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HTPC Build - 500

P

PhantmShado

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 17, 2009
Messages
355
Hey, I'd like to make an htpc build, budget $500. I'd really appreciate suggestions. Not suggestions for other streaming solutions, I want XMBC.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Mainly video streaming (1080p decoding a must). Some web browsing. Possibly light gaming.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$500. Yes.

3) Where do you live?
Seattle, WA.

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 (horizontal preferred), psu, cpu, ram, video card, mother board. Remote would be cool if in budget.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
500gb 2.5" hard drive, please budget bracket if necessary. Optical bluray drive. Have a spare logitech mediaboard I can use for mouse/keyboard.

6) Will you be overclocking?
No.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Will plug into 1080p tv.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Hope to order by the end of the week.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
None of those. Are there mobos with hdmi out? Could I get something like that and a sandy bridge and skip the video card? Is that even cost effective? No seen issues with gigabit ethernet on the board also necessary.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Don't need. Will use Linux and xmbc.

All suggestions appreciated. Thanks.
 
115 HD5750 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150448
115 i3 540 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115221
120 SG06b w/ 300WPSU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163151&Tpk=sg06
40 GEiL 4GB DDR3 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144478
105 mITX lga1156 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128448
22 SATA 5.25 enclosure - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...re=sata_5.25_enclosure-_-17-366-023-_-Product

Not exactly what you wanted, goes a wee bit over your budget, but it uses a mTIX shoebox case that is very small, has a decently powerful CPU, has a capable GPU, and well... I like it? Case fits 2.5" and 3.5" simultaniously. BTW, I didn't count rebates, since that's not the real price, IMO. It should be decently silent, yeah it uses an external bluray enclosure, yeah it's front lights are strangely bright, but it has all but the latest HDMI has to offer (you're missing out on nothing - 3D HDMI is not going anywhere near 60FPS - so its good for movies, horrible for games, IMO). Though if you want BluRay 3D, I guess just get a GTS450, or something similar.
 
PhantmShado said:
Hmm, could http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138173 work? It is cheaper. Also, I forgot to ask: Are there issues with the sound going out over the hdmi? Do I need to do anything special to set that up?
Click to expand...

mITX boards are much smaller than that, and the SG06 is too small to fit a mATX board (the one you listed :().

No issues here, with sound over HDMI. Just connect to either your reciever, or to your TV, then your sound system. Though you can stll use the TRS connectors instead of the HDMI jack for audio... You can also use the S/PDIF TOSLINK port, if your reciever/sound system has that. Though bitstreamed HDMI audio will be the "best". Eithor of the two cards I recommended will work.
 
PhantmShado said:
2 cards?

EDIT: Ah, didn't realize those were different sizes. How about this cheaper board then: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135259 ?
Click to expand...

I'll be upfront on this:

the Gigabyte board is the best there is for LGA1156 and mITX. It has to do with stably running the top end i7 860/875k chips, which is semi-unrelated, but ECS also has not had a decent reputation for quality products, and I've never heard of Giada, so I am hesitant to recommend them. If you really want to save money, I guess:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128448R
will do...

Honestly, there are probably better build options out there, but I gave you a list roughly analougous to what I have been researching for a while (small, silent gameable PC).

EDIT: it's 1:14 here o.0... I'll see you tomorrow, if somebody else hasn't picked up this thread with excellent suggestions :)
 
39 Silverstone LC02 Clone (discussed here)
130 Sony Optiarc Black 4X BD-ROM
41 G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
75 Foxconn H67S LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s
185 Intel Core i5-2300 Sandy Bridge 2.8GHz

480 shipped & be much more clean then using an external drive.
 
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Is that sandy bridge able to decode 1080p? Can I trust the mobo?

EDIT: Erm, wait, $110 over an external drive enclosure just to look a little cleaner? No. Still appreciate the suggestions though.
 
Last edited:
PhantmShado said:
Is that sandy bridge able to decode 1080p? Can I trust the mobo?

EDIT: Erm, wait, $110 over an external drive enclosure just to look a little cleaner? No. Still appreciate the suggestions though.
Click to expand...

actually alot cleaner.. I assumed that you wanted it to be aprt of an entertainment center by you asking for a horizontal case.. If it wasnt for that I would have reccomended a build in a q07 since its a better looking case & can hold a regular CD rom.. Also takes up less space footprint wise then either of the other cases mentioned.
 
