[rockbox948]

Hey Everyone,

I've been working toward building a decent network and home theater PC for awhile now. I've finally implemented my Unraid server with 3x 2 TB drive and connected it do my network via my pfSense router/firewall. Now I'm ready to jump into building the actual streaming device to get my content to my TV. Here's what I'm looking to do:

• Stream HD movies and Blu-Ray rips from the Unraid server
  
• Play movies from Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu
  
• Stream music from Pandora, GrooveShark, and my own collection of Mp3s
  
• Play Nintendo games up to the N64 generation and Sega Genesis games
  
• Support Steam Big Picture and games that are not hardware hogs (those will be played on my normal desktop)
  
• Heavy focus on video and audio quality
  
• Ouput HD audio and at least 5.1 surround sound movie rips
  
• Controlled via Android tablet or phone
  

With those features in mind, here is the build I'm considering. I'm really torn on whether to go small and limit expandability or go big and add in the extra costs to enjoy better performance. Also, I'm debating about whether to go with a separate sound card or not. As far as music and movies go, I lean toward the audiophile end of the spectrum and I'm not sure if on board sound is going to be sufficient for me. I currently have a Asus Xonar in my primary PC. I'm also forgoing the graphics card in hopes that the processor will be sufficient for the games I want to play.

• CPU - Intel Core i3 3225 3.3 GHz
  
• Motherboard - ASRock Z77 Pro4 or could recommend another board if you think a Mini-ITX will be sufficient for what I want to do?
  
• RAM - Crucial Ballistix Tactical 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
  
• Power Supply - CORSAIR CX430M 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE
  
• OS Drive - Any suggestions? Since I will be pulling the movies, music, and ROMs from the server, I only need an SSD sufficient for running Win 7 and XBMC.
  
• Case Drive - Fractal Node 605 for the big build or Fractal Node 304 White for a Mini-ITX build
  

I'm really interested to see what all of you think as far as whether smaller will be sufficient for if I need to go big for later expansion.

Thanks!

[Mark Norville]

Personally I have a full tower unit with 6 1.5 tb hard drives in them. I am slowly running out of space. I had to use 1 1.5 tb for operating system, plus mp3's, plus karaoke, plus emulation. I have 3 x 1.5tb for movies and 2 x 1.5b for TV shows. TV Shows can very quickly fill up hard drives. Movies can as well but depends on what size you are downloading. I usually only download around 700 meg to 1 gig depending upon the movie.

Always make sure that your system is future proof. Sit down and really think about the following :

1) How much have I got to spend?
2) What do I want to do today with a system?
3) What do I want to do in the future?

If you could hide a tower system, then personally I would say use a tower system than a mini. It all depends on if you can hide a tower or not, would a tower look good if it is out in the open, can you hide it away in a cupboard. Room design is an important key issue.

And remember that at the end of the day, it is your decision and money spend wisely.

Regards

Mark

[rockbox948]

Hey Mark, thanks for the reply. You make a good point. It would be better to try to prep for future proofing now than having to overhaul everything in the future. As far as the processor goes, do you think it is sufficient without getting a graphics card?

[Dougie Fresh]

If you want to build Intel, you want to do some gaming and i3 is your budget, I would suggest waiting a couple of week for the Haswell i3s to be released on Sept. 1. The HD4600 GPU in the Haswell i3s is about 50% faster than the HD4000. Do a little Googling on HD4600 vs HD4000 and see what you think.

[Digital Vortex]

I've got an OCZ Vertex 4 120 gb for my Win7 OS Drive. It's XBMC ready in around 20 seconds.

I strongly recommend getting a fanless PSU - I have a Seasonic 460w
Maybe consider going for an aftermarket CPU fan too..

I've got a XFX 7850 (with 2 fans on it) and the system is dead quiet!

[Mark Norville]

As far as the processor goes, do you think it is sufficient without getting a graphics card?

