First Time Blu-Ray PC Build
After having finally bought a HDTV, my next task was to figure out what would be my first Blu-Ray source. This question turned out to be more difficult than selecting the TV. I was initially leaning toward getting a PS3, since it did have some of the things I wanted in addition to blu-ray playback (web browsing with flash for one). However, it didn’t really support much more in terms of streaming video and other functionality aside from games, of course.
I then decided to see how much a PC would cost to build that could play blu-ray. After some research, I figured I could put one together for about the same price as a PS3, around $400. I already had a 400GB hard drive, and a copy of windows vista, so that trimmed a bit off the price, but it’s still a good deal considering that it can do so much more than a PS3.
Orginal Estimates:
- Motherboard ($76)
- CPU ($71)
- 4GB ram ($45)
- case+350W PS ($30)
- blu ray player ($135)
- wireless keyboard + mouse ($30)
Total: $387
I ordered the motherboard, CPU, blu-ray player and RAM from amazon, and got the case from central computer. As I waited for the items to arrive, I did some additional research on various options for a wireless keyboard and mouse. It seemed the vast majority of them weren’t really designed for home theater use. The one I did find (and was referenced in Ars Technica’s HTPC guide), was Gyration’s Wireless remote + keyboard combo. The price was a bit more at around $100, but after looking around, I decided I had to try it, so I quickly ordered it on amazon.
Surprisingly, what I thought was the gyration keyboard and remote was the first to arrive. Upon opening it, I discovered that it was only a remote and no keyboard. After calling PC Universe (the amazon store that sold it), I discovered that there was a product serial mixup and they didn’t carry that item. The $100 price tag was for the remote only. The keyboard + remote costs around $130. So I figured what the heck and exchanged it for the correct item. Little did I know that this was only the first in a line of problems that would plague this experience.
The rest of my components then arrived from amazon. I had already purchased the ATX case from Central Computer, a local supplier. As I begun to assemble, I realized that the motherboard was a micro-ATX motherboard, not an ATX motherboard! Checking amazon, the board was clearly listed as an ATX board, but after checking some other internet sites, I saw that it was indeed a micro-ATX board, and that amazon had the wrong information on their product page.
After sighing heavily, I went to the local supplier to exchange my ATX case for a micro-ATX case. The cheapest one they had was $85. I knew I was not gonna get anything like the $30 deal I got on the ATX case, so I decided to get it. I also saw a good deal in frys on a 1TB HDD, and I’ve always been one to buy a hard drive when it was on sale, so I got that too.
After that, the rest of the build proceeded smoothly, installation of Vista went fine. HDMI port with sound through the motherboard worked fine with the sony TV. The Gyration Keyboard and mouse worked like a charm. The precision on the air mouse is not as high as a regular mouse, but it’s still pretty good.
Finally, to test, we checked out the movie 300 at the local blockbuster, only to find that it was a horrible movie to use to evaluate the quality of Blu-Ray playback, because it was shot in a deliberately grainy style. A couple of days later, Cars arrived from netflix, and upon starting the movie, I immediately noticed a significant stutter, especially in the wide panning scenes. It quickly became intolerable. Tweaking the BIOS settings helped a little, but it was still very noticeable. Using Cyberlink’s BD system analyzer revealed that the onboard video (nvidia 7100) was too slow for blu-ray playback, even though the motherboard manual clearly states that the board is capable of full 1080p blu-ray playback. After another sigh, I did some research on video cards, and ran out and got a Diamond ATI HD 4350 with a HDMI port. Cars looked great, no stutter, nice smooth pans, the works. I spent a bit more than I had originally planned, but it was worth it, because now I have a video card that can also play WoW and many other games!
Final List:
- Gyration Media Center Remote + Keyboard (Amazon $128)
- 4 GB Memory (Amazon $45)
- Intel 2.5GHz E5200 (Amazon $71)
- Lite-On External Blu-Ray Player (Amazon $135)
- Gigabyte Motherboard(Amazon $76)
- 1TB Seagate HDD (Frys $97)
- Diamond ATI HD 4350 512MB (Frys $80)
- Antec NSK3480 (Central Computer $85)
- Windows Vista Home Premium (Amazon $100) - added if you don’t already own
Final Cost: $817
Lessons Learned:
- Be vary careful about motherboards’ onboard video. They may say they support blu-ray playback, when in reality, the quality may be poor.
- Go with a separate video card unless you can find exactly the motherboard that you want.
- Many video cards don’t have HDMI ports because they don’t have onboard audio. Many video cards have DVI to HDMI adapters that don’t support audio, so make sure you either have a connection for audio (eg a separate receiver), or you get a card or adapter that allows you to send both video and audio to a HDMI port.
- Don’t trust amazon’s catalog. There were two errors in shopping for computer components at amazon: (1) wrong motherboard and (2) wrong wireless keyboard/remote. For mainstream products, I’m sure amazon is fine, but for computer components, I’d be more inclined to buy them locally or at a different supplier.
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