HTPC Low Power, Big Storage

[Kryx]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
HTPC. It needs to run xbmc with 1080p over HDMI to a tv. It also needs to share files and run torrents 24/7 so low power is key. I have about 2.5TB of space being used, but want some room to grow.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Maybe $350-600. Yes include tax&ship. I'm willing to adjust.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
San Francisco, California USA

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, Case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
Case, PSU, Motherboard, CPU, RAM, CPU Heatsink, SSD, DVD-ROM.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
2x Caviar Green 2TB.

6) Will you be overclocking?
No.

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
TV - 1080p. I do not have it yet.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Before August. I will be out of the country then so maybe the sooner the better in case parts die. Though I'll wait if there is something amazing coming in a few weeks.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
Onboard video, onboard sound, USB 3.0, SATA 6Gb/s, onboard NIC.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Win 7 64bit Ultimate.

I shop via Amazon Prime.

Here are the items I'm looking at currently:
Case: SilverStone PS07B. 4+ 3.5" is important.
PSU: Antec EA-450. Platinum is super important for low power. See Wiki.
Motherboard: ASRock H77M LGA 1155 Intel MicroATX Other option is GIGABYTE GA-H77M-D3H, but the ASRock is cheaper and seemingly has better audio.
Ram: Corsair Vengeance 8 GB ( 2 x 4 GB ) DDR3 1600 MHz Low Profile
CPU: i3-2125
CPU Heatsink: I have a Thermalright TRUE. If that fits in the case great, otherwise please offer some suggestions.
SSD: Crucial M4 64GB
DVD-ROM: Sony Optiarc 18X DDU1681S-0B

Will I have any problems getting 1080p with the onboard graphics of the processor/mobo through HDMI?

Current total is 528.69. Any suggestions?
Thanks!

 

[Dangman]

PSU: Antec EA-450. Platinum is super important for low power. See Wiki.

No it isn't:
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/10/04/80_plus_irrelevant_to_you_when_buying_psu/

Basically it'll take you years before you see that EA-450 pay for itself. As such, the price of that EA-450 is not justified when the EA-380D will fit your needs just fine:
http://www.amazon.com/Antec-EarthWa...e=UTF8&qid=1341189912&sr=8-1&keywords=EA-380D

Motherboard: ASRock H77M LGA 1155 Intel MicroATX Other option is GIGABYTE GA-H77M-D3H, but the ASRock is cheaper and seemingly has better audio.

I trust Gigabyte a bit more than I trust AsRock.

Ram: Corsair Vengeance 8 GB ( 2 x 4 GB ) DDR3 1600 MHz CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9.

You shouldn't get this RAM as its tall heatsinks will interfere with a lot of 3rd party HSF out there. You're better off getting this RAM:
$42 - Corsair CMV8GX3M2A1333C9 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM

CPU: i3-2120T

Not worth it at all. It may have a lower TDP but in reality, its power usage isn't all that much better than the Core i3 2120 to justify the lower performance:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i5-2500t-2390t-i3-2100t-pentium-g620t_8.html#sect0

At idle, the power difference between the Core i3 2100T and Core i3 2120 was 1W. At full load, the difference was only 10W. During 1080P playback, the difference was a mere 1.7W. So you're better off with the Core i3 2120. It's faster which means that it'll accomplish the same tasks quicker than the Core i3 2120T and therefore use less power and has virtually the same power usage.

 

[Kryx]

No it isn't

$.22/KWh in San Francisco. The difference between 25W and 50W is $48.18/year. It's modular as well. Plus I'd like to reduce my usage.

I trust Gigabyte a bit more than I trust AsRock

Audio drivers are what is winning out here, not price. Plus audio connectors in case I ever get a sound system on it. The reviews are good as well. It doesn't ship on amazon though for 2+ weeks, which is unfortunate.

You shouldn't get this RAM as its tall heatsinks will interfere with a lot of 3rd party HSF out there. You're better off getting this RAM:
$42 - Corsair CMV8GX3M2A1333C9 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM

1333 =/= 1600. I can look for other ones if tall is an issue though. Maybe the low profile Vengeance. $5 more.

Not worth it at all. It may have a lower TDP but in reality, its power usage isn't all that much better than the Core i3 2120 to justify the lower performance:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i5-2500t-2390t-i3-2100t-pentium-g620t_8.html#sect0

At idle, the power difference between the Core i3 2100T and Core i3 2120 was 1W. At full load, the difference was only 10W. During 1080P playback, the difference was a mere 1.7W. So you're better off with the Core i3 2120. It's faster which means that it'll accomplish the same tasks quicker than the Core i3 2120T and therefore use less power and has virtually the same power usage.

You are probably right that the power savings aren't worth it. I assumed it was a 60W vs 35W difference, but it seems to be mostly negligible for my uses. I can also get 3000 graphics instead of 2000.
However the assumption you're making is not applicable in my regard: video playback and hard drive access will not subside with faster speeds, it is a continuous process.

 

[Dangman]

$.22/KWh in San Francisco. The difference between 25W and 50W is $48.18/year. It's modular as well. Plus I'd like to reduce my usage.

I highly doubt it'll be a difference of 25W. But meh, your money, not mine.

Audio drivers are what is winning out here, not price. Plus audio connectors in case I ever get a sound system on it. The reviews are good as well.

