New HTPC + Blu-Ray Build

W

wavewerx

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 8, 2008
Messages
284
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
HTPC, not a media server. Maybe some light flight sims.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
I imagine I can get this done for less than $500 USD
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
SC, USA
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, PSU, mobo, CPU, RAM, optical drive, hard drive, WiFi card (maybe?)
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
No
6) Will you be overclocking?
No
7) 7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
TV - 720p or 1080p
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within two weeks.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
Onboard HD, blu-ray playback would be great. HDMI audio/video, optical audio (just for options.)
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
No. Windows 7 Home 64-bit?


Building an HTPC for another friend. The more people that come over and check out my HTPC, the more customers I take away from the local cable outfits. This will be a standalone HTPC connected to the internet, no media server.
 
Since I already responded in the HTPC forum and you moved over here, I figure I'll move my reply over as well :)

Silverstone GD05B ~$80
Silverstone Strider 500W PSU ~$60
Asrock H67 Mobo, should upgrade to a Z68 chipset if you want USB 3.0 ~$85, ~$100+ for Z68
Core i3 2100 processor ~$125

Thats about $345, add a blu ray drive, hard drive and memory and you'll be right around 500.

And I ask again, which flight sim do you plan on playing?
 
haha - I looked at my history of HTPC build threads and found that I put them in this forum rather than the HTPC forum.

The guy I'm building it for has some era of MS Flight Sim. I think it's 2002... I'm sure he'll upgrade with a better machine though. I don't think it's a major focus of the box.
 
Ah ok, from my experience with FS2002, I ran that on a P3 machine, lol. Also later on a AMD3200 socket 754 witha 9800 pro. But if he wants to upgrade to a newer FS he may want to invest in a discreet gfx sollution, but if it isn't a focus I wouldn't worry about it now. The silverstone case handles graphics cards up to 13 inches, in case you want to get a case that has the option, the 500W psu I recommended would also have the headroom to handle up to a AMD 6870 card.
 
How big of a hard drive do you want? Do note that current hard drive prices are pretty high at the moment with 500GB and 1TB drives being around $100 and $150 respectively.
 
I don't see him needing more than 500gb. His music collection is on external drives and even that I don't think amounts to more than 500gb.
 
Here's what I'd recommend then:
$233 - Intel Core i3-2100 CPU + Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 Intel Z68 mATX Motherboard
$20 - G.Skill F3-10666CL9S-2GBNT 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$106 - Hitachi HDS721050CLA362 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$18 - Samsung SH-222AL/BSBE SATA DVD Burner
$45 - Antec NEO ECO 400C 400W PSU
$74 - Silverstone GD04B mATX HTPC Case
----
Total: $496 plus tax and shipping.

As for blu-ray playback, I'd actually recommend getting a seperate player for that or increasing the budget by $150 as the software that comes with standalone blu-ray drives tend to be of relatively low picture quality as well as support and functionality. A lot of the HTPC guys are using $70 software to make up for that.
 
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VLC will play BD for free, but if you want MCE integration, the popular choice is Arcsoft Total Media Theater or PowerDVD.
 
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