be able to. Find a case that you wouldn't mind the look of sat in the living room/is the right size and once that price is taken away you can look from there. What size hard drives(s) are you wanting?

[Jahova]

Yes, you should be able to. Find a case that you wouldn't mind the look of sat in the living room/is the right size and once that price is taken away you can look from there. What size hard drives(s) are you wanting?
For media center, he'd be needing some big ones for music, movies, etc?

[Chippiewill]

Hey,

I'm looking to invest in a small media center PC for the living room, I don't have a huge budget (around £220) and I am just wondering you think it would be possible to make a system for this.

It doesn't need to be very powerful, it will likely end up running Ubuntu or something of the like. It is only going to be used for media and internet browsing, so I would be very grateful if you could spec up a machine for around this price range.

No monitor and OS are required, a cheap wireless keyboard/mouse would also be nice to have priced.

Thanks! :)

If the Interweb browsing is just an extra then you could consider:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Digital-Entertainer-entertainer-EVA8000-Decoders/dp/B000XHDRIW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1246742949&sr=8-1

Streaming HD Video :D

[N!ck]

For media center, he'd be needing some big ones for music, movies, etc?

Well it depends on how much media he has/plans on having and also if he intends on streaming media from drives on other computers.

[Chippiewill]

Well it depends on how much media he has/plans on having and also if he intends on streaming media from drives on other computers.

In which case a 10gb SSD would work perfectly for a fast bootup...

[N!ck]

In which case a 10gb SSD would work perfectly for a fast bootup...

Hence why I'm asking. But a 10GB drive would not really be practical, IMO you need a minimum of 32GB.

[Chippiewill]

No, the theoretical minimum is 1bit....

However I am sure you could get an 8GB SSD from somewhere :rolleyes:

Also it's ubuntu, hardly a space taker...

[Johno]

I would like around a 250GB HDD, that should be sufficient for the moment. However I would like the ability to add an extra drive at a time where it becomes necessary. I would rather have it all self-contained rather than streaming it from another location :)

I would like a cube case but any mATX should be fine as long as its pretty small haha :)

edit: something like this http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135581 or this http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150275

[N!ck]

Ok, will assume £30 for the case so that leaves £190 for the rest I will have a look in a bit.

[Mentor]

Would you wana tv card for getting standard tv/freeview on the pc? or id thid just an internet box?

[Johno]

For the moment, a Freeview card isn't really necessary but would like to have the opportunity to install one at a later date :)

[N!ck]

http://www.uploadpicz.com/images/40Picture_4.png
http://www.uploadpicz.com/images/67Picture_2.png

I recommend that one with the "square" case as it would allow a full height TV card. Total: around £225.

With the slim case:

http://www.uploadpicz.com/images/40Picture_4.png
http://www.uploadpicz.com/images/27Picture_3.png

Total: around £223.

The parts are from eBuyer and Aria by the way.

[Johno]

Thanks Nick :) I'm guessing that motherboard has onboard graphics since I don't see a graphics card? :)

[The Professor]

just as another option, i bought a really old slimline PC from ebay (a Dell Optiplex something or other with 512mb ram and 2ghz P4 processor) and bought a new graphics card so I had an S-Video connection to hook it up to the TV. It was about £30 shipped, i spent another 15 on a wireless usb adapter, a fiver on a hub because it only had 2 usb ports and the graphics card was about £30. That came to around £70 altogether, which in your budget would leave you £130 to splash out on a fancy keyboard, an external hard drive (they come with small IDE hard drives generally) and a freeview card if you really want one. ive been using it since christmas and it is officially made of win, runs perfectly on xp :)

[N!ck]

Thanks Nick :) I'm guessing that motherboard has onboard graphics since I don't see a graphics card? :)

Yes, and the integrated card has a VGA and a DVI output, meaning you can use a DVI to HDMI cable in it to attach to the TV via HDMI cable rather than VGA if you want.

You won't be able to do the audio via HDMI though, that would have to be done separately.

[Johno]

We have a surround sound system so the sound for the PC would probably be put through that, thanks for all the help :)

[Recursion]

I cba to read the thread but if you have a surround sound system then get a sound card.

[Jahova]

I cba to read the thread but if you have a surround sound system then get a sound card.
Yeah. The onboard won't be the best, tbh.

[Johno]

right, doesnt matter so much now. just bought a playstation 3 instead haha.

[Chippiewill]

Yeh. you can always install YDL on the PS3 anyway, partition the HDD on the PS3 now if you plan to install linux, since all the save data will be lost if you do it later...

[Johno]

yeah I might actually do that, but I think the console itself will do pretty much everything I need :)

[Chippiewill]

yeah I might actually do that, but I think the console itself will do pretty much everything I need :)

The Internet Browsing on it isn't the best

[Johno]

Yeah but it will probably do for my needs, its going to be more for media downstairs such as movies and photos, and since it can also play games its good for me! :) haha

Ill just close this thread now since I have found a solution :)