One hell of a multimedia center

[Winnipesaukee]

Okay guys, I have decided that I dont need to waste my money on things such as a top of the line dual core CPU or g card just for the stats

But, with the financial aid of my parents (who always have to use my damn computer ), I have decided to build a sweet multimedia center, because it seems thats what I use my computer for most.

Some features I want:

-Capable of hooking up to my TV and recording
-Multitask (surf online, listen to music, double as a HTTP/personal photo album/music/mail server (low amounts of traffic)
-Play movies, music, exceptionally
-Burn DVDs, play DVDs, etc (my 3/4 finished comp now doesnt have a cd burner haha, never got around to buying one)
-FM tuner possibly (what the heck, why not)
Other nifty multimediaish things

I dont know exactly what to look for. I have been away from the computer world for quite some time (I built my comp in 7th grade and now I'm entering 10th), so I'm not really up to date as far as hardware goes. I thought I heard about Asus being bought by someone else, which turned their mobos to crud... etc. I also know I will need a decent amount of RAM, but I'm not sure what the "Standard" is nowadays.

I also like security. Are there like, fingerprint scanners you can hook up to a computer? Sounds sweet to me

I neither confirm nor deny having a hobby of downloading entire discographies of artists and every single Seinfeld episode... so I need lots of space (more on that later)

My budget is probably in the range of $900-1300.

However, I already have:

-19" LCD and a 26"LCD (tv right now) with a VGA hookup (thats what my monitor is)
-A seemingly limitless supply of hard drives from a friend whose father works for a major computer company. The friend always has tons of drives (SCSI and SATA) lying around that noone uses. Good friend.
-Periphs (keyboard, mouse)
-Linux, no need for gross Windows software.


I would also like the computer to be watercooled. Its about 3 feet from my bed at night and annoys the heck out of me when I'm trying to sleep (linux/server, i leave it on alllll the time ). And watercooling is.... cool. I would like to build as much of it myself. However, I am a COMPLETE noob when it comes to building a water system. Any help there would be awesome.


I picked out a case, here it is:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811133133


Thanks so much in advance for your help. Sorry if my post was comfusing/jumped around

[blue60007]

You do realize with that case and a good water cooling setup you've already used at least $300?

AMD recently slashed prices by 50% or more on their (some) dual-cores - if you want to go AMD - now is the time. However, Intel is coming out with Core 2 (tomorrow) so you may also consider that (the reason why AMD slashed prices - Core 2 is kicking AMD pretty hard).

With that said - do you have a perference towards AMD or INTEL?

[Winnipesaukee]

I'd like to go AMD on this one. My last build was an Intel.


My birthday is the 8th. I asked for that case

Lets not count it the case in the budget

[Winnipesaukee]

Can anyone suggest a good motherboard, video card, and sound card for what I want to do? I'm fairly lost

Also anyone know of a good website that shows one how to make their own watercooling system?


Thanks

[Spirit]

Originally Posted by Winnipesaukee Can anyone suggest a good motherboard, video card, and sound card for what I want to do? I'm fairly lost Also anyone know of a good website that shows one how to make their own watercooling system? Thanks

Watercooling is expensive... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835118111 there's a water cooling system, but it is partially out of the case, if your okay with that, and it's pretty expensive, $200. You'll also need to get a quiet PSU. They make fanless ones even.

[Winnipesaukee]

I was thinking of building it rather than getting a kit. Like, get the hose and clamps from home depot, get the pump/blocks etc. from newegg, and assembling it all myself.


Any websites that illustrate how to do this?



Thanks

[Mr.Ferrari]

Do not ever ever touch watercooling kits. Especially those made by, innovatek, waterchill, zalman, kingwin, thermaltake. Not only are those kits some of the most crappiest peices of crud available, they perform like a aircooler, and are massively overpriced. Make your own custom setup.

I would be more then happy to help you choose the parts, but I suggest you first get your computer built and running and then go to watercooling. Ill need your budget too.

http://forum.pcmech.com/showpost.php...12&postcount=2
Thats what I had suggested someone else, those might not be the parts you need nonetheless the little summary I gave could be helpful.

And I know you already picked out the case. But to fit a decent radiator you will need to mount it outside the case you have currently chosen, thats fine if your ok with it, swiftech has a special mount just made for these situations. If you want to do a internal mount, and dont want to mod your case, I suggest a case like the Thermaltake Armour, or Coolermaster stacker that have a mesh front so you can just stick/tipzie/velcro the radiator to the front of the case.