I have an i3 530 running at 2.3 ghz or something like that. An Asus mobo with on board graphics. I have no problem with video or games. I do not try PC games only emulation. As I use a tower case then in the future then I can add a graphics card if need be, but to be honest you would be better off not worrying about a graphics card as if you buy a mainstream board and a recent one, then they can handle a lot more than years ago.

This would also make your build cheaper so maybe you could use that money to get better components. So if your original budget was £500, minus graphics card £420 for example, you now have an extra £80 to spend.

I still have an AMD Athelon 2800 which I can still use for downloading, surfing the net, emailing, mp3 tagging, movie tagging etc etc. So PCs never really get outdated, they just need to be reused for something else.

[rockbox948]

Doug & Vortex - Thanks for the replies.

If you want to build Intel, you want to do some gaming and i3 is your budget, I would suggest waiting a couple of week for the Haswell i3s to be released on Sept. 1. The HD4600 GPU in the Haswell i3s is about 50% faster than the HD4000. Do a little Googling on HD4600 vs HD4000 and see what you think.

I guess I'll hold off on buying the processor until the Haswells come out. I was initially thinking AMD A8-5600K but I heard that the run hot.

What do you think about the motherboard?

I've got an OCZ Vertex 4 120 gb for my Win7 OS Drive. It's XBMC ready in around 20 seconds.

I strongly recommend getting a fanless PSU - I have a Seasonic 460w
Maybe consider going for an aftermarket CPU fan too..

I've got a XFX 7850 (with 2 fans on it) and the system is dead quiet!

I'll definitely get an aftermarket CPU fan, I just forgot to post it here. I'll probably go with an Arctic Freezer variant as they have worked well for me in the past.

Thanks for the recommendations. I checked out both the PSU but its a bit pricey. I looked on Newegg but couldn't find a fanless PSU that was much less than the one you recommended. I think if I stay around the $600 mark, my wife won't put up much of a fuss. So far she's been a good sport about "having a bunch of computers around the house".

I think I'll go with the SSD you recommended unless I can get by with a smaller drive running Win 7.

As far as the processor goes, do you think it is sufficient without getting a graphics card?

I have an i3 530 running at 2.3 ghz or something like that. An Asus mobo with on board graphics. I have no problem with video or games. I do not try PC games only emulation. As I use a tower case then in the future then I can add a graphics card if need be, but to be honest you would be better off not worrying about a graphics card as if you buy a mainstream board and a recent one, then they can handle a lot more than years ago.

This would also make your build cheaper so maybe you could use that money to get better components. So if your original budget was £500, minus graphics card £420 for example, you now have an extra £80 to spend.

I still have an AMD Athelon 2800 which I can still use for downloading, surfing the net, emailing, mp3 tagging, movie tagging etc etc. So PCs never really get outdated, they just need to be reused for something else.

True, I turned a nearly 10 year old AMD build into the pfSense router/firewall and my Q8300 into my unRaid server=) I'm not looking to play serious PC games on the HTPC so I'll try things out without the graphics card.

[rockbox948]

Alright, here is the revised build to get a nicer budget and to incorporate the Haswell i3.

CPU - Intel Core i3 Haswell 4330 - ~$155 (price from ShopBLT.com preorder list)
Motherboard - ASRock H87M Pro4 - $81
RAM - G.SKILL Ripjaws X 1600 - $61
Power Supply - CORSAIR CX430M 430W - $50
OS Drive - Kingston HyperX 3K 120 GB - $100
Case Drive - Fractal Node Define Mini - $80 (I don't love the way it looks but I can't justify the price for the 605)
CPU Cooler - XIGMATEK Gaia - $25

Total - $552

Much better design and price in my opinion. I still need to get another Win 7 license and I'm hoping that the student price is still available for it.

[Digital Vortex]

Get another SSD..

Poor score of 59!

[rockbox948]

Thanks for pointing that out. How about the Samsung 840 Evo 120GB? Anandtech gave it a pretty good review and it's $31 off at NewEgg.