2012-04-25, 04:35
Hi, I'm looking to build my next HTPC. Right now we're saving for a house, so it has to be a rather low-cost affair. I'm not after anything fancy, just something we can watch SD videos on (with maybe 1-2 HD videos, but that's rare) and to perhaps play some emulated games (N64, MAME, SNES etc.), and possibly Minecraft on my 42" plasma TV with the possibility of upgrading it later on as money comes in.
I work as an IT helpdesk operator, and software is my forté, but I'm not really sure about hardware, which is why I'm asking for assistance. At the minute I've got my eyes on the Acer Veriton L460 (link) which I can pick up for $185 AUD. It's got DVI and supports 5.1 surround sound (even though we don't own a surround sound system). I can also maybe pick up the Acer Veriton L670 (link, PDF) for $230 or so
The problem I find with hardware, is that clock speed means less to me these days, as two 3ghz processors can vary in speed depending on number of cores etc., and with graphics cards, there are sometimes two versions of the same card (e.g. the L460 has a GMA 3100, while there is also a GMA X3100 which is for mobile computing, and people (and Google search results) often confuse the two), plus benchmark results mean little to me, and maximum resolution may be fine for word documents and stuff, but not for games or XBMC.
So if anyone has suggestions about these machines, or can suggest a similar machine (within Australia) that would be better bang for my buck, I'd be glad to hear it!
I work as an IT helpdesk operator, and software is my forté, but I'm not really sure about hardware, which is why I'm asking for assistance. At the minute I've got my eyes on the Acer Veriton L460 (link) which I can pick up for $185 AUD. It's got DVI and supports 5.1 surround sound (even though we don't own a surround sound system). I can also maybe pick up the Acer Veriton L670 (link, PDF) for $230 or so
The problem I find with hardware, is that clock speed means less to me these days, as two 3ghz processors can vary in speed depending on number of cores etc., and with graphics cards, there are sometimes two versions of the same card (e.g. the L460 has a GMA 3100, while there is also a GMA X3100 which is for mobile computing, and people (and Google search results) often confuse the two), plus benchmark results mean little to me, and maximum resolution may be fine for word documents and stuff, but not for games or XBMC.
So if anyone has suggestions about these machines, or can suggest a similar machine (within Australia) that would be better bang for my buck, I'd be glad to hear it!
), but if necessary, I'm capable of building a PC, so I might investigate some of those options.
