Building a PC geared for blu-ray playback....help would be very appreciated

[JohnCarpenterLives]

Pretty soon I will be begin building a pc whose main purpose will be blu-ray playback and Diablo III () but I'm relatively new to pc building. I would really appreciate some help.
I'd love some input on video cards (I have a DVI capable monitor and want a really good card for movies), which processor, how much RAM I would need to run that really good video card, a good read-only BR drive...
Like I said, I'm new to this. Any input is great, thanks guys!

[prerich]

Originally Posted by JohnCarpenterLives

Pretty soon I will be begin building a pc whose main purpose will be blu-ray playback and Diablo III () but I'm relatively new to pc building. I would really appreciate some help.
I'd love some input on video cards (I have a DVI capable monitor and want a really good card for movies), which processor, how much RAM I would need to run that really good video card, a good read-only BR drive...
Like I said, I'm new to this. Any input is great, thanks guys!

Budget, please (sounds like this is going to be a good one )

[JohnCarpenterLives]

I'm probably going to have to buy all these items over time so I can splurge a bit. I would like to stay under $1,000. I would like to view my movies in at least 720p (1080i if it's not too much more).

[lokus]

I have an AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 6000+ with 2gb of ram and an NVIDIA 8500GT video card, with about 1tb+ of space. I run Vista media center and I couldn't be happier. I even have it linked up to my netflix account so I can stream Netflix shows right through media center. I don't have a BD drive so I can't help ya there but I'd say a nice CPU comparible to mine as well as a decent graphics card like mine will be suitable.

[jw]

main thing is RAM, Vista requires at least a GB to run...I would make sure you have plenty there, at least 4 GB for uninterupted playback.

[dadkins]

Originally Posted by jwbbud

main thing is RAM, Vista requires at least a GB to run...I would make sure you have plenty there, at least 4 GB for uninterupted playback.

Vista Ultimate ran fine on my A Series with 512MB RAM...

This laptop(Vista Home Premium) has 3GB RAM and plays BDs fine - usually wth only 1.90GB being used.



Also, if 32bit Vista is used, only 3.2-3.5GB will be recognized by the OS.

[hanksharpe]

you might want to have 8800gts of v-card if you want to run diablo 3.

[slee915]

A quad core dell Inspiron 530 w 4GB 800MHz DDR2, 0.5TB HD, BD-drive & ATI 2600XT 256MB card should cost around $1k with a 25% off coupon from techbargains.com.

[Uniquely]

Originally Posted by slee915

A quad core dell Inspiron 530 w 4GB 800MHz DDR2, 0.5TB HD, BD-drive & ATI 2600XT 256MB card should cost around $1k with a 25% off coupon from techbargains.com.

If you have an HDMI capable audio receiver, you might want to go with the ATI 4850 as it sends both video and audio via the HDMI.

[Obiit]

Originally Posted by JohnCarpenterLives

Pretty soon I will be begin building a pc whose main purpose will be blu-ray playback and Diablo III ()

I cannot find a minimum spec for Diablo III So the only thing i can recommend is get at least 2GB of RAM (4GB is ideal), a processor about 2.5 GHz, an ATI HD 4850 graphics card (seems best value at the moment), a Pioneer BDC202 Blu-ray Reader, Seagate Drive of whatever size you want (5 year warranty) and as it's a new PC Vista Home Premium (Spawn of the Devil). If sound starts to be important get either an M-Audio or Asus but onboard should be fine from the start. As i am UK based i don't follow US prices but you should get that for under your budget.

As you say your relatively new to building PC's you won't want any hassle so i'd recommend getting an Intel Boxed motherboard with an Intel Boxed CPU (both have 3 year warranties ) and get your memory matched to the motherboard at either Crucial, Kingston or Corsair. Yes it may make it slightly more expensive but then you know you won't have compatibility issues.

HTH

P.S.

I have uninterrupted blu-ray playback on a machine with 1GB ram and an ATI HD 3450 - but it is running Windows XP

[JohnCarpenterLives]

Thanks guys! This has all been pretty helpful and I have a pretty good idea of what I need to be checking out.

