• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

HTPC/NAS Build

C

Coltblues

n00b
Joined
Feb 6, 2007
Messages
45
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
HTPC/Storage/some services (ssh, ircd, sftp)
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$800
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.

Virginia
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, cpu cooler, blu-ray drive, hdds, psu, tv tuner (provided it does what i want), possible gpu
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
LIAN LI PC-V354B Black Aluminum MicroATX Mini Tower Got it on sale for $100.00
6) Will you be overclocking?
Probably not.
7) 7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
46" 1080p
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
month or so
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)? etc.
raid, onbard video with crossfirex in case I want to add a video card
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Win7 64bit, possible vm of unbuntu


I'm trying to build an HTPC that would aslo act as my personal storage server and provide some services to the outside world (sftp, ircd, ssh, maybe some others). I would be leaving this machine on 24/7 to provide the services. Please let me know if this is a bad idea. I've already picked out some hardware and wanted to bounce it off you guys to let me know if it would suffice.

ASUS M4A88T-M AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX $79.99
AMD Athlon II X4 645 Propus 3.1GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core $89.99
CORSAIR CWCH60 Hydro Series H60 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler $74.99
CORSAIR XMS3 (4 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) CMX8GX3M4A1333C9 $46.99
2x HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000.D HDS721010DLE630 (0F13180) 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" $139.99
ASUS Black Blu-ray Drive SATA Model BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM $67.99
CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 430W ATX12V Power Supply $49.99

If I need more gpu:
SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity $149.99

Up in the air about the TV card since I don't know a lot about them but I picked this one:
Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1250 Hybrid TV Tuner /Video Recorder 1196 PCI-Express x1 Interface
I wouldn't mind having one with the capability of replacing my cable box. I currently have fios HD cable.

Advice much appreciated!
 
Coltblues said:
I'm trying to build an HTPC that would aslo act as my personal storage server and provide some services to the outside world (sftp, ircd, ssh, maybe some others). I would be leaving this machine on 24/7 to provide the services. Please let me know if this is a bad idea.
Click to expand...
IMO, this is a bad idea but it can definitely work.

Coltblues said:
ASUS M4A88T-M AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX $79.99
AMD Athlon II X4 645 Propus 3.1GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core $89.99
Click to expand...
I recommend an Intel setup since the Intel Pentium G620 outperforms that AMD CPU while being $20 cheaper:
$70 - Intel Pentium G620

I recommend this motherboard:
$80 - Biostar TH67B Intel H67 mATX Motherboard

Coltblues said:
CORSAIR XMS3 (4 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) CMX8GX3M4A1333C9 $46.99
Click to expand...
That RAM is just a poor choice since it's 4 sticks of RAM for only 8GB. That's crap considering that you can get 2 x 4GB of RAM for $37:
$37 - G.Skill Value Series F3-10600CL9D-8GBNT 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM

That'll allow you to expand to 16GB of RAM later on.

Coltblues said:
2x HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000.D HDS721010DLE630 (0F13180) 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" $139.99
Click to expand...

While those are some seriously high performance drives, the problem is that this is a HTPC, not a high performance gaming system. As such, I'd grab the 2TB drives instead:
$157 - Samsung Spinpoint F4 HD204UI 2TB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Yes, those 2TB drives will still be fast enough for server duty.
 
Processor: I'd consider an i3-2100 instead, much more power friendly (65 vs 95) which means a lower electricity bill and it'll run much cooler
RAM: Get some cheap value RAM for $30 (ripjaws, gskill value, etc...) which can be found on sale quite consistantly
CPU Cooler: H60 is overkill, even the stock will do, especially since SB runs much cooler
HDD: See if you can wait that full month because hard drive prices are falling. I'm seeing WD 2TB Green's (EARX) for ~$118 so they will probably continue to drop. Personally, I'd wait until they are less than $100 for 2TB's, but that could take more than a month. I'd also consider a cheap 50-64GB SSD for the OS, the smaller ones normally can be found for $1/gig after rebate.
Tuner: Not sure if cablecard tuners with with FIOS, but the one you are looking at would be OTA only. If you don't mind going this route, I'd consider the 2250 so you can get dual tuners, and be able to watch a show and record a show at the same time. Also, if you don't have an USB IR receiver, buy the retail version (not OEM/whitebox) which contains the IR receiver and a remote.
 
i upgraded my HTPC from a AMD X3 710 (95 watt) to an i3 2105 (65 watt).

