MSI H61M-E33/W8 and i3 3225 good for HTPC?

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devil_trigger

Gawd
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Jan 24, 2007
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Microcenter has this combo for $130 after $10 MIR on mobo(mobo basically free) and I was curious if this is a good deal and combo for a new HTPC build. This rig will only be used for basic media playback and streaming(tv shows, movies and music) and if I ever get cable back again some TV recording(not positive on that though). Was thinking about pairing it with a smallish SSD and backup HDD and like 4 gigs of RAM. As long as it will handle 1080P playback from the onboard I'll be happy. Thanks guys!

MSI mobo MC linky

i3 3225 MC linky
 
Looks like it will fulfill basic HTPC needs. Just remember you won't have USB 3.0, only two expansion slots, and there's no SATA 6.0G/s.


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I am using that same cpu (i3 3225) for my HTPC and it works great! Uses VERY little power too!
 
That's fine, like I said it will only be for playback, I won't be doing anything intensive to need 6gbps and I don't have any USB3.0 peripherals anyway. I just wanted to know if it was a good combo for the price.
 
Make sure that H61 supports Ivy Bridge. I know some boards require you to Flash the bios w/ a Sandy Bridge in the socket before you can use an Ivy Bridge. Some (I think) EVGA still have not made their 60 series boards IVB compatible at all.
 
Do you guys think a 350 watt PSU will be enough for this, it will just be the mobo/CPU, a couple fans and a couple hard drives.
 
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350 W will be overkill, your powerdraw will most likely be around 30W idle and peak draw will not be more the 80w. Practically any PSU will do.

From two newegg reviews of processor
"Pros: HD 4000 graphics, low power consumption, Quick Sync. I bought this chip for a HTPC and it's all I hoped for. Running a DVD ISO to MKV encode, watching TV and using the Internet all at the same time and all for under 70 Watts power consumption from the wall outlet. HandBrake is running at 167 FPS which is pretty good for a 2 core. With 16 graphic pipelines this will be a great encoding machine once Quick Sync driven encoders come of age."

"Pros: Low power, with 4 drives my machine idles at 40W and @ load is 60W according to my Kill-A-Watt. "
 
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I kind of figured that but wanted to be sure. The smallest I could find at Microcenter was 350w for $38 and I ended up getting a 400w CM Elite for the same price because it had a 120mm fan instead of the 80mm fan.
 
Btw, no one answered your original question... the deal is definitely a GREAT deal.
 
Haha, ok thank you all very much. My mom didn't know what to get me for Christmas so I passed this on to her and she approved so we went and got it Saturday. :) Also picked up a basic 2x2gb corsair RAM kit and the PSU. All I need now is a ssd and hdd, a case and an optical drive. Probably getting the silverstone SG04B.
 
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