[Misk]

Decided to kick cable to the curb and the Roku just isn't cutting it for me. After doing some research it looks like XBMC is the place to be. I have an initial budget of around $500 and I would like it to be able to do the following with this build:

1. Stream Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Instant video, Youtube and whatever else I can find out there to stream in 1080P
2. Run SABnzbd, Sickbear, CouchPotato and the like
3. Play 1080P movie and TV show files in various formats
4. General browsing

I wanted to get some feedback on the parts I have picked out so far:

Case - Silverstone ML03B
PSU - Silverstone SST-ST40F-ES 400W
CPU - AMD A6-5400K
Mobo - Not decided yet
Ram - 8GB of DDR3 1600 that plays nice with whatever mobo I decide on
SSD - 64 or 128GB Hopefully crucial M4 if I can get a good enough deal through work
OS - Windows 7 Home 64-bit

I am of coarse looking for any and all suggestions on this build but the main thing I wanted to know is if the AMD A6 would be able to handle the 1080P as well as running SABnzbd and the like.

Thanks in advance for any and all input.

[thereddog]

How's this?
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vYyC

[Misk]

Looks like a good build will this run both XBMC and SAB/sickbeard? I was also looking at this mobo MSI FM2-A75MA-E35 FM2 AMD A75 it about $20 less and has USB 3. Any reason for one over the other?

[RaggSokk3n]

pick any mobo with the correct socket and the i/o you need.
And please get 1800mhz + ram when you pick a amd apu or ill slap you :p

[Misk]

Lol.. Okay 1800mhz ram it is. I've been an Intel guy for quite a while now on my desktops. I didn't realize that it made such a difference on AMD.

[Dougie Fresh]

I use the Kingston HyperX DDR3-1866 in all my AMD Llano/Trinity builds and it works great.

The MSI will work fine.

[Misk]

I use the Kingston HyperX DDR3-1866 in all my AMD Llano/Trinity builds and it works great.

The MSI will work fine.

Thanks for the recommendation Dougie. Does the memory's latency matter much in this kind of build?

[RaggSokk3n]

No, just get the cheapest 1866 you can get

[Misk]

Thanks for the info. That will make buying ram a little easier on the wallet.

[outatouch0]

you can pick up windows 8 for really cheap right now - a lot less than windows 7. Have a look at the two win8 threads in the general discussion forum to see if it is right for your situation.
It looks as though HTPC is about the only good use of Win8 right now.

also, do you really need 8gig of ram - maybe the ram is shared with the gpu? price difference is minimal though these days.

[Misk]

you can pick up windows 8 for really cheap right now - a lot less than windows 7. Have a look at the two win8 threads in the general discussion forum to see if it is right for your situation.
It looks as though HTPC is about the only good use of Win8 right now.

also, do you really need 8gig of ram - maybe the ram is shared with the gpu? price difference is minimal though these days.

I'll have to look into windows 8. I never really thought about it after playing around with it at a store one day and not really liking it much.

As for the memory I had been thinking about 4gig, but as cheap as dram is right now it almost seems a shame not too.

[Lagrik]

Be careful with that case if using a DVD/Bluray drive. I am building a new HTPC right now and used that case. The PSU I had lying around wouldn't fit with my Bluray drive. It's too tight. I recommend taking a look at SFX PSU as they are smaller PSUs. That's what I did and should be getting the PSU on Tuesday.. http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.ph...53&area=en

[Misk]

Looks like that power supply was made for that case.