When watching a movie, my power usage dropped from 80 watts down to 50 watts. The i3 build sits under 50 watts idle.
 
I built a nas/htpc about a year ago.

I went with I3 it seemed to win out in the battle of heat/power/cost ect. I did use a really cool fan that I found, I think it is called a "noctura" it is very low profile, VERY quite fan, and has heat pipes, so it is a great way to go for quite/cool.

IF I could do it over again, I would look more in to seeing if I could install windows on a thumb drive (usb) or a flash drive (in a card reader on the pci slot), so that I would have more room for hard drives. Drives are expensive right now, so I would only by what you need for RIGHT NOW, and then add more , when you have the need for them.

you don't need a quad core.
You don't need 4 gig ram, but it is so cheap, you might as well get 2 X2gig sticks.

IF there is ANY chance you will be gaming with it, then get i5 cpu.

I used the ati 5670 HIS vieo card, because the cooling system on it is very very quite. I have some issues with video - but I odn't think it is the cards fault, more likely it is my reciever (older yamaha), or my TV (older projection 1080i). the video card is a good choice because it is also the lowest end one that can do vector adaptive deinterlaceing.
 
Danny Bui said:
I recommend an Intel setup since the Intel Pentium G620 outperforms that AMD CPU while being $20 cheaper:
$70 - Intel Pentium G620

I recommend this motherboard:
$80 - Biostar TH67B Intel H67 mATX Motherboard
Click to expand...

Ya, I like the idea of going Intel, but I stepped it up a bit $130

With this board because it has the PCIe slot I need for the tuner and also decided to go with something has S/PDIF and some other goodies for versatility.$125

GSkill 1333 8GB Memory $36

CPU Cooler $35
 Is Scythe a good brand?

This card always seems to be the one that pops up in all my searches for crossfirex support $105

Going to wait on the hdds and decided to go with the 2250 tuner card.
 
Last edited:
Unless you are going to game on this, I'd skip the dedicated video card all together since the i3 has an integrated HD 2000 which is more than enough for 1080p streams.

If you do need a video card for gaming, I'd definately pick up a much beefier dedicated card, at least a 57xx or 68xx which can be found on sale as of late for $130-$150. If you can wait the full month though, since this is primarily a HTPC/NAS so you may not ever need a dedicated video card, wait for lower end ATI 7 series or for nVidia's next generation due out soon too. Again, my thoughts are though that you probably don't need a video card anyways, and a crossfired 5600 is considerably weaker than a single ~6800 I believe.
 
Coltblues said:
CPU Cooler $35
 Is Scythe a good brand?
Click to expand...
It is.
Coltblues said:
This card always seems to be the one that pops up in all my searches for crossfirex support $105
Click to expand...
Why are you looking for a CrossfireX capable card in the first place? You're not gaming. As such, you don't even need that card. Not to mention that card is ridculously overpriced considering that the significantly faster HD 6770 card costs only $10 more. But you're not gaming so neither card are needed. The onboard video will be fine
Coltblues said:
Going to wait on the hdds and decided to go with the 2250 tuner card.
Click to expand...
You should check out whether or not that card will work with FIOS HD Cable.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Sorry for the necro but I figured this would be the best place to ask since the history is here. I want to upgrade the CPU in my HTPC/Sever and take the old CPU and put it in my soon to be NAS. I use a lot of virtual machines on the HTPC/server so I'd like to have more processing power. My question is, will I be affected graphics wise? I use the on-board video and I'm wondering if I'll need to get a video card for it. I'd prefer not to add extra hardware that will consume power.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top