[jberthoty]

Thank you in advance for any advice you folks can offer. I’m getting started in building a HTPC, meaning I have spent endless hours fretting over bewildering details on this thing. I’ve built my main PC, water cooled i5 rig for photoediting, etc., so I’m comfortable with the idea of doing a build.

Here is what I know (and don’t know) so far, in a reckless rambling bullet list:


[*] I will not be doing any gaming. I just don’t. But if YOU do, please don’t abandon me. I respect your expertise. I will be using XBMC, web surfing, and most other day to day apps.

[*] I think I want to go with an i5-4570S and a micro-ATX board. Which board and why?

[*] I don’t plan on installing a GPU card due to no gaming, no 3D TV, etc. But I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to be ready in case I change my mind down the road. I figure if that happens
in a few years, I can sell this rig and build another. Maybe.

[*] I like the looks, the form factor, the large capacity, the overall quality, and the 120mm fans of the SilverStone GD07 or GD08 cases. I think the large capacity,
probably underused in my case, will offer cool running with little noise. Clean fronts are nice. No LCD, no volume knob. Whatever case I get, if it comes with fans, are they quiet enough? I know it depends on the fans supplied,
but that is the point… which case has which fans?

[*] I like the clean front panel of the GD07, but will it suck having to leave the door down if a USB drive is plugged in? And most thumb drives are still USB2, so wouldn’t it be nice to have one of EACH on the front panel? And why would
anyone need TWO optical drives? I don’t plan to burn BD, but MAYBE play BD. I think that is possible, but not sure if it’s easy with XBMC, which is what I plan on using. My main need for an optical drive is for loading software.

[*] The GD08 is nice too, but now those TWO optical drives are right out front! Then again, the USB ports are available without leaving a door hanging down to get to them. Hmmm.

[*] I love the idea of external, snap on fan filters. This should be on all cases.

[*] I will of course use a SSD for OS and apps. I think 128gb seems about the right size/price point. But which brand/series? Samsung?

[*] I don’t want 80mm fans since I believe they will be noisy, so a few spots for 120’s would be nice.

[*] I would like to put two 2 gb drives in there in a RAID config so I don’t need to constantly back up my media. Our (yours and my) motherboard choice then will have to handle that please. Will WD green drives be ok?
I think they will be quieter and cooler?

[*] Should I go with a modular PSU or not? I think the modular will allow less cabling but the non-modular might take less room due to no connectors, just a wire bundle coming out. Of course that wire bundle can’t be
reduced in size if I don’t need all the connectors. 300W sound right?

[*] I really want to stick to Win 7-64. If not, why not?

[*] I don’t think I need to use IR remotes… I’m used to using a keyboard on my Logitech Revue Google TV box (which I hate with a passion). I would like to throw it against a brick wall, very soon. Or burn it with fire.
But a blue tooth or RF keyboard would be great.

[*] I can’t get a wire from my router to this box so will have to go wireless. I use a wireless extender which will connect with a short Ethernet cable to this HTPC. I do that now with the Google box and can stream movies
most of the time using Plex without a hiccup. How should I implement wireless and Bluetooth on this rig?

[*] Netflix streaming? Spotify? Pandora?

[*] And finally, I’d like to keep this thing at or under $800 if possible.

Be gentle. If you are shaking your head, thinking “What a numb-nuts”, in this case, so far, you are correct. But I’ll get it. I just put down my thoughts as they came to me as a starting point. ANY help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[nickr]

Personally I think your approach is wrong. I much prefer a server for data and a small low power machine for under/behind the TV.

And run that wire. Just do.

Also raid is NOT backup.

[LazerBlue]

I will answer the questions I can:

[*] On the GD07 or GD08 cases, there are a couple questions you have to ask your self:
1: Where is this case going?
- This case is BIG. How much depth and height do you have where it will be going? The GD07 is just a little over 17" and the GD08 is just a hair under 17'. You also have to consider the room you need for cables that plug into the case. I was originally looking at the GD07 but ended up going with the GD06 instead because its only 13' deep. I haven't seen any Entertainment Centers that could accommodate the depth of the GD07 or GD08, but some may exist.

