Building a Computer

[pfunk880]

Hopefully this is the right place to put this.
I'm interested in building my own computer and I was wondering if anyone here had advice. I am only planning on using it as a DVR/Media PC for my dorm room. I had thought about getting a Tivo but wanted to avoid the subscription fee. I want to keep the cost down as low as possible, and so I'm trying to get only what I need for timeshifting and recording TV, as well as sending the video signal to my TV. Does anyone have any advice for this and any recommendations of sites where I can find the best deals for the parts I'll need? Thanks.

[p_rushing]

Re: Building a Computer

www.newegg.com

You will need a capture card for the PC and that should come with software to record if it is a good one. Most of them will pull in the guide data and you can set up the recording. You are also going to need a big hard drive, also speed is important, but that will drive the price up a lot.

[ODogg]

Re: Building a Computer

www.newegg.com

You will need a capture card for the PC and that should come with software to record if it is a good one. Most of them will pull in the guide data and you can set up the recording. You are also going to need a big hard drive, also speed is important, but that will drive the price up a lot.

yeah i was gonna say newegg.com and also dealcatcher.com will help you find the overall best prices on the net for all of your stuff...but usually it's newegg (not always though!)

[pfunk880]

Re: Building a Computer

Thanks guys. Newegg was one site I had checked out, I just wanted to get some input.

Any particular hardware recommendations? I've heard that by using a tuner card with hardware MPEG-2 encoding, I can go with a little less processing power because the encoding on the tuner card puts less strain on the CPU.

Also, is it beneficial to consider one of those "barebone" kits, or should I just go with purchasing the case, mobo, etc. separately?

[GenoG]

Re: Building a Computer

The barebone kits are nice. I don't think they are much more expensive than buying mobo and proc seperately.

[kapo]

Re: Building a Computer

Check zipzoomfly.com as well, them and newegg are pretty much the only places I get my parts from and they compete pretty closely with each other.

[pfunk880]

Re: Building a Computer

Thanks! I was surprised to come on this morning and see that this got another bump.

[GenoG]

Re: Building a Computer

yeah, sorry I was bored and going deeper and deeper into the E&T abyss where I encountered this post from a few weeks ago.