Need help building an HTPC for my church

[Liquid_Scope_99]

Yes a few of you know most dont i got saved a couple of weeks ago .
Some may be happy for me ,others may think i am an idiot i respect everyone here .
Also out of respect for this great site i dont want to start a flame thread or debate or anything .
If anyone does have questions or wants to talk about it theycan pm me.

The point of the thread is the sound system in our church is pretty old and from what i gather not many of the folks there are much into computers .
I would like to build a HTPC of sorts for them .

I will have a budget of around $500 for parts
.
I will need mobo,cpu,ram , video card , I have a audigy 2 i bought from air would that do ok?

They do video tape some of the services i know nothing about audio\video.

When it comes to these things one thing i want to do is take all there music on all different formats and convert it to mp3 so it will be easier for them.
I will need input on what software they might need something that wil lbe easy for a beginner to use .
I know there are a lot of musicians out there that have ideas anything i dont know i can check on and I plan to do a full mod and build work log on this any input appreciated or criticism as long as it is constructive too the build .

I als ofor got they have christian academy as well . So if you have any info that a pc migh help in that area as well would be appreciated i had a thread not to long ago about a friend wanting a dslr and i was thinking i mght get one when money permits to take some action shots at the basketball games i would like to get into that thanks in advance .

[Twigsoffury]

Yes a few of you know most dont i got saved a couple of weeks ago .
Some may be happy for me ,others may think i am an idiot i respect everyone here .
Also out of respect for this great site i dont want to start a flame thread or debate or anything .
If anyone does have questions or wants to talk about it theycan pm me.

The point of the thread is the sound system in our church is pretty old and from what i gather not many of the folks there are much into computers .
I would like to build a HTPC of sorts for them .

I will have a budget of around $500 for parts
.
I will need mobo,cpu,ram , video card , I have a audigy 2 i bought from air would that do ok?

They do video tape some of the services i know nothing about audio\video.

When it comes to these things one thing i want to do is take all there music on all different formats and convert it to mp3 so it will be easier for them.
I will need input on what software they might need something that wil lbe easy for a beginner to use .
I know there are a lot of musicians out there that have ideas anything i dont know i can check on and I plan to do a full mod and build work log on this any input appreciated or criticism as long as it is constructive too the build .

I als ofor got they have christian academy as well . So if you have any info that a pc migh help in that area as well would be appreciated i had a thread not to long ago about a friend wanting a dslr and i was thinking i mght get one when money permits to take some action shots at the basketball games i would like to get into that thanks in advance .

well talk to the guy that typically runs the soundboard in your church to see what sorts of connections you'll need.

Obviously you won't need the most powerful processor in town, tons of ram or a 1337 video card, So i bet a large portion of your budget can go towards a audio card.

If i was you and i had about 500~$ i'd say this would do you right.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883114077

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829121120
M-AUDIO Audiophile 2496 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface 4-In-4-Out Professional Audio Card with MIDI

Reason i guess i recommend a pre-built system is just for less hassle and more of a guarantee that you'll have a working system right out of the box, No bugs, quirks, hassles, RMA's or broken parts. You'll have it working in a day or so after that all arrives.

Total = 424.98 Shipped,

That audio card should be capable of doing anything they throw at it, with a integrated Nvidia 7050, It's more then capable of streaming a signal out to a projector at high quality. And since its IG you should have less of a chance of failure in the long run. :)

Just be sure to check with that guy and see what connections you'll need. With that stack up above you've got a pretty good amount of cash to spend on a audio card.

Don't forget that you'll have Two audio cards, one integrated and the expansion card. with that type of set up, you should have your 4/4 and still all the standard Audio jacks up above on the I/O header.

[Liquid_Scope_99]

thanks that really helps that part at the end i have no idea what your talking about but google is my friend i will try to do some reading up on it .

I was looking into one of these combos that sound card looks sweet though

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.304695
I have a lot of cases so i don't really need one .

This is second bundle

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.303820
which its basically the same just the other kit has hd and video

[Twigsoffury]

thanks that really helps that part at the end i have no idea what your talking about but google is my friend i will try to do some reading up on it .

I was looking into one of these combos that sound card looks sweet though

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.304695
I have a lot of cases so i don't really need one .

This is second bundle

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.303820
which its basically the same just the other kit has hd and video

both of them are nice, just don't forget about the power supply.

I'd really use a brand new case also, most people just think that the inside is "magic" pretty much, and judge a computer on what it "looks" like if you get what im saying? so in my opinion i'd just be nice to have a brand new looking computer even if the power supply or something else is 2nd hand.

just test it, and test it again to make sure its working 100% since its your name on the line. I built our former paster (methodists change pastors out like presidential candidates ) a computer, he liked it so much he recommended me out and i ended up building flippin' 1/2 the church a new computer at some point or another. (haha every single one of them got a bad A@# computer)

might want to pick up some extra chassis fans as well, since it'll probably sit there un maintained for ages, so you'll want some extra air in there for those summer days even after dust has begun to clog it up, but thats just a thought.

Best o' luck

[Liquid_Scope_99]

yeah im gonna do a nice case for them . i used a antec 300 for my wife's pc for the price i like it .
Wish i would have got it when it was on sale also im going to take pictures of there equipment after church Wednesday night if nothing happens .
Then i can post them and see what were working with .
i will also need help with software thanks alot Twigsoffury +rep for a while lol

im looking at this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033
and this any opinions welcome.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371023

[Xpirate]

Twigsoffury gave solid advice.

I have a Gigabyte GA-E7AUM-DS2H that has the Nvidia 9400 built into motherboard. The on-board sound will pipe directly to the HDMI port if you want it to. You can also set it up to do the sound separately from the video and still use the HDMI cable to the TV.

