OT: Motherboards

[Mark Harrison <Mark.Harrison@xxxxxxx>]

Hi all,

 

I'm vaguely thinking about my "Next PC". This will be primarily to run Games. The current PC moves into "node zero" and acts as an MP3/deCSS server.

 

Trying to think about specifications, and I'd appreciate comments on the following spec. This is _not_ someone's offered product, but what I think I need:

 

- AMD Athlon 1.3Gz (or 1.5Gz???)

- 256Mb RAM (or should I go for more???)

- Abit motherboard with ATA-100 (NON RAID) on board (or should I wait for the dual-Athlon boards to come out???)

- 20Gb (ish) IBM 7200rpm HDD for the Operating System ONLY

- 40Gb (ish) IBM 7200rpm HDD for applications (Bear in mind I'll be running a separate server for MP3/DeCSS stuff)

- 10/100 WOL "el cheapo" NIC

- Region-free(!) DVD player (Any manufacturers I should go for or avoid???)

- nVidia MX2-based 32Mb RAM video-card, with some kind of TV-out for DVD replay (help????)

- Creative soundcard, with SP/DIF and _front-panel_ connection plate!

- 300W PSU

- Tower case

- Some kind of TV capture card for "Tivo-like" things???

 

 

And for the convergence requirements....

 

- For local replay, ie games soundtracks, I'll be running the sound out through my "study system" which is a Quad 406/44 pair driving Rogers LS4a speakers

 

- I'd probably want to run the set of DVD's that are ripped to the _server_ hard disk (all of which I own on DVD!!!!) to play through in the bedroom as follows.

 

- Files ripped, de-CSSed, and stored on the server. Replayed on the "new PC", using 10switched -BaseT for the data stream. IS THIS VIABLE???

 

- From the new PC, initially, it would be analogue and TV-out, passed through a KAT5 transmitter-receiver pair, into the telly/amp.

 

- The main amplification for that system is a Shearne Phase 2 Integrated, bi-wired with a Shearne Phase 3 power amp, drivign Linn Keilidhs. The telly is a Loewe Xelos.

 

- MP3-wise, I'm on the "Graham list" for a DDAR, which would sit in the bedroom, directly accessing the files off the server, over the ethernet, so the new PC wouldn't get involved except to play MP3's IN the study.

 

- In the longer term, I'm after a Meridian 56x and a Chord DAC1500. However, I've still not made up my mind about the order of purchase ;-) At that point, I'd loop the SP/DIF from the new PC over a _long_ cable into the bedroom, and route the audio through the digital inputs on the Meridian. (By the way, those two would co-exist by all digital sources going into the Meridian, and the front pair feed going from the Meridian as a PCM stream into the Chord DAC.) Can I run a PCM stream over SP/DIF over 5 meters or so???

 

Regards,

 

Mark

 

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