I'm looking to get a new computer to use as an HTPC, and I'm hoping someone might be able to help me choose one or point me in the right direction! (As a side note, I haven't totally committed to buying one rather than building my own, so if someone has any good reasons for me to build one instead, let me know!)
It's going to be used for gaming, movies, and music. The most taxing gaming I think I'll be doing is PS2, Dreamcast, and possibly some Wii emulation.
I already have a decent monitor that I plan on using, so it doesn't need to include one. Thanks for any suggestions!
This article on eHow lists some PS2 emulator requirements and they seem pretty low. Building your own computer will give you a lot more control and much better performance for the price. For between 50 and 80 dollars you can get a pretty decent CPU + GPU combo like this one. Then you want to find a motherboard that goes with the chip like this one (check the sockets to ensure they are compatible) and a cheap case that comes with a power supply and maybe looks snazzy like this. Buy a few gigs of ram ($25) (you shouldn't need more than 4) and a harddrive of your choice ($25-50)and assemble. In total this will cost maybe $200-300. Be fore-warned, I'm spec'ing this thing for one purpose, be as cheap as possible while still being functional. Now the real kicker is the OS, there are plenty of user friendly linux distros like ubuntu which won't cost you anything, but a legit copy of windows will run you $170 by itself (unless you're a student, then its cheaper).
Also for comparison against building one yourself: this is about what I spec'ed for you and that is with it on sale for $200 off!
If you build one, decide first on the CPU/motherboard combo you want and work off that. It's not as daunting as it may seem, and you'll learn a bunch and gain confidence with your machines. Main thing is familiarizing yourself with the different ports. After then, it's all legos. I'd recommend newegg as well; their selection is top notch and I've had great experiences with them.
This site is regularly updated and lists a bunch of levels of power and the corresponding parts for the best price. I'm not sure what Hubski's policy is on linking to reddit but there is a pc building board there that has some other great resources in its sidebar.
That first site looks like a great resource, thanks for that! I have been using the /r/buildapc sidebar resources a bit to try to learn more about everything, and I am getting a better grasp on things, but I still feel sort of lost in all the information. That's sort of why I'm starting to lean toward just buying a prebuilt PC. I really would like to build my own PC though.