PhantmShado said:
No, you're right, I prefer quality to price. Could I sub the case with http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811190105? Seems to have decent reviews going for it and 2.5 bracket would be cheaper than an external drive enclosure. I could stick my above mentioned mobo in it to keep price.
Click to expand...
For someone who just said "I prefer quality to price", you sure have a knack for choosing really low or lower end quality parts. Any way, that case is a poor choice for a HTPC case due to the low quality PSU and the use of multiple 80mm fans. Either those will be loud but good cooling or quiet but crap cooling. Either way, not good for a HTPC that's suppose to be quiet yet well cooled. At $88, it's also overpriced considering that the significantly better quality, better cooling, and better looking Antec NSK 2480 is ~$30 more:
$118 - Antec NSK2480 mATX case with Antec Earthwatts 380W PSU

Either way that Athentech case is a poor choice. Also note that with the exception of Antec and Silverstone, most of the other HTPC style cases comes with crappy or even shitty PSUs. So
PhantmShado said:
Is that sandy bridge able to decode 1080p? Can I trust the mobo?
Click to expand...

Yes Sandy Bridge CPus can decode 1080P content. However, not sure if that's doable with Linux though since those CPUs just came out. As for that mobo, it should be ok.
 
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If your going to up it to the case Danny recommended then a complete 2nd build would be in order so your not paying mITX price in a mATX case.


If you want to stay smaller you can do my original build, but sub this blue ray drive. Drops the total to 428 for a very small system.

If you want to stay mITX though almost all the cases will use slim optical drives. So its a matter of how small you actually want to go.
 
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Danny Bui said:
At $88, it's also overpriced considering that the significantly better quality, better cooling, and better looking Antec NSK 2480 is ~$30 more:
$118 - Antec NSK2480 mATX case with Antec Earthwatts 380W PSU
Click to expand...

Ok, so doesn't seem quite clear. Is this your recommended case in this price range then? If so, do I need a mATX mobo pick to go with it? What mATX board is recommended in such a case?

Thanks.
 
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PhantmShado said:
Ok, so doesn't seem quite clear. Is this your recommended case in this price range then? If so, do I need a mATX mobo pick to go with it? What mATX board is recommended in such a case?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

For sandy bridge its kind of odd, but the cheapest board is the foxconn mITX.. normally there is a premium for mIX stuff making the boards much more expensive
 
PhantmShado said:
Ok, so doesn't seem quite clear. Is this your recommended case in this price range then? If so, do I need a mATX mobo pick to go with it? What mATX board is recommended in such a case?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Danny chose the Antec case as he had issues with the cooling capabilities of the knockoff LC02 case. Considering what I read in the [H] thread about the LC02 clone, I have to agree with him.

Danny's recommended case works with microATX and miniITX boards. It will fit the Foxconn mITX board that bastage recommended earlier.
 
PhantmShado said:
Ok, so doesn't seem quite clear. Is this your recommended case in this price range then? If so, do I need a mATX mobo pick to go with it? What mATX board is recommended in such a case?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

That would be one of two cases that I would recommend in that price range. Here's the second:
$90 - Silverstone GD05B mATX HTPC Case
$45 - Antec NEO ECO 400C 400W PSU
---
Total:$135 shipped.

As triades said, you'll be fine with either mATX or mITX motherboard with either case. However motherboard wise, I'd recommend this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131685
 
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Ok, some browsing of XBMC forums indicated that for Linux Nvidia gpus are the recommended way to go. So for the updated build I now have:

$90 - Silverstone GD05B mATX HTPC Case
$45 - Antec NEO ECO 400C 400W PSU
$115 - Intel Core i3-540 Clarkdale 3.06GHz 4MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core Desktop Processor
$70 - Galaxy GeForce GT 430 1GB 128-bit DDR3
$80 - GIGABYTE GA-H55M-S2V LGA 1156 Intel H55 Micro ATX
$41 G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333

Just want to know what is thought of these picks before I pull the trigger.
 
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The problem is that going with a dedicated GPU with a Core i3 setup effectively negates one of the huge advantages of going with a Core i3 CPU: the ability to only have to rely on the onboard GPU to handle the offloading of HD content. As such, if you want to use a dedicated video card, you're better off with the following setup:
$105 - AMD Athlon II X2 245 CPU + Biostar A880G+ AM3 AMD 880G HDMI mATX Motherboard combo

$90 cheaper than that planned setup but once combined with the GT 430 card, it will be more than enough to watch HD content.
 
Sounds good. May be a stupid question, but no other changes would be left to make after that mobo+cpu swap, right? Wouldn't need a more potent psu or what not?
 
PhantmShado said:
Sounds good. May be a stupid question, but no other changes would be left to make after that mobo+cpu swap, right? Wouldn't need a more potent psu or what not?
Click to expand...

The Athlon II X2 CPU and the GeForce GT 430 card don't need all that much power. Either the Antec NEO ECO 400C PSU or the same company's EarthWatts EA380(D) is more than adequate for that build.
 
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