Cheap HTPC built

V

Vithar

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 6, 2012
Messages
269
Can anyone suggest some parts for a cheap HTPC

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Watching movies with netfilx and checking email mostly
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
lets keep it under $500 after shipping and tax
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Southern California, near a Microcenter
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.
MOBO w/HDMI, CPU, HDD, PSU, RAM, CASE, DVD DRIVE, Aftermarket CPU Cooler, and if budget allows SSD and Dedicated Graphics
6) Will you be overclocking?
no
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
a 50in 1080P Sony Bravia TV
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
two or so weeks from now
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.
HDMI
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
7 Home Premium 64
11) Any other considerations towards parts? (This should be a thing, imo)
Case has to be small form factor like the cooler master elite 360
 
$66 - Intel Pentium G630 CPU
$75 - Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H Intel B75 mATX Motherboard
$18 - G.Skill F3-10666CL9S-2GBNT 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$90 - Samsung 830 128GB SSD
$70 - Western Digital WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$18 - Samsung DVD Burner
$45 - Corsair 430CX V2 430W PSU
$79 - Silverstone PS07B mATX Case
----
Total: $461 plus tax
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Danny Bui said:
$66 - Intel Pentium G630 CPU
$75 - Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H Intel B75 mATX Motherboard
$18 - G.Skill F3-10666CL9S-2GBNT 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$90 - Samsung 830 128GB SSD
$70 - Western Digital WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$18 - Samsung DVD Burner
$45 - Corsair 430CX V2 430W PSU
$79 - Silverstone PS07B mATX Case
----
Total: $461 plus tax
Click to expand...

Thx, btw I was thinking of an FX6100 and one of those free mobos you get at Microcenter, does that sound good or is that just a waste?
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Vithar said:
Thx, btw I was thinking of an FX6100 and one of those free mobos you get at Microcenter, does that sound good or is that just a waste?
Click to expand...

A waste IMO since none of the AMD mobos with onboard video have USB 3.0. Not to mention that in the single threaded use you've mentioned so far, the Intel would outperform that AMD. Not to mention the increased power and heat.
 
So no AMD at all, not even the phenom 965? I always thought those were a bargain.
 
Vithar said:
So no AMD at all, not even the phenom 965? I always thought those were a bargain.
Click to expand...
The AMD Phenoms don't quality for the $40 off deal. Only the FX CPUs qualify for that deal. With that said, whether or not to go the AMD route is largely dependent on what you will be doing with the PC. If you're doing a ton of video/3D/audio encoding/rendering or Photoshop work, the AMD Phenom II X4 and AMD FX CPUs will perform better than similarly priced Intels in that kind of usage but with a dramatic increase in heat and power usage. However, that advantage is pretty much lost once you go above the $140 mark since the $180 Core i5 2310 will generally outperform the AMD FX CPUs in that kind of usage.

If you're gaming, hands down, it's Intel all the way as even Pentium G8xx series CPUs will outperform the FX-8150 in some games. For Netflix and web browsing, any dual-core CPU will perform just fine for that kind. In those cases, you have to determine which platform to go for via other factors as features (i.e USB 3.0), power usage, heat generation, and price
 
Actually the phenoms do qualify that's why I asked, its at the bottom of the page, you get a free GA-78LMT-S2P which could potentially mean $50 saved. Besides that silverstone case looks like it can store a hyper 212.
 
Ahh I was looking at the catalog, not the site. In any case, that Gigabyte isn't a good choice since it doesn't have the one thing you specified under question 9: a HDMI port. Not to mention that it's the old 760G chipset which means that it'll perform even slower than AMD's 8 and 9 series chipsets. In addition, the onboard video didn't have the capability to offload the decoding of flash or HD content. As such, all of the decoding would be done on the CPU, not the GPU like it would with newer video cards and onboard videos. That further impacts the performance of the system. Also, that mobo is actually $10, not free, as you still have to deal with a rebate that may or may not go through.
 
Dang so that's where they get u, I mean I was thinking I use the saving to purchase a cheap GPU, but with the motherboard actually being that outdated I'd just be wasting money wouldn't I.
 
Vithar said:
Dang so that's where they get u, I mean I was thinking I use the saving to purchase a cheap GPU, but with the motherboard actually being that outdated I'd just be wasting money wouldn't I.
Click to expand...

IMO yes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top