EDIT: I forgot to upload this. Sorry.

I got it already, slapped it together and started it up, lights and fans turn on... no POST. I was sad. I'm pretty sure it the motherboard is bad. I'm sending the motherboard back, and getting a new one.

I think I mentioned something about building another PC. No not the Ati/AMD machine I was talking about. Don't have that much money. Similar though. I think I called it a media server.

Anyways, this is what I'm building a new PC for: Stream video and audio (to game consoles or to any computer that I want), hook up to my TV and watch movies from it, and the ability to be a DVR in the future. I also wanted to use it as an extra gaming PC if needed (plus it's hooked up to a 42 in TV). So I slapped one to together for a little over a 1000 bucks. I impulse buy way to often. I really need to save some money.

I bought an AMD quadcore processor, 4 GB of RAM, and decent video card (512 MB memory for 170 bucks) among other things. I wanted something that ran cool and was quiet. If it was going to be running for long periods of time, it needs to be cool and if I was watching a movie, it needs to be quiet.

So I bought this for a case. It has big fans. I bought two more fans for it just in case. I needed some extra fans anyways.

I always hate buying motherobards. They are easy to narrow down. You need a certain type of cpu socket, you need a certain main power, and cpu power, you need to make sure you have enough PCI/PCI express, SATA slots, make sure you have the right form factor. Once you get it narrowed down, that's the hard part. Which board is good out of these? I don't know. Well I want something kinda cheap but not crappy. So i went with a BioStar board. Never had one before, but it was 80 bucks and had everything I needed. I hope it'll work well. Reviews are bipolar. Some good, some bad. So I implused bought and worried later.

I also bought a cheap mouse and keyboard. Nothing fancy there. Then I bought 2 10 foot extenstion USB chords. I want to control/game from the confort of my recliner. 6 feet of chord didn't cut it. So now I have 16 feet. maybe over kill, but I can use the chords with my PS3 controller and its wimpy 3 foot recharging cable. So now I can game and charge my controller at the same time. I also bought a 500 GB harddrive. To store all those media files and for hopes of a DVR in the future. So yeah.

I've also been thinking about software for this baby. I thought about a few things. What OS? I thought about Ubuntu (well Mythbuntu as it were) then I thought about "well i could use it for gaming later one." Linux doesn't work as great with games. So how about XP. I was leaning toward this big time, then I remember. 32 bit versions of windows do not support 4 GBs of RAM. So Now I'm leaning towards 64 bit vista. I think I'll do that. I got my RAM covered, and i get the added bonus of directx 10.

Still a downside to this though. I've been reading reviews for some TV Tuner cards, and a few of them say 64 bit version of Vista doesn't play well with them. It's a future thing, so maybe kinks will be worked out.

Now I have decided on an OS, what programs do I need. I need to be able to stream audio/video/pictures. I've looked at a few programs. Orb is looking to be the best one thus far. All you need is a browser to access the files (and some security stuff). I might do a combo of programs though. TVersity is looking good also. The best one though that I have found for streaming to my PS3 anyways, is SimpleCenter, but the media server thing is only on a 30 day trial. I like it though. I'll look into seeing how much it costs. Nevermind I'm retarded. The UPnP is in the free version (which is used to stream music and video to PS3s and PSPs). To over internet conection though. Just LAN with SimpleCenter. Remote Access is extra. Although it is only 30 bucks for the premium version. I don't mind spending that. it's when companies sell software for hundreds of dollars that I get cheesed. Under 50 bucks is good with me.

Then I have VideoLan player for a media player. The player can play any type of file (except Real). I have a few ogm and .mkv files so that's what that is handy for. I'll also get WinAmp for music ripping and stuff.

Then there's DVR software. I don't have to worry to much about it now, but I'm leaning towards MediaPortal. It's a sweet looking program and it's free. It also depends on whether or not my Tv tuner comes with DVR software.

It seems like there is more. No need for a wireless card. I'm setting it up right beside my router. No need for a monitor, since it's plugging into my TV. No need for speakers, becaues my surround sound set up is actually PC speakers. Easily unhooked from my TV and plugged into a computer.

I made sure I got a motherboard that could handle 5.1 surround sound. Now I hope it works. I don't have the best track record with motherboards, although this one I'm on right now is working fantastic. You see my first computer that I built had a bad motherboard. It was a good motherboard, but it had defects. The right speaker always would crackle whenever playing sounds. Just always did. I though it was the cheap speakers I was using at first, but then I got nice speakers and still crackle. I had all sorts of problems with the sound ports actually. Then I shocked the USB ports on the front of the case. yeah don't ever do that. They don't work. Every time I would plug in a USB device into it, the computer would freeze. That's the case though, not Motherboard. Ah... memories. The old computer is my zombie computer by the way. I acutally put a piece of scotch tape on the USB ports in the front. But I digress now.

I'm getting excited for the thing to arrive. It's going to be a chore though. I plan on reripping all of my CDs onto it. I want them in mp3 format. On this computer I have all my music in Itunes format. I forgot what it is. I'm also going to dump all of my movies and pictures onto it. I have a lot. Then I'll install a few choice games. Unreal 2004, Unreal 3, Gears of War, Crysis. I might slap on a copy of Hellgate London for my own pleasure. I mean Hellgate on a 42 in. TV.

You may ask why I don't hook up this computer to it. It's quite simple really. I'm lazy. The case alone is heavy. With all of the components, it's even heavier. Un hook everything, hook it up to the TV. Play a few hours of games, then truck it back into my room, hook everything back up. It's a process. Plus I've been wanted a media server. Don't want to leave this computer on all the time.

I need to dust it. I plan on cleaning my computer, and desk, this spring. Spring is coming. Take it out to the garage. Spray a can of air into it until all the dust is out. remove the drives and give them a good dusting. I should really remove the powersupply to dust it, but that's a task in itself.

After I do that, but desk isn't going to be easy. I have a bunch of stuff on it. Pictures, knickknacks, and such. Basically stuff I didn't have room for anywhere else.

Then my cat's fat.

After I dust the desk and give it a good cleaning/cleaning out, Have to vaccuum around it. It's a process. I know I just got done saying I'm lazy, but I'm also a perfectionist. It kinda sucks to be me.

Peace out.