2: How many hard drives will you install?
- The description of the GD07 says up to 11 drive bays, but I think that is using all four 5 1/4" drive bays with 3.5" adapters because the description only states four 5 1/4" and two 3.5" drives. I currently have 3 drives in my case and still have room. The GD06 holds one 2.5" drive above the hot swap bays, one 3.5" or 2.5" drive above the power supply, one 3.5" or 2.5" drive under the ODD tray, and two 3.5" drives in the hot swap bays. Once a week I put a drive in the hot swap bays and back up my data and that drive goes in a fire proof safe, so if anything happens, the oldest my backup will be is only a week. since you don't plan two use a graphics card, there would be room in the GD06 or GD05 case for 2 more drives with creative placement. The fans that come with the Silverstone cases are pretty silent. I only hear mine when everything is off but the PC and I barely hear it. I think in my case though it is the CPU cooler as I'm using the stock cooler and running an AMD A10, but my couch is also only about 5 feet from the TV

- There is a little room behind the door of the GD06 case for my Bluetooth receiver and keyboard receiver with the door closed. I ended up moving them inside the case though eventually to free up the front port for gaming controllers. USB 3.0 ports are backward compatible with USB 2.0 so there is no need to have a USB 2.0 port in the front. In fact, if your motherboard does not have a USB 3.0 header, Silverstone includes an adapter to allow you to connect the USB 3.0 ports into a USB 2.0 header.
- Since I have recommended the GD06 or in theory the GD05 since it is the door less version, It's compact size does require a little pre planning in building the PC. A modular PSU would probably not fit. I bought an Ultra LS Series 450W PSU which has a depth of 140mm and it fits great. There is a little compartment in front of the PSU area that is separated from the airspace of the single 120mm fan that is on the PSU side of the case that you can bundle your extra wires with out them getting in the way of the airflow. I haven't posted pics of my build yet, but with a little extra time spent on the cable running, you can get it to look great and not have it impact the airflow. I have built 3 HTPC's so far using Silverstone cases and I highly recommend them.
- The size of the GD06 nicely matches my Onkyo AVR. The case just looks like is belongs sitting next to my AVR.

[*] For a keyboard, I recommend the Logitech K400 keyboard/touchpad combo. Its compact size I find is perfect for the HTPC environment. I would however recommend an IR remote as well. I'm assuming you already have a remote for your TV and AVR so why add a keyboard. I purchased a HP Branded IR receiver that is MCE compatible and then found a nice universal remote to control everything. Most universal remotes I've seen now include codes for Windows Media Center as well as Xbox but it wouldn't hurt to find one with learning capabilities that way you can set up each key exactly as you want and maybe even use buttons for different uses than originally intended.

[*] External fan filters are nice. The filters on my case were mounted on the inside of the case, But I moved them to the input side of the fan instead of the output side like Silverstone originally had them for now. Once a month I just hit the side of the case with a sideways blast of air from a can of compressed air and it gets the filters fairly clean. There are companies that make external snap on fan filters and I will be upgrading to some of those once I change my entertainment center (My current setup does not have the room, the side of the case is right up against the side of the stand because I only have one shelf and multiple pieces of equipment.)

[*] I touched a little on PSU's earlier, but will give a little more input. On the GD07 or GD08 I would go modular just to eliminate some wires, but if I could sway you n the case, then one of the lower wattage Ultra LS series power supplies as there is no room for a standard modular PSU in the GD05 or GD06. I went with the 450W because I knew it would be a little smaller. I do have an Ultra 650w PSU in my main rig that also happens to be 140mm deep so you don't have to go lower if you don't want to, but just make sure what you have is not bigger than 140mm and you wont have any issues with wiring.

[*] If all your media will be located in the case, then I suppose you could get away with the wireless, but if your media will be located on a NAS or Server, or you are also going to feed other units or access anything on the network, I would recommend running a wire. If you don't own, or there is just no way, I understand, but my motto is if there is a will there is a way. In the past, I've run cables under carpeting, tucked them under baseboards, tuck under the edge of a carpet going around a room, ect... You have to get creative, but there are ways of running and hiding cables if you don't have the means of driving walls.
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[*] On a final note, mine is built to the max and I spent just a little over $600 but I reused my SSD and one 3.5" drive from a previous setup.

I think for now that is all I can answer. If I think of anything else, I'll chime in. Good Luck.

[00b5]

Nothing wrong with having a case big enough to hold a few hdds, but i think the sweet spot would be room to house 2 3.5" hdds, somewhere to stash a 2.5" hdd (for booting/runing os/etc).

I don't see the need for an optical drive at all, other than to rip your BR movies. Since you have another machine anyway, it might just be easier to do it on that. If you REALLY needed a BR player, you could just buy a $100 one from anywhere, even though it is another device to hook up and use, etc.

I'd suggest going with an ITX board, since it sounds like you'll end up with a mATX case. This will give you the flexibility to eventually move the setup to a much smaller ITX case down the road if you wanted, espically if you decided to move the main storage/hdds to a server/etc.

As mentioned the RAID mirror isn't a backup, its just a saftey net. You'd be just as well served getting one 4TB hdd inside a small case, then get a 4TB external drive, and copy/mirror/backup all the data to it, then store it off somewhere else.

As for wifi, its the least desirable, my ATV2 on wifi buffers all the time, but consider doing some powerline adapters. That would still be faster than wifi.

[DrDaxxy]

[*] I think I want to go with an i5-4570S and a micro-ATX board. Which board and why?

Why an i5? You don't need that much power for just playing media and storing data.

