I already have a system connected to my HDTV running MediaPortal which was just pieced together from parts I had laying around and it works pretty well (haven't tested with HD content though). I want to build another HTPC for my other HDTV, but I have to do it extremely cheap (and I mean CHEAP!!!). Below is what I have priced from Newegg. Hard drive space isn't an issue because all of my movies are stored on a 1.5TB NAS Raid 5. I didn't even really need to include a hard drive because I have like 4-5 80GB drives just laying around, but I did anyway so it would be a complete system. The video card has hardware acceleration for HD video so processor speed isn't really an issue. I know I only have 1 stick of memory (no dual channel), but it seems pointless because the throughput of single channel is plenty for 1080p and a dual channel kit would have cost more and I didn't want to raise the price anymore than I needed to, although I wanted memory with a heat spreader because of the poor airflow.
APEX DM-387 Black Computer Case ($44.99)
Anyware GP-IR01BK Infrared Windows Vista MCE Black Remote Control ($22.99)
Western Digital Caviar RE 250GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive ($39.99)
Foxconn M61PMV Micro ATX AMD Motherboard ($39.99)
ASUS Radeon HD 3450 EAH3450/DI/256M Video Card ($29.99)
AMD Athlon X2 BE-2300 1.9GHz Socket AM2 45W Dual-Core Processor ($37.99)
Kingston HyperX 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory ($13.99)
Shipping for everything ($23.00)
Grand Total ($252.93)
Please let me know what your thoughts are on my configuration or if you have a configuration suggestion that would be even cheaper and would still play 1080p smoothly. Form factor isn't as important to me as price is for this build.
Edit: Forgot to mention that I didn't include an optical drive because I do all the ripping from my main computer and then move it to my NAS.
APEX DM-387 Black Computer Case ($44.99)
Anyware GP-IR01BK Infrared Windows Vista MCE Black Remote Control ($22.99)
Western Digital Caviar RE 250GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive ($39.99)
Foxconn M61PMV Micro ATX AMD Motherboard ($39.99)
ASUS Radeon HD 3450 EAH3450/DI/256M Video Card ($29.99)
AMD Athlon X2 BE-2300 1.9GHz Socket AM2 45W Dual-Core Processor ($37.99)
Kingston HyperX 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory ($13.99)
Shipping for everything ($23.00)
Grand Total ($252.93)
Please let me know what your thoughts are on my configuration or if you have a configuration suggestion that would be even cheaper and would still play 1080p smoothly. Form factor isn't as important to me as price is for this build.
Edit: Forgot to mention that I didn't include an optical drive because I do all the ripping from my main computer and then move it to my NAS.