Thoughts on this HTPC build?

[matteos]

Will be for HTPC, mostly music, movies and perhaps some light gaming. I already have an OS

Radeon 4670 - Already own
M-Audio 24 bit sound card - Own

4GB Crucial Ballistix 1600MHZ - Already own

OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W
Link
$54.99

Crucial 64 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT064M4SSD2 - Crucial Technology
Link
$83.99

Intel G530 CPU 2.40 GHZ 2M CACHE 2.4 2 LGA 1155 Processor
link
$47.18


Gigabyte Intel B75 LGA1155 AMD CrossFireX DVI/D-Sub Dual UEFI BIOS mATX Motherboard GA-B75M-D3V - Gigabyte
Link
$69.99

nMedia 6000s HTPC case
http://www.directron.com/htpc6000s.html?gsear=1
$100 or so shipped

Subtotal: $356.15

I think I'm going to go NAS for keeping Music and movies on, I know the PSU is overkill but I got it mostly as it was a good price and it is modular which will make cooling a little easier. TIA for your input

 

[Bman123]

I would swap for a cheaper h61 board and try for a better CPU. I had a g530 with a gtx260 at 1366x768 and got a I3 2100 and saw a huge increase in my frame rate.,

 

[Dangman]

4GB Crucial Ballistix 1600MHZ - Already own

What voltage is that RAM rated at?

OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W
Link
$54.99

IMO, the modular cables don't make up for the fact that PSU isn't too great quality wise. Other budget but non-modular PSUs in the same price range like the Corsair CX430, Antec Neo Eco 400C, Antec Earthwatts EA380 380W, and Antec Earthwatts EA430 430W are all of significantly higher quality. That OCZ will do the job but it's not the best for the job. Any of the other PSUs I just mentioned will be a better choice.

Crucial 64 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT064M4SSD2 - Crucial Technology
Link
$83.99

From a price per gb and price to performance ratio, that SSD isn't a good choice considering that you can get double the size and slightly higher performance for $40 more:
http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-2-5-I...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1335929065&sr=1-1

Well worth it IMO. Yes you would be fine with a 64GB SSD but that particularly 64GB SSD is poorly priced.

nMedia 6000s HTPC case
http://www.directron.com/htpc6000s.html?gsear=1
$100 or so shipped

Why this case? Why not this better cooling, quieter, and better quality case instead?:
$88 - Silverstone GD05B mATX HTPC Case

 

[matteos]

What voltage is that RAM rated at?

The RAM is rated at 1.65v

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148305

Would this work? I am unsure about it but I have it already so I wouldn't be buying it

IMO, the modular cables don't make up for the fact that PSU isn't too great quality wise. Other budget but non-modular PSUs in the same price range like the Corsair CX430, Antec Neo Eco 400C, Antec Earthwatts EA380 380W, and Antec Earthwatts EA430 430W are all of significantly higher quality. That OCZ will do the job but it's not the best for the job. Any of the other PSUs I just mentioned will be a better choice.

Do you know a good modular PSU for less than $60, doesn't need to be more than 450W, I kind of want modular as the case I want (Which I want because it matches the Harman Kardon receivers has sub par airflow

From a price per gb and price to performance ratio, that SSD isn't a good choice considering that you can get double the size and slightly higher performance for $40 more:
http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-2-5-I...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1335929065&sr=1-1

Well worth it IMO. Yes you would be fine with a 64GB SSD but that particularly 64GB SSD is poorly priced.

Ok, will stretch the budget for the larger one. Thanks

 

[matteos]

I would swap for a cheaper h61 board and try for a better CPU. I had a g530 with a gtx260 at 1366x768 and got a I3 2100 and saw a huge increase in my frame rate.,

I won't be doing much gaming as I already have a dedicated rig, I want this board as it has the faster Sata and USB ports that I can't find on H61 without matching price. and boot time is a bigger deal to me, plus I can upgrade the CPU down the line with Ivy bridge if I want to

 

[Kelvarr]

The RAM is rated at 1.65v

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148305

Would this work? I am unsure about it but I have it already so I wouldn't be buying it

1155 official spec is 1.5V

You could probably get away with it, but with RAM as cheap as it is, why not get properly specced ram?

 

[Dangman]

The RAM is rated at 1.65v

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148305

Would this work? I am unsure about it but I have it already so I wouldn't be buying it

Not really. Intel recommends RAM rated at 1.5V for their SB based CPUs. Any higher and you risk damage to the CPU. You're better off getting a new set of RAM:
$20 - G.Skill F3-10666CL9S-2GBNT 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$38 - G.Skill Value Series F3-10600CL9D-8GBNT 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM

You'll be fine with 4GB but the 8GB is a slightly better deal.

Do you know a good modular PSU for less than $60, doesn't need to be more than 450W, I kind of want modular as the case I want (Which I want because it matches the Harman Kardon receivers has sub par airflow

The cheapest modular PSU that I can recommend to people I don't want to screw over would be this Antec HCG-400 400W PSU for $63 shipped:
http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Current...ITWG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1335982791&sr=8-3

 

[matteos]

Thanks guys, I didn't realise Intel only did RAM at 1.5v as all my builds have been AMD before. Thanks for the recommendation on the PSU... This is why I posted here before buying.

 

[DJ Big T]

Yuck, Celeron. You would be better off with an i3. I saw someone selling an i3 on the forums here, you should get that instead.

 

[matteos]

Yuck, Celeron. You would be better off with an i3. I saw someone selling an i3 on the forums here, you should get that instead.

Those celerons are sandy bridge based dual cores, basically the same as an i3 with slightly less cache and no hyperthreading. For what I need it for I'm sure it's fine.

 

[BRAB]

If you haven't purchased your SSD yet I say here's an absolutely better SSD for $100. Be sure to purchase it soon if you decide to. They only have a very limited number in stock available.

 

[matteos]

If you haven't purchased your SSD yet I say here's an absolutely better SSD for $100. Be sure to purchase it soon if you decide to. They only have a very limited number in stock available.

I know, it came on offer a few days after I bought it. I cried.

 

[matteos]

Thanks for all the help, this build went really smoothly (except the case had tear off PCI slot covers, ugh). XBMC is also really good, I'm surprised by how powerful and easy it is to use. CPU is enough for my needs, it's a 6.3 in WEI (everything else is higher). Boot time is significantly slower than my main rig but other than that performance is great.