Who said anything about price? Like I said, based on pure trust, I trust Gigabyte more. That's all I can bring to the motherboard debate.

1333 =/= 1600. I can look for other ones if tall is an issue though. Maybe http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233202

You won't notice a difference between DDR3 1600 and DDR3 1333 RAM in general.

However the assumption you're making is not applicable in my regard: video playback and hard drive access will not subside with faster speeds, it is a continuous process.

It is applicable in a way due to the XMBC software you're using. It's gonna need speed to scroll through menus, startup, etc.

 

[tiraides]

$.22/KWh in San Francisco. The difference between 25W and 50W is $48.18/year. It's modular as well. Plus I'd like to reduce my usage.

News flash: The Earthwatts PSU isn't modular. None of the Earthwatts series power supplies are (or ever were). The only Antec PSU that's fully modular (including the motherboard power cables) is the HCP-1000, which I believe is more PSU than you need for this build.

Is a modular PSU a must-have for you? Can you live with, say, an 80 Plus Gold or even an 80 Plus Bronze PSU? Are you trying to keep the cost down to under $100?

Audio drivers are what is winning out here, not price. Plus audio connectors in case I ever get a sound system on it. The reviews are good as well. It doesn't ship on amazon though for 2+ weeks, which is unfortunate.

What do you plan on listening from? How much do you value your sound? (If audio drivers are that important to you, have you considered using a dedicated sound card?)

1333 =/= 1600. I can look for other ones if tall is an issue though. Maybe the low profile Vengeance. $5 more.

You don't need DDR3 1600 RAM. You're going with a Sandy Bridge processor and you aren't overclocking it. That said, the XMS3 is fine. You could even go with a "value" RAM kit with no heatspreaders.

 

[Kryx]

So no issues with HDMI through the motherboard? The i3-2125 will power 1080p easily - audio and video?
Any case suggestions? It took me many hours of research to decide on that one, but if people have suggestions please share. I'd like a smaller case, but with a good amount of storage which is obviously hard to do.

I highly doubt it'll be a difference of 25W.

I meant that more as a general "Build for low power or not", not necessarily comparing these two PSUs.

Let's assume the computer idles at 30W and normal video processing at 50W usage.
A Bronze would be about 81% efficient whereas a Platinum would be 90%.
Bronze: 37W idle, 61.7W during video
Platinum: 33.3W idle, 55.6W during video

This all depends on how much the computer really takes - I'm not sure how much storage drives really pull. To me more efficiency is worth it in and of it self. The extra savings are just that - extra.

News flash: The Earthwatts PSU isn't modular.

Bah, you're right. I thought it was modular when I looked at it. Lower price is nice.

Is a modular PSU a must-have for you?

No, it's just nicer to work with.

What do you plan on listening from? How much do you value your sound? (If audio drivers are that important to you, have you considered using a dedicated sound card?)

Not a huge audiophile - my ears do not hear the difference. If the gigabyte was better or cheaper I'd go with it, but it seems to be neither.

You don't need DDR3 1600 RAM..

I know there is only about 5-7% difference between 1333 and 1600, but the price difference of $5 is negligible to me. I'd rather get the better one.

 

[CrimandEvil]

Personally, I'd rather pay less for a case that lets me use more hard drives. I already use an Antec 300 as a Media Server case (it's on it's side under my HTPC) and I love it since I can easily mount 8 3.5 drives in it and then some with a 5.25 adapter bay.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146078
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352010

I'd go with better memory (actually, I would go with 4 gigs and not 8 gigs. No reason to use 8 gigs).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147096

I'd rather go with the Core i3-2100 instead, not much reason to go beyond that.

I'd spend just a little more on the SSD and get a bigger one. No idea what Amazon's price on this one is.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227759

The motherboard doesn't really matter. Just make sure it has enough expansion slots, SATA ports, USB ports, etc for whatever you need from it. You are going digital out with BOTH your audio and video via HDMI so the onboard audio chipset means NOTHING to you since it's not going to be used at all.

And I'd listen to Danny Bui and get whatever PSU he says to get. He knows his stuff.

 

[FrostBite]

Interesting timing as I just bought the parts to update my HTPC/NAS. Replacing an X3 740 BE with a i3 2125 paired with a ASUS P8H77-M Pro. My main reasons were that the X3 740BE idled at 125 watts so I ended up putting it into sleep mode which than meant that using it to transcode to a pair of iPhones required wake on LAN and other bothersome steps. The i3 2125 idles at 1 watt and system idle at 30watts so I can leave it on 24/7. It also has quick sync since I encode/decode heavily, and a HD3000 on top for light gaming. mATX because I've got an mATX case with 6 HDD's and room for 3-4 more. Total cost was a bit less than $300.

 

[Kryx]

...i3 2125 paired with a ASUS P8H77-M Pro... Total cost was a bit less than $300.

Can you post your build? Your mobo + CPU alone are $281. Did you only replace those 2 parts?
I'm most curious about your case and PSU.

 

[FrostBite]

CPU was $119.99 because Fry's was able to price match Microcenter's sale price, motherboard was $129.99 plus tax on both. Case is Fractal Design Define Mini, PSU is a Corsair CX430, RAM is 8gb of G. Skill sniper, SSD for 50GB for OS, 1TB for recorded TV shows, 4x 2TB's with one drive being parity; all of these were reused.

Just installed OS, updating Windows, pulling 16 watts!