Conceptualizing an HTPC Build

[Armenius]

Hello. I have recently been having the itch to make an HTPC build. When we want to watch movies together it is kind of a pain to pull out the good-old PS3 from my area and hook it up to the big TV in the living area. It has become such an annoyance that our movie watching has slowed down to a crawl. So I was thinking about doing an HTPC build in probably the next 3-6 months that could stay out in the living area connected to the TV. I decided to conceptualize today and this is what it looks like. But first, the questions.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
HTPC to watch Blu-ray movies and stream digital video from a NAS.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
~$600 US all-in.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
United States, Ft. Myers metropolitan area in Florida
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.
CPU, RAM, MoBo, Case, Blu-ray drive, SSD
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
New build from scratch. Have a retail license for Corel WinDVD Pro 10. Looking into using XBMC. Have a 4TB WD Red NAS drive attached to network.
6) Will you be overclocking?
No.
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
TV is 52" 1080p
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
3-6 months depending on financial situation at that time.
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.
Wi-Fi, Ethernet, SATA 6Gb/s, USB 3.0, onboard sound
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
No.

[URL="http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3hYnV"]Here is what I have picked out at the moment. Would like to try and keep the red theme going on for AMD. Codename for this build is Xaphan.[/URL]

-AMD A8-5500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor = $96.52
-Gigabyte GA-F2A88XN-WIFI Mini ITX FM2+ Motherboard = $108.46
-G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory = $45.99
-Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk = $94.99
-Thermaltake VL520B1N2U Mini ITX Tower Case w/220W Power Supply = $59.99
-LG WH16NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer = $59.99
-Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) = $137.97
Base Total = $603.91

Thank you very much.

 

[SRTie4k]

I feel like that processor is overkill for simple media consumption purposes. You can easily get away with a bottom of the barrel APU like the A4-5300. That would save you some money.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113283

Is this build going to be wireless or wired?

 

[Armenius]

Wireless, but I would like the option to go wired if it is ever necessary. But wired is not a set-in-stone requirement.

I chose a mid-range APU because I briefly tried one of the A4s on someone else's PC and I felt it was a little too slow even for web browsing and Twitch/Justin/Youtube streaming. I'm of the mindset that having a comfortable amount of headroom when it comes to performance is not a waste of money. But I am not averse to more budget-oriented choices when it comes to this type of application. I am used to building balls-to-the-wall high-performance gaming rigs, so this is why I posted this idea here and I appreciate it.

 

[Pylor]

In my experience/opinion you can go one of two ways with most HTPC builds, expansion-capable or as small as possible. If you want to go as small as possible and as cheap as possible a simple raspberry pi actually works pretty well as an HTPC, though it's a bit slow for my tastes (since you have a 52 inch tv you probably want something higher end). The next step up would be something like a NUC or a similar book end computer.

If you want the ability to expand, you have to go with mini-itx. Personally I would recommend haswell over an amd cpu as they're generally lower power and work with 4k so far (as well as having very good 24hz support). I recently purchased a i3 4330 which is the lowest end intel processor with the HD 4600 (supposedly doesn't matter for video processing) with a MSI B85i motherboard for my parents. It doesn't have wireless though, for streaming live tv I needed to use powerline.

Some people prefer the smaller, no fan approach of something along the lines of a NUC. I generally prefer a little more power and a pci-express slot incase I decide to upgrade graphical capability sometime down the line.

 

[Dangman]

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
3-6 months depending on financial situation at that time.

First and foremost, you're planning way to early. Computer hardware pricing and availability can change quickly in a month let alone six months from now. So if you want an up-to-date build list, please come back when you're 1-2 weeks away from buying parts and ask for advice then. Especially since you don't even know for sure what the budget will be.

With that said, even if you were buying today, some of those parts would be very questionable:

[URL="http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3hYnV"]Here is what I have picked out at the moment. Would like to try and keep the red theme going on for AMD. Codename for this build is Xaphan.[/URL]

Considering that sticking to a certain theme costs quite a bit of money with even gaming PCs with significantly larger budgets, doing so with system with a limited budget is not a great idea. Especially if said theme is going to require you to go with low-quality parts...

-G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory = $45.99

At current pricing, that 4GB of RAM is overpriced considering that you can get twice that much RAM for only $19 more:
$64 - Kingston HyperX Blu KHX1600C10D3B1/8G 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM

-Thermaltake VL520B1N2U Mini ITX Tower Case w/220W Power Supply = $59.99

The included PSU is a pretty much a piece of shit: It's a PSU made by Allied. So that's automatically means that it's going to be shit. In addition, the lack of APFC (apparent from the appearance of a red voltage switch in the back) indicates it's a low quality PSU, old PSU design, or both. So if you want something that's actually decent, you're looking at around $90 to $100 alone for the PSU and case.

-Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) = $137.97

Why do you need Windows 8 Pro for a HTPC? Why not just regular Windows 8.1?

