2010-12-20, 20:13
Hi Folks,
I'm finally saying goodbye to my Xbox (running Ubuntu and XBMC Atlantis). Tired of no HD and choppy video.
I've done quite a bit of research on building an HTPC. ....first, thinking about what I want the machine to do: XBMC, gaming (PC and console), browsing, some video & picture editing, tied to a dual zone high-end receiver & amps (7.1). I want to future-proof it by allowing for upgrades. I want it to be reasonably quiet and not likely to overheat. I have a gigabit network and want to have my media drives separate from the HTPC - and use unraid or something to unify the storage devices over my network.
I'm not looking for the absolute cheapest way to get there (I admire the rigs for $300 that barely get the electrons over the hump, but not for me). My budget is max $2500 US.
PSU: (went with fanless to keep it quiet)
Silverstone 400W fanless power supply:
http://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-ATX12V...747&sr=8-1
$149.99
CASE: (Must be rack-mountable, liked this case for mid-case placement of 120 mm fans, for more quiet)
LIAN LI Black Aluminum PC-C32B ATX Media Center / HTPC Case
Item #: N82E16811112147
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6811112147
$159.99
MEMORY: (is this enough? fast enough?)
CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1600C8D
Item #: N82E16820145224
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6820145224
$119.99
MAIN HARD DRIVE: (picked solid state for speed, quiet operation)
Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH160G2K5 2.5" 160GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Item #: N82E16820167032
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6820167032
$389.99 ($90 rebate will put this at $300)
MOTHERBOARD: (this is a tomshardwareguide pick. No video on board)
GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813128423
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813128423
$199.99
CPU: (I'm not up on Intel's latest architecture, but thought this looked powerful enough and relatively affordable. Doubting myself on this choice)
Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor BX80601950
Item #: N82E16819115211
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6819115211
$294.99
VIDEO CARD: (this one seemed like a nice fit for the motherboard, and futureproof, and I figured a system for an HTPC hybrid shouldn't skimp on the video)
GIGABYTE GV-N570D5-13I-B GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Item #: N82E16814125354
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814125354
$354.99
2ND HARD DRIVE: (I liked the quiet, high-capacity, low power of this drive)
Western Digital Caviar Green WDBAAY0020HNC-NRSN 2TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822136772
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6822136772
$129.99
OPTICAL DRIVE: (seems to play / burn most everything, yes?)
LG Black 10X Blu-ray Burner - Bulk SATA WH10LS30 LightScribe Support
Item #: N82E16827136181
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6827136181
$79.99
Option for Optical drive: (this was another I thought my be workable)
HP Black Blu-ray Burner SATA bd340i LightScribe Support
Item #: N82E16827140051
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6827140051
$169.99
SOUND CARD: (there is one on board, but maybe this will be better?)
Creative PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series Sound Card
Item #: N82E16829102021
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6829102021
$199.99
TV TUNER: (do I need this?)
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 Media Center Kit Dual TV Tuner 1213 PCI-Express x1 Interface
Item #: N82E16815116036
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6815116036
$129.99
CPU COOLER: (liquid cooler, for quiet operation and efficient heat dissipation)
CORSAIR CWCH50-1 High Performance CPU Cooler
Item #: N82E16835181010
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6835181010
$71.99
....it all adds up to about $2300 (+/- a few hundred depending on some of the decisions)
I've not picked a remote solution, though I have Crestron CP2E and remote, but I'm thinking about just getting an ipad and using it, and/or my iphone.
I've not picked an OS, though I'm leaning to Windows 7.
Would really appreciate any advice, critiques, options from the community for the options I've lined up.
Thanks!
I'm finally saying goodbye to my Xbox (running Ubuntu and XBMC Atlantis). Tired of no HD and choppy video.
I've done quite a bit of research on building an HTPC. ....first, thinking about what I want the machine to do: XBMC, gaming (PC and console), browsing, some video & picture editing, tied to a dual zone high-end receiver & amps (7.1). I want to future-proof it by allowing for upgrades. I want it to be reasonably quiet and not likely to overheat. I have a gigabit network and want to have my media drives separate from the HTPC - and use unraid or something to unify the storage devices over my network.
I'm not looking for the absolute cheapest way to get there (I admire the rigs for $300 that barely get the electrons over the hump, but not for me). My budget is max $2500 US.
PSU: (went with fanless to keep it quiet)
Silverstone 400W fanless power supply:
http://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-ATX12V...747&sr=8-1
$149.99
CASE: (Must be rack-mountable, liked this case for mid-case placement of 120 mm fans, for more quiet)
LIAN LI Black Aluminum PC-C32B ATX Media Center / HTPC Case
Item #: N82E16811112147
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6811112147
$159.99
MEMORY: (is this enough? fast enough?)
CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1600C8D
Item #: N82E16820145224
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6820145224
$119.99
MAIN HARD DRIVE: (picked solid state for speed, quiet operation)
Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH160G2K5 2.5" 160GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Item #: N82E16820167032
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6820167032
$389.99 ($90 rebate will put this at $300)
MOTHERBOARD: (this is a tomshardwareguide pick. No video on board)
GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813128423
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813128423
$199.99
CPU: (I'm not up on Intel's latest architecture, but thought this looked powerful enough and relatively affordable. Doubting myself on this choice)
Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor BX80601950
Item #: N82E16819115211
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6819115211
$294.99
VIDEO CARD: (this one seemed like a nice fit for the motherboard, and futureproof, and I figured a system for an HTPC hybrid shouldn't skimp on the video)
GIGABYTE GV-N570D5-13I-B GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Item #: N82E16814125354
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814125354
$354.99
2ND HARD DRIVE: (I liked the quiet, high-capacity, low power of this drive)
Western Digital Caviar Green WDBAAY0020HNC-NRSN 2TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822136772
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6822136772
$129.99
OPTICAL DRIVE: (seems to play / burn most everything, yes?)
LG Black 10X Blu-ray Burner - Bulk SATA WH10LS30 LightScribe Support
Item #: N82E16827136181
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6827136181
$79.99
Option for Optical drive: (this was another I thought my be workable)
HP Black Blu-ray Burner SATA bd340i LightScribe Support
Item #: N82E16827140051
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6827140051
$169.99
SOUND CARD: (there is one on board, but maybe this will be better?)
Creative PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series Sound Card
Item #: N82E16829102021
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6829102021
$199.99
TV TUNER: (do I need this?)
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 Media Center Kit Dual TV Tuner 1213 PCI-Express x1 Interface
Item #: N82E16815116036
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6815116036
$129.99
CPU COOLER: (liquid cooler, for quiet operation and efficient heat dissipation)
CORSAIR CWCH50-1 High Performance CPU Cooler
Item #: N82E16835181010
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6835181010
$71.99
....it all adds up to about $2300 (+/- a few hundred depending on some of the decisions)
I've not picked a remote solution, though I have Crestron CP2E and remote, but I'm thinking about just getting an ipad and using it, and/or my iphone.
I've not picked an OS, though I'm leaning to Windows 7.
Would really appreciate any advice, critiques, options from the community for the options I've lined up.
Thanks!