Want to build a smaller, quieter, cooler HTPC

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Vicinity

2[H]4U
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Jan 30, 2009
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Right now I'm using an old gaming PC for an HTPC, the case sucks, it doesn't cool well, all the fans are old and the hardware is older/overkill for what I'm using it for.

I sold my Xbox 360 so I have a budget of $160 for the mobo/cpu

I already have a Corsair CX430. and 4gb of PNY DDR3 1333, and several TB's of storage.

Motherboard I've been looking at: (need 2 USB3 for 2 3TB external drives) and HDMI for audio/video to TV)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2#scrollFullInfo

Case I was looking at:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119261

I'm really looking for direction CPU-wise, I need something with integrated graphics, and there really isn't anything under $100.
 
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Vicinity said:
I'm really looking for direction CPU-wise, I need something with integrated graphics, and there really isn't anything under $100.
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What are you talking about? There's the Intel Pentiums that are mostly under $100 that'll play back HD content just fine. Even the $65 Pentium G630 will do the job.
 
Danny Bui said:
What are you talking about? There's the Intel Pentiums that are mostly under $100 that'll play back HD content just fine. Even the $65 Pentium G630 will do the job.
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I thought only the i series has integrated video...

Those Pentiums won't struggle with 1080p?
 
Pentium G620 in one of my HTPCs; 1080p BR plays fine. Don't know about 3D though as I don't use it/have the setup for it.
 
Awesome. I had no idea Pentium's were actually any good. :p I'll order the 800 series.

I'm not worried much about 3D, file sizes get too ridiculous and I don't really care for it.

Danny comes through yet again for another of my builds. :)
 
I'm running a Celeron G530 with absolutely no complaints. Same architecture, but cheaper, and with lower power consumption. Bluray; 1080p FLV; everything works flawlessly. Remember: Celeron is not a dirty word.

Instead, I'd spend the money on bumping up to 8GB of RAM. It's cheap, and it'll avert the problems of the bloated, RAM-sucking combination that is HD Flash video and every current browser. At the very least, make sure you install a 64-bit version of your OS of choice so you can upgrade the memory at will. Otherwise, you'll end up where I am now -- in a world of hurt because you don't have the time to migrate everything under the sun to a 64-bit install.
 
if your system is using more than 4G of ram to use a browser or watch flash, you have problems somewhere else.
 
MrGuvernment said:
if your system is using more than 4G of ram to use a browser or watch flash, you have problems somewhere else.
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Not really. An H67 board will suck up as much as 1.25gb of address space for I/O and integrated graphics on a 32-bit install. Tack on the base OS and you're already down to around 2gb of user-accessible memory. And when 1080p Youtube videos in a clean Chrome user profile consume 150-200mb per tab, all it takes is a little multitasking and a handful of new tabs for Windows to start dumping its file cache and chucking things into Virtual Memory.
 
Second the Celeron G530 here. Dirt cheap, and 2 Cores of ~2.5ghz of Sandy Bridge is enough for ANY video content, even Netflix's HD Silverlight.
 
XenIneX said:
Not really. An H67 board will suck up as much as 1.25gb of address space for I/O and integrated graphics on a 32-bit install. Tack on the base OS and you're already down to around 2gb of user-accessible memory. And when 1080p Youtube videos in a clean Chrome user profile consume 150-200mb per tab, all it takes is a little multitasking and a handful of new tabs for Windows to start dumping its file cache and chucking things into Virtual Memory.
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Why would you be multi-tasking on an HTPC? For a regular desktop, yeah you have a point but for a system designed around just media playback you won't need more then 4 gigs (even then, 4 gigs is still pretty "overkill").

Anyways, yeah. Pick a cheap Intel CPU and pair it with a decent board.
 
CrimandEvil said:
Why would you be multi-tasking on an HTPC? For a regular desktop, yeah you have a point but for a system designed around just media playback you won't need more then 4 gigs (even then, 4 gigs is still pretty "overkill").
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Because I can? Because I've yet to see a 10-foot interface for Youtube that doesn't blow, and if I'm forced to use a real web browser, then I'm going to use it like a real web browser? Because it's still a general purpose computer, and why should I limit my usage based on your preconceptions?

And at the end of the day, we're talking about a $15 upgrade. $15 which Windows will load up with file cache, meaning every media app you are likely to run will already be floating in RAM after boot. $15 that will keep Windows from hitting the pagefile -- which, for those with SSDs, will vastly reduce drive wear. Given the option, this is not a hard decision.
 
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