[Estate]

Hi,

Just to give some background. I used to build some PC's a few years ago but have lost track of the specs of components in the last couple of years. This is my first HTPC build for my home.
I have read all the "start guides" here and as some of the components listed are no longer available I went with nearest equivelent.
I feel this is a lot more expensive than I see other people building for... I'd love some feedback on my specs or if I am going overboard and could lower the price.

My requirements:
Play Bluray & DVD discs.
Capable of playing 1080 rips of movies and TV shows.
Stream some TV online (Hulu, Netflix, etc...)
Added a large HDD to store lots of video.
I wanted to add a TV tuner but it's another $100 on top so I've cut it out for now.
The case is "slim" as a chunky case is hard for me to fit into my unit.
I will be running XMBC on Windows 7.

Here's what I've got from Newegg.com, For my requirements... could I build this cheaper?:


SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum skin reinforced plastic front panel, 0.8mm SECC body MILO Series ML03B Micro ATX Media Center ...
$69.99 -$10.00 Instant $59.99

GIGABYTE GA-H77N-WIFI LGA 1155 Intel H77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard
$109.99 -$5.00 Instant $104.99

SILVERSTONE ST50F-ES 500W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
$63.99 -$9.00 Instant $54.99

Intel Core i3-3220 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 55W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637i33220
$124.99 $124.99

SanDisk ReadyCache SDSSDRC-032G-G26 2.5" 32GB SATA III for Windows 7 and Windows 8 -based PCs
$49.99 -$3.00 Instant $46.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBXL
$44.99 $44.99

Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive
$99.99 -$10.00 Instant $89.99

LG Black Blu-ray Drive SATA Model UH12NS30
$49.99 $49.99

Cooler Master Hyper TX3 - CPU Cooler with 3 Direct Contact Heatpipes
$26.99 -$5.00 Instant $21.99

MASSCOOL FD08025S1M4 80mm Case Cooling Fan
$5.99 -$3.13Save $5.72

Many thanks for any suggestions.

[hernandito]

Dude,
You could get a Zotac ID80, and buy RAM and a small HDD. Less that $300. The install OpenElec (an XBMC OS)... Have your media be stored on a shared drive on your network and you will be golden... You can put one of these machines on every TV in your home.

This is what I have and its nice... I do not do netflix or hulu though... not sure if Openelec can run those.

[Estate]

The only issue I'd have is I stream a lot of media so I wanted to go with Windows.
I just don't know if I could go with a slightly cheaper option on some components and it still be enough to support high quality media.

Anyone can shed some light? I really don't know what sort of specs I need. Just going on the guides stickied here but this seems more expensive than those posts suggest.

[p750mmx]

Dude,
You could get a Zotac ID80, and buy RAM and a small HDD. Less that $300. The install OpenElec (an XBMC OS)... Have your media be stored on a shared drive on your network and you will be golden... You can put one of these machines on every TV in your home.

This is what I have and its nice... I do not do netflix or hulu though... not sure if Openelec can run those.

With all respect, but the ID80 isn't the advise you should give to buy at this time. For sure, when it was dumped early this year for around €130,-, is was a best buy, but not anymore. The nVidia 520 is a nice GPU but the D2700 is to slow compared with the newer models from different brands and one is better of with the newer Celeron types.

[.:B:.]

If you put your own system together, I wouldn't go with a 500W PSU either. A 300W PSU should do just fine for an i3, I would however consider getting an i3 with an integrated HD4000 for a little bit more 'oomph'.

[Estate]

So the i3 listed is now no longer enough I only went with the i3 because the advice in all the threads here suggests going with the Intel at least guarantees I already have enough "oomph" whereas I don't know with another equivelent brand.

I'm totally lost now.

[p750mmx]

if you want a third generation i3 you could choose the: http://ark.intel.com/products/65692/ , if you wanna go for the forth generation (Haswell), you can choose one of http://ark.intel.com/products/family/75025. i3 is just fine. That TX3 you choose is maybe not the best cooler out there noise wise and I don't think it will go with the case you have chosen (to high?), but there are more items in the list that give me a question-mark.

[thedeadman]

+1 for the I3 3225. Your cooler will thank you for the lower thermals.

[wsume99]

In order to properly determine which CPU is "enough" you need to answer the following questions -

1. Do you want to be able to play 3D content?
   
2. Do you want to stream video to mobile devices? (i.e. smartphone and/or tablet) If yes, than how many will you be streaming to at the same time?
   

Depending on how you answer you could use a Haswell Pentium, i3, or i5.

One way to cut cost would be to use a mATX motherboard. There is no reason to use a mITX motherboard in your case. You're just paying more for the smaller MB and then sticking it in a larger case.
Here's an option to save ~$20 on your MB: ASRock H87M Pro4

If you plan to run windows I would step up to a 64GB SSD. It will likely only cost ~$20 more but would give you 2X the capacity.

I would go with this PSU - SeaSonic SS-400ET Bronze 400W

[Estate]

Ok, thanks guys. Now we're getting somewhere.

To answer your questions.

- No, I have no need for 3D.
- No plans to stream to mobile devices. My plan is just to plug into my TV with HDMI cable. Its not a whole house thing, just playing in living room to a TV.
- On the motherboard... I genuinely don't know... I've gone with the stickied "beginners"guide on here as to the specs I need, however it's a year old so most parts are not available, I've gon with what seemed to be the newer alternative on the parts recommended. I've taken note of motherboard size, the guides let me to believe I needed the type I have chosen.

[trent33]

Your specs are way overkill for simple 2D and maybe some file sharing. You're wasting a lot of money.

- I like the ML03 (or the newer ML04) case
- Get a Celeron 1037U mobo that has a PCI/PCIe slot you can use for your TV tuner ($80)
- Corsair CX430 PSU ($20 AR)
- Why a 7200rpm drive? WD 2TB Red or Green
- No need for an after market CPU cooler

[hick]

Remote
Keyboard
CPU/Mobo
[http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...171645]SSD[/url]
Ram
Blu-ray
Case+PSU

This is what I would build tomorrow if I was in your shoes and going for a budget yet perfectly acceptable HTPC. Add OS and a 4tb drive, not 2tb!

[wsume99]

If you use openelec then a Celeron 1037U is a fine choice however if you are planning on using windows I would opt for a little more grunt on the CPU side. I'd go with a Haswell Pentium G3220.

[Estate]

Lol, you can see where I am getting lost with some conflicting opinions
Yes, I felt what I had was overkill since I've read of people building a little cheaper than this but as I said, I'mlost when it comes to the specs.

Maybe I should just start over. I'm going to stick with this case as it's profile it exactly what I need.

---

Remote
Keyboard
CPU/Mobo
[http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...171645]SSD[/url]
Ram
Blu-ray
Case+PSU

This is what I would build tomorrow if I was in your shoes and going for a budget yet perfectly acceptable HTPC. Add OS and a 4tb drive, not 2tb!

Hick, I like it, much better on price and thank you for the listing.
If I were to go right for this build, I should be all set for playing bluray and 1080p?
Also, the case looks like it only fits 1 hdd... will I need to use an external drive if I also have an ssd?