HTPC/office/light gaming build
#1
Approximate Purchase Date: this month (sooner is better unless there's good reason to wait).

Budget Range: 400 Before Shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Email/play music, Streaming to TV/xbox, light gaming (Civ5 etc).

The system will be in the living room so noise reduction was a primary factor behind the selections below. I also tend to buy a system and hold onto it for 4+ years which is why I've opted for more oomph than I likely need. That said, I'm frugal so if I can get better value for the money/should dial things back, show me how! Some comments on the OS route would be helpful as well.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A10-5700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($128.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($67.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Arc Mini MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 300W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($43.98 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: will re-use some old SATA drives from my last desktop and laptop. Will look at an SSD/SATA combo in late 2013.
OS: I was thinking of making the move to Linux and forgoing a paid OS this time around.
Total: $335.94
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-09-05 14:54 EDT-0400)
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#2
This looks like a solid low-power build. If you don't need Windows compatibility, and are comfortable managing a Linux install, why not?

I'm interested to see how this works out, because I'm about to do a build with the same case and PSU. I had originally planned on a full ATX motherboard and a mid-tower ATX that puts the PSU in the bottom, but lots of users who did this are reporting that the PSU cables aren't long enough to reach the 24-pin header on the motherboard.
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#3
I grabbed that case last night when I saw it on sale. If it's like any of the other Fractal Design cases it's going to be great.

I've used that PSU in many, many builds and it's my go-to ATX PSU. Great choice IMHO.

I would think about an aftermarket cooler like the Coolermaster Gemini II M4 if this is going to be in your living room. The AMD cooler hasn't changed at all and the one I had on my A8-3820 was too noisy for my living room. I used a Scythe Big Shuriken I already had with a Gelid fan but the M4 is a good substitute.
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#4
Coolingwise I would look at THIS instead, no need for lowprofile heatsinks in that case. Roughly the same price and obviously a better heatsink Smile
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#5
Looks like a sweet build and pretty close to my A10 build.
I can tell you this,...it does XBMC, Office,...and gaming of all kinds flawlessly.

You won't be disappointed.
The only thing I'd recommend is to stick with Windows 7 if you're in any way not comfortable with Linux commands.
I like Linux,..it's just you don't need to hassle of trying to learn new commands everytime you run into a problem.
I would not recommend Windows 8 at this time.
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#6
Amd gpus + linux isn't a good mix at this time. Plus no native civ5 in Linux, best to stick with windows if hats the hardware you're going to use + you want to game.
Windows 8 is decent (and cheaper), but I personally stuck with win7 for compatibility + more info out there about modding.
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