New PC/HTPC build

[Cr@zZy]

Hello Everyone,

I am looking to build a new PC that I will use in my living room as a media center PC running WMC most of the time. I would like a little more horsepower for surfing the web and the possibility of in the future it being used for something more. Lower power use is important to me because it could be on a lot.

Here is what I have come up with so far. I am on the fence as to whether or not I want to jump up to the more power hungry i5. Shown below is the low wattage i3. Please let me know what you think. Is the H97 appropriate for my needs? Would a H81 be sufficient?

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
HTPC, web browsing, office
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
~$600-700+ not including shipping/tax
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
U.S., St. Paul, MN
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, Motherboard (integrate graphics), RAM, PSU, SSD, HHD, case,
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
none
6) Will you be overclocking?
no
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
1920x1200... would like to be able to do 4K TV output with an upgraded graphics card in the future
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP... like tonight
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 out, USB 3.0, onboard vid
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
I already have a copy of windows 8.1 x64


Silverstone Tek Micro-ATX Mini-DTX, Mini-ITX Mid Tower Computer Case with Aluminum Front Panel and Steel Body TJ08B-E - Black
$99.99

ASRock ATX DDR3 1333 LGA 1150 Motherboards H97M PRO4
$78.99

Intel I3-4130T 2.90 3 LGA 1150 Processor BX80646I34130T
$127.99

Samsung Electronics 840 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Single Unit Version Internal Solid State Drive MZ-7TE120BW
$79.81

WD Green 2 TB Desktop Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, SATA III, 64 MB Cache - WD20EZRX
$82.99

Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB Kit (4GBx2) DDR3 1600 MT/s (PC3-12800) CL9 @1.5V UDIMM 240-Pin Memory BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00
$74.22

Corsair Builder Series CX 600 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS (CX600)
$62.00

Thank you!

 

[Dangman]

For the usage you've described, A COre i3 is more than enough. However, I would not bother with the COre i3 4130T at all since it doesn't actually save you any power: Its idle power is exactly the same as the Core i3 4130. Its load power usage however is lower than the Core i3 4130 but that's due to the lower clock speed. As such, that 4130T may end up using more or equivalent power as it needs more time to do a certain task. So stick with the Core i3 4130.

Go with this significantly higher quality XFX PSU instead:
$67 - XFX TS Series XFX TS 550W PSU

 

[Cr@zZy]

For the usage you've described, A COre i3 is more than enough. However, I would not bother with the COre i3 4130T at all since it doesn't actually save you any power: Its idle power is exactly the same as the Core i3 4130. Its load power usage however is lower than the Core i3 4130 but that's due to the lower clock speed. As such, that 4130T may end up using more or equivalent power as it needs more time to do a certain task. So stick with the Core i3 4130.

Go with this significantly higher quality XFX PSU instead:
$67 - XFX TS Series XFX TS 550W PSU

Thank you for the advice. I think I might bump up to the i3-4360 for $20 more to get a higher clock and improved onboard video.