Advice/suggestions please for noob on media PC

[wishihadtubes]

Having ripped my extensive CD collection and acquired quite a few hi-res music files, I'm getting a little tired of having to fire up my laptop every time I want to listen to music. The plan now is to put together a media PC initially for music playback, with possible upgrade later to handle video too.
The thing is I'm a total noob in this field and would greatly appreciate suggestions from the experts here.
The media PC will be loaded with both Foobar and JRiver and I assume the best OS would be Windows 7 or 8. The idea is to output the audio to a USB DAC which will then feed one of my amplifiers (either Denon or NAD 3020). At later stage, if I upgrade PC to handle video, would like to hook it up to my AVR.
Playback will be controlled with my Android phone and possibly a tablet/touch screen.
I'd decided on using the Antec Fusion but it now seems this cabinet is not easily available. Would welcome suggestions regarding alternative cabinet.
Would greatly appreciate suggestions for sound card, motherboard, processor, amount of RAM, power supply, graphics card and DVD/Blu-ray drive.
If I have missed out anything, please do point it out.
Many thanks.

 

[theironhorse]

make a VFM pc based on AMD fusion apu with a slim cabinet... the amd fusion will take care of 1080p with ease and all in all should not go beyond 20k...

please search.. atleast 20 active new threads running for same topic in same price range. including one of mine...

still for starter..

AMD fusion apu
base gigabyte/asus mobo
4gb DDR 3
1 TB HDD
corsair PSU
cabinet of your choice. one new cabinet from zebronics slim one and looks decent for like 1800 bucks..

else cooler master elite..

for HD audio on board HDMI will do the job for 1080p + hd audio bitstream

for stereo use the USB dac/ sound card/ whatever u like..

 

[wishihadtubes]

Dear Ironhorse,
Many thanks for the suggestions. Duly noted.
Any thoughts on the Cooler Master Elite 120 cabinet?
Regards.

 

[sam9s]

Please do give a thought to Vortexbox ... I have used it on a VM and as a complete music server, or a media PC, nothing can beat Vortexbox

 

[wishihadtubes]

Dear sam9s,
Advice from a guru like you is most appreciated!
Will keep it in mind.
However, I'm a little anal when it comes to some things. Still rip my CDs with EAC, tag them with MP3tag and download album art to go with it.
But yes, Vortexbox sounds interesting.
Many thanks.

 

[sam9s]

Still rip my CDs with EAC, tag them with MP3tag and download album art to go with it.

Vortexbox does all this automatically, all you need to do is pop up the CD in the drive. It will even convert the ripped songs to FLAC or MP3 and store at your desired location. It can do a lot more ...... research .....

 

[theironhorse]

Please do give a thought to Vortexbox ... I have used it on a VM and as a complete music server, or a media PC, nothing can beat Vortexbox

sirjee thanks for the route towards vortex....

my unused pc is going to be tested with this now...