And why would anyone need TWO optical drives? I don’t plan to burn BD, but MAYBE play BD. I think that is possible, but not sure if it’s easy with XBMC, which is what I plan on using. My main need for an optical drive is for loading software.

Copying discs without the extra step of copying to the HDD, BD player + DVD writer, and optical drives aren't the only thing you can install in a 5.25" bay.
You don't have to fill the second bay, anyway.

[*] I will of course use a SSD for OS and apps. I think 128gb seems about the right size/price point. But which brand/series? Samsung?

Can't go wrong with Samsung 840 Evo.

[*] I don’t think I need to use IR remotes… I’m used to using a keyboard on my Logitech Revue Google TV box (which I hate with a passion). I would like to throw it against a brick wall, very soon. Or burn it with fire.
But a blue tooth or RF keyboard would be great.

If you like controlling it with a keyboard, sure, why not. XBMC is fully controllable by keyboard.

As mentioned the RAID mirror isn't a backup, its just a saftey net. You'd be just as well served getting one 4TB hdd inside a small case, then get a 4TB external drive, and copy/mirror/backup all the data to it, then store it off somewhere else.

RAID does provide a fair amount of data security. Not enough that you should rely on only RAID for important data, of course, but it's a lot more convenient than making backups.

[jberthoty]

Lots of good info folks, thanks so much. I'll try to digest it all and come back as I refine my approach. A lot will have to do with whether I can 'run a wire' or not. If I can, I won't worry too much about HDDs in the HTPC box. I'm already running two NAS boxes in my home office. All media could go there I guess. I'm gonna revisit the case options too. I do have the room for the GD07 & 08. My space for it is 17.5w x 20d x 12h ! Plenty of room there. It is deep because it is open in the back and is away from the wall a bit too. More later.

[tential]

You went full potato on that processor choice.
Not sure why you need an i5 of that caliber to play media. What else are you doing on your PC? If you're playing movies/TV shows, media browsing, and 0 gaming, then you don't need something that powerful. You need something bottom of the line not close to the top of it.

I don't understand why you need a full size case either for MEDIA playback. Why would you need the GD07 when you aren't doing anything CPU intensive? You aren't gaming, you aren't doing work, you're watching TV/Movies (You didn't mention doing anything else on this PC).

Get an intel NUC or something like that. I have a full tower PC for my build. I was going to get the GD07 as well. There really is NO use for getting one though unless you're building something you plan to use as a PC. AKA you plan on getting work done on the thing and need POWER. If you don't need power, you don't need an $800 budget. You need something tiny, light weight.

I agree, you're going about this completely wrong as it seems you aren't really sure what you NEED vs what you may want.

Also no clue why you'd want to use Windows 7. Don't believe the hype (or the hate). Most of the Windows 7 hate is from tech nerd trolls who hate ANY type of change whatsoever (Gabe Newelll......)
I've been using Windows 8 since Beta, and never thought "Wow, this is so terrible I really need to go back to Windows 7". I'd NEVER go back actually to Windows 7 after using Windows 8. Behind that ultra lame and utterly weird Metro Interface, it works well. FAST. It's leaps and bounds easier for me to launch programs on Windows 8. Give it a month, you'll see what I mean. If you aren't good with tech though and consider yourself a slow learner though then stick with Windows 7. Windows 8 though gets my vote though. Just so much quicker to launch programs when all I have to do is hit a maximum of 4 keystrokes(which if you type at even 30 WPM is approximately 1 second of your time), vs clicking start, navigating to All Programs, then to the program you want to run, then to the actual executable file.

Edit: Forgot to touch on BD playback. If that's an issue well, there are other tiny cases you can use. I don't use an optical drive anymore. It's just a waste of space to me. I think at MOST I use it 6 times a year. I'd rather it be a USB attachment than something built into my PC but that's just me.

[novamax]

Just so much quicker to launch programs when all I have to do is hit a maximum of 4 keystrokes

Well, add one stroke for the win key, and you get the same in win 7 (you can search the start menu directly), but win 7 also offers a structured overview about your progs (They must have been kidding to tell 'we brought the start button back' - If that thing brings you to metro UI instead of to the start menu, it's no better than a wallpaper with a start button graphic...).

But aside from that, I fully agree. SSD + Win 8 on my notebook made my tab quite useless (before: NB boots 1 minute / tab switches on: 1 sec., after: NB 3 sec., so i use my NB more). I wouldn't want to miss it, just for the boot time.

I'd rather it be a USB attachment than something built into my PC but that's just me.

That actually helped me for my setup. There seems to be little disadvantage from an ext. ODD aside from the form factor...

[nickr]

I'm not exactly sure why anyone is using the OS gui on an XBMC machine.

Put it under/behind the TV. Boot to XBMC. You shouldn't even be able to tell what OS you are using except for some bootup messages.