[antisuck]

I'm a solid Group 6/7, looking for a snappy and reliable build to watch high-bitrate 1080p video and bitstream HD audio as well as some light gaming and surfing activities. OS = Windows 7. This will be a micro-atx box with a slim case. Sandy Bridge but not i3, the G-series pentiums seem to offer the best balance of speed and power efficiency unless you need hyperthreading. I decided to make USB3 and SATA3 a priority for future-proofing.

Link are all Amazon for convenience, but of course I may find better prices elsewhere when the time comes:

MSI LGA1155/Intel H67(B3)/DDR3/SA​TA3&USB3.0/A&Gb​E/MATX Motherboard H67MA-E35 (B3)
Intel Pentium G840 Dual Core 2.8 GHz Intel HD Graphics Retail 2.8 2 LGA 1155 Processor - BX80623G840
ASUS EAH6570/DI/1GD3​(LP) Radeon HD 6570 DDR3 1 GB Video Card
Kingston HyperX 4 GB Kit (2x2 GB Modules) 1333 MHz DDR3 Desktop Memory KHX1333C7D3K2/4​GX
Crucial 64 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT064M4SSD2
Samsung Blu-Ray Combo Internal 12XReadable and DVD-Writable Drive with Lightscribe SH-B123L/BSBP

Here's the case that has me drooling, we'll see...

MonCaso 312 Home Theatre PC Case with Aluminum Body and Extreme Component Flexibility (Silver)
with Antec EA-380D Power Supply EA-380D

So how am I doing for a fairly powerful HTPC?

Thanks for any comments.

[Mallet21]

Rock Solid !! You may want to do some checking to see if the stock intel cooler will have enough clearance in that case.

[eskro]

very powerful HTPC, even overKiLL for the 1080P part
but since u wanna game, again,
this changes everything depending on the games u wanna run,,,

Case is pricey tho, not saying its not good, but pricey,,,
those who wanna game often buy the SIlverStone SD04 or SD05....
since its bigger, air flow is better,,,

[antisuck]

Thanks for the comments guys.

Mallet, good thought about the cooler but I've seen similar builds at another forum and apparently the Intel cooler works fine.

eskro, somehow I knew you would point out it's overkill. But I don't mind spending a little more money to ensure a generally fast and responsive Windows system. And I know that case is spendy, that's why I'm still wavering. And point taken about the benefits of a larger case, but my goal is to make this build look like a very nice piece of audio equipment to the greatest extent I can manage. Gaming is low priority, and would be older less demanding titles.

[Kirky99]

Yeah, that's spendy... If gaming on it isn't a priority then your money is better kept in your pocket. Building a HTPC is a different process than building a desktop PC. Typically, you build just enough to do what you want, and use low power components.

A case to me is a personal choice. Get what you like and can afford. I like making it look like a component.

[eskro]

my goal is to make this build look like a very nice piece of audio equipment to the greatest extent I can manage.

check out nMediaPC cases,,,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as..._-11204037