My First Post

[spurs_89]

As you know im new and couldnt find the Introductions forum, they need a sign or somthing?! But i thought the next best place to post was here, after readin the small text below the forum title i think theres reason in this post ;)
After my fist build i got sucked into the world of modding so i hope ive come to the right place as i need advice on two things.

1)My first build (not mod) was a HTPC, let me knwo what you think:

Case - Antec Fusion V2 (inc PSU)
Mobo - Asus M2A-VM HDMI
CPU - AMD AM2 4800 - 2.5
RAM - Kingston 1GB DDR2 667MHz
GPU - ATi Radeon X1200 series (inc with Mobo) - Change to ATi Radeon 2600?
HSF - Scyth Ninja Mini
CD drive - Pioneer BDC-202 Blu-Ray
HDD - Samsung 500GB - Seagate 40GB (for XP MCE)

I think thats all, what do you think?

Recommend a HD GPU worth getting that can handle smooth Blu-Ray output? because my current one is not hacking it, stops after few seconds :devious:

2) My first mod will be on a old Sony VAIO PCV-RX302 system which looks to be a over heavy challenge. Any advice on where to start, there must be some sony guys in this place that would have somthing to say? Ill post this up with more detail in a more conveniet forum.

Anyway i think that went well for a first post, probably wrong forum and wrong type of post but im new remember =p

Cheers

[p0Pe]

WRONG FORUM! LETS HANG HIM!!!!

JK :) welcome to tbcs:P looking foreward to see some mods from you:D just get started in the worklog and blow us away with pics:)

[chaksq]

Welcome to the site spurs_89 :banana:. Your first post is probably fine here, it is general discussion and since there really isn't an intro forum I think this counts as general.

Can't really give you a vid card recommendation till I know your price range. My Radeon HD 3850 plays HD movies great but thats serious overkill for a HTPC. Let me know what you are looking at spending.

Not sure what your case looks like but if you post up some pics that would give a better idea what you are starting out with. I'm usually good to bounce ideas off of and make suggestions if you catch me in the flash chatroom.

[OvRiDe]

Welcome to the forums! Looking forward to seeing you mod that Vaio.

Not too sure, but I thought I read somewhere that the Nvidia Geforce 5200 would output HD, and was very popular in the HTPC world because it was A> cheap and B> Low profile and C> Passively cooled. As chaksq said a price will give us a better idea of what we got to work with. I do believe that 8600GT's are under 100 bucks now, I would imagine it should be able give you the desired results. I am not really up on the ATI offerings at the moment, but there has got to be a comparable card with a comparable price.

Keep us posted! Looking forward to seeing you in action.

[spurs_89]

Thanks for the welcomes ill post up pics of my HTPC asap!

Erm well im from the UK so i dont know if value for GPU's in $ corresponds to £ but i ran a search on the "XFX GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB" using www.savebuckets.co.uk and found that cheapest price was £246.13

By using www.xe.com that amount in $ came to $494.13 which im guessing, because i use an over valued currency, is a hell of alot.

But on that note my price range for a HD GPU would be anything around £70 mark being $140.52. Would this price range be enough to get a smooth HD output GPU? sorry just very new to the whole graphics card scene let alont the modding.

cheers

[spurs_89]

Sapphire Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB GDDR3

dont know if thats a low end or mid range to todays stadards but something slong these lines of price and performance. Dont mind going a little higher but not too much, what you think?

[OvRiDe]

Well the 8800GTX 768MB would work.. but its complete overkill. I did a little research and the Radeon HD 2600 and the 8600GT are comparable cards, in both performance and price. There does seem to be more comments about the 2600XT being fully HD 1080p compliant, but the 8600GT is as well. So at this point if you are more comfortable with ATI by all means, it seems to be an excellent choice. As for price I checked out Scan (the only UK online retailer I know of off the top of my head) and both cards are in the £40-£70 range.

Examples:

256MB XFX 8600GT, PCI-E, Mem 1400MHz GDDR2, GPU 540MHz, 32 Streams, D-Sub/DL DVI-I/HDTV (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=771583)
Ex. Vat £43.69 / Inc. Vat £51.34

256MB Sapphire HD2600XT PCI-E(x16) 128Bit 1400MHz GDDR3 GPU 800MHz CrossFire 2xDVI-I/HDTV Retail (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=633076)
Ex. Vat £47.60 / Inc. Vat. £55.93

Hope this helps and happy viewing!!

[spurs_89]

OvRiDe i appreciate the halp mate so ill be headded in that direction then hopfully it will fit in this antec fusion V2 HTPC case i have. You have been more then helpfull

Not bad for a first post eh?? lol now to use the correct forums :P

cheers