blupupher

Well, I finally have most everything needed for my "cheap" HTPC.



EPoX EP-MF4-J3 AM2 MoBo - $44
Sempron 3000+ CPU (1.6 ghz stock, will be a mild OC to 2.0) - sitting around doing nothing
3 gigs Micron DDR2 667 Memory - $9
Ultra Wizard Case - Free after rebate
CM 120 MM blue LED fan - Free after Rebate
CM Vortex 752 - $5 after rebate
9 gig WD HDD - Free from a scrounged computer (will be ordering a 500gb)
DVD Drive - Free from same scrounged computer (have a Samsung DVD-RW SATA drive coming, $26)
6200 LE PCI-e video card (needed S-video output) - Free after rebate
Antec Earthwatts 380 w PSU - $5 AR
Wireless Keyboard and mouse - $20

That is $109 total spent so far ($139 if you add the $30 I spent on the Sempron a year ago), with just ~ $100 more for a 500gb HDD (maybe a 750g, Newegg has a deal on 1 now).
Pretty sad that 1 item is almost 1/2 the cost of the entire build.
I am eventually going to get a TV tuner (I have one but is too old to find software for).

I have it all together and Windows formatted. I may need to get a bigger OD drive. I am at 6 gigs right now and have not even loaded up all my media software (not sure how much space I will need for that).

I hooked it up to the TV and it looks pretty good playing a movie, but you can tell the TV is not made for use as a monitor, really hard to see the desktop on or read stuff (it is a 32" CRT).

Now to get on with really figuring out how to make this work like I want it to.

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blairellis

Haha you got some of the HP memory too. Good stuff. I got in for 5 on that deal. Did you get your rebate yet?