Use a decent power supply. I have 5 or 6 failed cheap PSUs that made me learn the lesson the hard way.

[Twigsoffury]

yeah im gonna do a nice case for them . i used a antec 300 for my wife's pc for the price i like it .
Wish i would have got it when it was on sale also im going to take pictures of there equipment after church Wednesday night if nothing happens .
Then i can post them and see what were working with .
i will also need help with software thanks alot Twigsoffury +rep for a while lol

im looking at this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033
and this any opinions welcome.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371023

check with that soundboard guy to see what software you need.i bet they still have the install disk and all that, our church uses PowerchurchTV or something like that i forgot the name exact of it.

before you go tearin' that old computer up, make a image of its disk, with any luck you might be able to just reinstall the image and have the same windows work on that new computer as well. plus if stuff hits the fan, you'll already have the back up to put things back as they were before.


Np with the help man.

[Liquid_Scope_99]

oh our church doesnt have a pc now i took pics with my wife cell phone camera after church tonight but it has a usb plug any i though i could pull the pics off with that but it did nothing . googled it and read where i have to have a micro SD card for the phone to pull pics off. I found one at wally world for $10 that has a SD adapter . I will try to pick on up tomorrow the sound board they have is very old i don't think anybody really knows much about it.
We have a Sr pastor and he isreally old school he likes the video camera that we have that still uses VHS .
The younger pastor and I a few thing i know we want to do is put all the cd's cassettes and other media on mp3 i will need what ever software you think would be best to do that .
I will look into PowerchurchTV alos thanks also we want to be able to make dvd's of the services so people that aren't able to come to church.
We can take the service to them also we want to run a feed of the service in the Nursery so the ladies can see the service .

Any info on accomplishing that would be great i know nothing about that stuff i know some basic stuff about video but very basic .update also we want to put stuff up on you tube .

[billygoat333]

hmm make sure you do a work log for this! im curious as to how you will tie this into the soundboard and PA system. good luck! as for help... you have gotten a lot of good advice already. :)

[Liquid_Scope_99]

hmm make sure you do a work log for this! im curious as to how you will tie this into the soundboard and PA system. good luck! as for help... you have gotten a lot of good advice already. :)

lol im interested to see as well also yeah the help has been great one thing im going to try to covert the VHS tapes to dvd so we can burn them and pass them out thats not part of the pc but part of the mod thanks again all

[Drum Thumper]

We can take the service to them also we want to run a feed of the service in the Nursery so the ladies can see the service .


Shouldn't be too hard. Just run some coax from where the camera/soundboard is to the nursery. You may need to convince the parish that you do indeed know what you are doing first though.

If you wanted to build two systems, I would seriously consider a draft-N router for true high speed wireless communications.

[Liquid_Scope_99]

hey thanks a lot i got a micro sd card today i wll post what i am working with also.
We had a scare yesterday my wife was getting ready for work and woke me up at 4:30 A.M telling me her shoulder arm and chest was hurting bad .
I was very ,very scared to tsay the least well i got her in the car we were headed to our local E.R.She threw up twice on the way there That scared me even worse luckily there wasn't anyone in the E.R . When we got here they ransome blood work and xrays . They admitted her .
As a precaution and gave her nitroglycerin patches . They ran all kind of blood panels and lipid that and decided she needed to on the shots for her diabetes.
We were sent home today they told me she did not have a heart attack but to be on the safe side they want her to have a stress test Monday i have everything come sout fine and yes i feel very blessed and thank god that wasn't a heart Attack.
She may have to ahve some kind of operation or something i dont know She does nit have any insurance thru her work her .
Im looking everywhere for a new job so we both can have insurance .
This ma yseem silly to all of you but once she got settled in i Had to do some running around for us . I stopped for lunch at Ryan's That was the first time i have ate out without her in 8 years call me a girlie man but i guess all the emotion ,stress and worry caught up With me .
I was crying like a baby in my Mashed Taters lol.
I got a few looks but i did not reeally care .
No matter What happens make fun of me laugh at me or just shrug it off .
I want to thank GOD for every day that i have with my Wife and will appreciate them more .
Hopefully after we get some thing in order i ca npsot he pics or the pa system

[msmrx57]

Hope everything turns out well for your wife.

[billygoat333]

Hope everything turns out well for your wife.

+1 man... no good on the scare. hope all is well...

[Liquid_Scope_99]

we go for the stress test tomorrow.

Here are the pics i promised from the pa

here is a link to the specs it older than it thought.

http://www.activemusician.com/Crate-Pro-Audio-Introduces-PX700-DLX-Powered-Mixer--t101i3706

and a few pics

http://i396.photobucket.com/albums/pp44/Liquid_Scope/PICT0255.jpg

http://i396.photobucket.com/albums/pp44/Liquid_Scope/PICT0256.jpg

http://i396.photobucket.com/albums/pp44/Liquid_Scope/PICT0257.jpg

http://i396.photobucket.com/albums/pp44/Liquid_Scope/PICT0258.jpg

[Liquid_Scope_99]

This is just an update my wife just wen back for her test .Those out there that pray i would appreciate your prayers and if you dont i would hope for you sake you start . thanks in advance
Didn't mean that smart if it came across that way.
We were blessed today our doctors office messed up on scheduling the appointment and when we got to the hospital they said our doctors office messed up happens a lot .
The lady said we would have to reschedule well my wife had already missed work and the doc said she couldnt go back until lshe got test well she said they had one at 9:45 abd 10:00 if the ydint show up we were in well the 9:45 didn't show up and she got to do the test know just waiting for results

[kymira]

500 sounds very reasonable, try looking in your local ads or local online ads for spare parts. Sometimes you can find crazy deals from ppl just looking to get rid of thier parts due to upgrades.