 

[Armenius]

First and foremost, you're planning way to early. Computer hardware pricing and availability can change quickly in a month let alone six months from now. So if you want an up-to-date build list, please come back when you're 1-2 weeks away from buying parts and ask for advice then. Especially since you don't even know for sure what the budget will be.

With that said, even if you were buying today, some of those parts would be very questionable:


Considering that sticking to a certain theme costs quite a bit of money with even gaming PCs with significantly larger budgets, doing so with system with a limited budget is not a great idea. Especially if said theme is going to require you to go with low-quality parts...


At current pricing, that 4GB of RAM is overpriced considering that you can get twice that much RAM for only $19 more:
$64 - Kingston HyperX Blu KHX1600C10D3B1/8G 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM

The included PSU is a pretty much a piece of shit: It's a PSU made by Allied. So that's automatically means that it's going to be shit. In addition, the lack of APFC (apparent from the appearance of a red voltage switch in the back) indicates it's a low quality PSU, old PSU design, or both. So if you want something that's actually decent, you're looking at around $90 to $100 alone for the PSU and case.

Why do you need Windows 8 Pro for a HTPC? Why not just regular Windows 8.1?

Thanks for all the responses.

That is what I was thinking initially, as well. I guess what I was really looking for was the overall opinion of the general selection of parts within my budget than the specifics. The window I'm looking at to build is June-July. But based on what you said I may increase the budget ~$100 to get some better quality parts.

As far as the theme is concerned, I'm just trying to keep the colour in mind. I don't need to go all-out to stay strict, but it would be nice when looking at the parts through a window or when opening it up that everything would be black and red. Customization can come later.

Most of the matched 2GB sets I have looked at float around $40. G.Skill is one of the many brands of memory I like, so I'm not picky. I do like Kingston's HyperX brand of memory, though. If I had to I could replace the heatspreaders. I chose 4GB because this is the first build I am thinking of on a fixed budget , and this was one of the areas I decided to shave pennies at the time.

I admit I did not look into the power supply included with the case I chose. Many of the ITX cases I looked at didn't really fit my tastes. This case is on the cheap side, though, so you do always get what you paid for. I am still on a Thermaltake Toughpower 850W in my main rig, so I made the cardinal sin of making an assumption in this case that the PSU might have the same level of quality.

I can do with regular 8.1. Traditionally I have preferred the Pro versions because of the low-level system options that Microsoft locks out of the "Home" or regular versions. Again, I have never thought of a build like this, so I guess that kind of power-user flexibility isn't really required in the case of an HTPC build.

 

[SpeedyVV]

Using XBMC? Why not use Linux and use the OS money for something else?

 

[Dangman]

That is what I was thinking initially, as well. I guess what I was really looking for was the overall opinion of the general selection of parts within my budget than the specifics. The window I'm looking at to build is June-July. But based on what you said I may increase the budget ~$100 to get some better quality parts.

Well as I said earlier, it's not that good. Too many compromises for very little gain.

Most of the matched 2GB sets I have looked at float around $40. G.Skill is one of the many brands of memory I like, so I'm not picky. I do like Kingston's HyperX brand of memory, though. If I had to I could replace the heatspreaders. I chose 4GB because this is the first build I am thinking of on a fixed budget , and this was one of the areas I decided to shave pennies at the time.

Well maybe that pricing situation might change by the time you buy where 4GB of RAM would be a cost-effective purchase. For now though, 8GB of RAM is the sweet spot. More than what you probably need but it's such a waste of money to get 4GB of RAM now.

I admit I did not look into the power supply included with the case I chose. Many of the ITX cases I looked at didn't really fit my tastes. This case is on the cheap side, though, so you do always get what you paid for. I am still on a Thermaltake Toughpower 850W in my main rig, so I made the cardinal sin of making an assumption in this case that the PSU might have the same level of quality.

Did you take a look at the Silverstone SG05?

Using XBMC? Why not use Linux and use the OS money for something else?

I thought you can't watch Blu-rays on XBMC for Linux? The OP did want to watch Blu-rays after all.

 

[Armenius]

Well as I said earlier, it's not that good. Too many compromises for very little gain.

Well maybe that pricing situation might change by the time you buy where 4GB of RAM would be a cost-effective purchase. For now though, 8GB of RAM is the sweet spot. More than what you probably need but it's such a waste of money to get 4GB of RAM now.


Did you take a look at the Silverstone SG05?


I thought you can't watch Blu-rays on XBMC for Linux? The OP did want to watch Blu-rays after all.

XBMC can play decrypted Blu-ray movies. While I do plan on shrinking my movie collection, this would be a long process that I have not even started planning. Having the option to play from the disc would be a plus. I am still researching how to set up XBMC.

Are there any Blu-ray disc playback options available for Linux? If I were to go with Linux, which distro would you recommend for this type of application?

I looked at the Silverstone case and it does not appear to have an external 5.25" drive bay for a Blu-ray drive. The RVZ01 is pretty sexy, though. I'm going to have to rethink some parts .