[JohnCarpenterLives]

I splurged and got a bit more, but now I want to get another card and get some crossfire action. Love to hear what you guys think would go well with my setup:

MB: DFI LP DK 790FXB-M2RSH AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Windsor 3.2GHz Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor

RAM: G.SKILL 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit

Video Card: DIAMOND 3650PE1GOC Radeon HD 3650 1GB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported

BD-Drive: LG Black Super Multi Blu-ray Disc Burner & HD DVD-ROM Drive SATA Model GGW-H20L

Power Supply: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7

Fan: ZALMAN 9500A 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler

[Seeking_Alpha]

For $500 bucks: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/fea...y_crysis_40fps

For 600 in a small case: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...lock,2310.html

Another 600 rig: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...deon,2144.html

I think those can playback blus fairly well, if you replace the DVD drives with Blus of course. Although I would recommend Ati so you can get audio out through the HDMI port. Now you have an extra $400 in your budget to splurge!

Good luck

[prerich]

Originally Posted by JohnCarpenterLives

I splurged and got a bit more, but now I want to get another card and get some crossfire action. Love to hear what you guys think would go well with my setup:

MB: DFI LP DK 790FXB-M2RSH AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Windsor 3.2GHz Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor

RAM: G.SKILL 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit

Video Card: DIAMOND 3650PE1GOC Radeon HD 3650 1GB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported

BD-Drive: LG Black Super Multi Blu-ray Disc Burner & HD DVD-ROM Drive SATA Model GGW-H20L

Power Supply: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7

Fan: ZALMAN 9500A 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler

If you're going with an ATI card - you should go with a 4XXX series card - They can carry 8 Channel audio via HDMI no problem and game. Which O/S are you going to use? Since you are using more than 3GB of ram, you should use a 64bit OS - make sure your BD playback software is 64bit compatible.

[kris26]

Originally Posted by JohnCarpenterLives

I'm probably going to have to buy all these items over time so I can splurge a bit. I would like to stay under $1,000. I would like to view my movies in at least 720p (1080i if it's not too much more).

for thousand bucks
u can build screaming machine. I just build quadcore 8800 with 9500gt graphic cards and 4gb ram
The only thing that i re-used is my HD it costs me 600.00
Main thing i wouls concentrate on

Motherboard
Ram
power supply unit
Graphic card

rest is change from the pocket

[xXInsaneDylanXx]

Originally Posted by JohnCarpenterLives

I splurged and got a bit more, but now I want to get another card and get some crossfire action. Love to hear what you guys think would go well with my setup:

MB: DFI LP DK 790FXB-M2RSH AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Windsor 3.2GHz Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor

RAM: G.SKILL 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit

Video Card: DIAMOND 3650PE1GOC Radeon HD 3650 1GB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported

BD-Drive: LG Black Super Multi Blu-ray Disc Burner & HD DVD-ROM Drive SATA Model GGW-H20L

Power Supply: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7

Fan: ZALMAN 9500A 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler

Just finnished my build..have the same pcu and its very quiet. I also bought a zalman cpu fan and its super quiet! very nice.
I would get a Intel processor but thats just my personal choice.
That is plenty of ram. I have 6gigs.
Where are you buying from? What case are you planning on buying? Just curious. I have a GeForce 8500 gs(temp) and Its good and all but I think I'm gonna try an ATI. 4850s looks very good. Spend alittle more and get a better cooling system on the card. My 8500 has a small fan and its LOUD!! Louder then all my fans on my pc! My case fans are somewhat loud but can't hear them over my graphic card.

[JohnCarpenterLives]

I guess I should've pointed out that this is the setup I now have. Loved the Tom's Hardware stuff, I'm going to keep that stuff in mind for the future. All this information has been really helpful, thank you.

Originally Posted by prerich

If you're going with an ATI card - you should go with a 4XXX series card - They can carry 8 Channel audio via HDMI no problem and game. Which O/S are you going to use? Since you are using more than 3GB of ram, you should use a 64bit OS - make sure your BD playback software is 64bit compatible.

Since I currently have an ATI card I was leaning towards them. I was wondering what might work best with the one I currently have : ddr2, get one that's ddr3? If I go with ddr3 would a 512mb 256-bit card work well?
I guess it's that kind of thing I'm lost on.
I opted for the 32bit in the interest of software compatibility, but have now realized it wouldn't have really hurt any if I got 64bit. Oh well, something to look forward to.

[JohnCarpenterLives]

Originally Posted by xXInsaneDylanXx

Where are you buying from? What case are you planning on buying? Just curious. I have a GeForce 8500 gs(temp) and Its good and all but I think I'm gonna try an ATI. 4850s looks very good. Spend alittle more and get a better cooling system on the card.

I buy from NewEgg.com.
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811233016

When I settle on a card to set up crossfire (correct usage?) I'm going to look into the card cooling system. I'm reading that a number of these things run pretty hot.