Kodi Community Forum - My first HTPC build ~£300

Hey, wondered if I could get some opinions on the following build. Not sure if I'm going for Windows 7, XBMCbuntu or anything else so open to opinions on that as well. Have around £300 to spend. Hope it to match a Group#7 HTPC on eSkRo's list.

CPU: Intel Core i3 2120 3.30GHz Dual Core CPU
Motherboard: Asus P8H61-MX Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
RAM: 4GB DDR3 1333MHz Single Channel
Cooler: Intel Stock Cooler
£174.98 inc VAT

OcUK GeForce GT 430 1024MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card - £49.99 inc VAT
OCZ Agility 3 60GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (AGT3-25SAT3-60G) [AGT3-25SAT3-60G] - £43.99 inc VAT
OcUK Opera Media Case - Black (with 500W PSU) [CA-020-OP] - £39.98 inc VAT

Total - £308.95

Also have an old machine that I'm planning on using as a backend for PVR, most likely tvheadend, again opinions welcome.

Intel Celeron E1200 1.6Ghz Dual-Core Processor
Gigabyte GA-73PVM-S2H GeForce 7100 Micro-ATX PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
GeIL 2GB <2x1GB> PC2-6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
Gigabyte GeForce 9600 GT 512MB GDDR3 TV-OutDual DVI

For HTPC, you don't need GT430......Intel HD2000 should be able to playback blu-ray 1080p video and bitstreaming HD audio with ease......

Thanks for the reply. Will happily drop the GT430 if a dedicated GPU isn't necessary.

I'm guessing that the rest of the build is adequate and that given the price range you wouldn't have gone another route?

Personally I would look to buy Ivy bridge rather than sandy bridge and it will be slightly cheaper, how about this;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008F...OKL5A1OLEx

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007O...ROKL5A1OLE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001I...YGP86NG3IP

All for £180 delivered.

Every one of the above is an upgrade to your original option.

David

(2012-10-08, 23:21)DavidT99 Wrote: [ -> ]Personally I would look to buy Ivy bridge rather than sandy bridge and it will be slightly cheaper, how about this;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008F...OKL5A1OLEx

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007O...ROKL5A1OLE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001I...YGP86NG3IP

All for £180 delivered.

Every one of the above is an upgrade to your original option.

David

Seeing as there is still money left over, how about upgrading again Wink

.. for an extra £15 you can a i3 3225 with HD 4000 http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/compo...33225.html

Thank you all, I have taken all your suggestions and have done some additional shopping around and come up with the following:

Intel Core i3-3225 3.30GHz S1155 3MB - £91.36
Asrock H77M motherboard - £56.86
G-Skill 4GB 1600MHz PC12800 DDR3 NQ Series CAS 9 Kit (2x 2GB) - £18.92
OCZ Technology 60GB Agility 3 SSD Series SATA 6Gb/s 2.5" Solid State Drive - £36.19
OcUK Opera Media Case - Black (with 500W PSU) [CA-020-OP] - £39.98
Total: £243.31

@charlie0440 - Still money left over Smile

Get more RAM if you want (its not really needed, but no harm in it).

I would use that money on a remote or a decent keyboard, or if you choose to go the Windows route, spend it on the Operating System.

Think spending it on a decent remote is what will happen.

Anyone else have any opinions on my build?

Looks very much like my htpc, the 3225 is excellent :-)
Use the leftover cash for a nice remote, harmony 600/650/700/900/one or a Motorola xbmc remote.

@RaggSokk3n - How much did yours cost you? Is there anything you wish you had done differently?

(2012-10-09, 10:16)r4ms4y Wrote: [ -> ]Thank you all, I have taken all your suggestions and have done some additional shopping around and come up with the following:

Intel Core i3-3225 3.30GHz S1155 3MB - £91.36
Asrock H77M motherboard - £56.86
G-Skill 4GB 1600MHz PC12800 DDR3 NQ Series CAS 9 Kit (2x 2GB) - £18.92
OCZ Technology 60GB Agility 3 SSD Series SATA 6Gb/s 2.5" Solid State Drive - £36.19
OcUK Opera Media Case - Black (with 500W PSU) [CA-020-OP] - £39.98
Total: £243.31

@charlie0440 - Still money left over

None of the prices for your top 3 items includes delivery, by the time you add the delivery the cost is about £200. The items I linked to from Amazon were £20 cheaper with delivery.

David

@DavidT99 - The prices were with delivery according to Google shopping but if not will get them from Amazon.

(2012-10-09, 15:17)r4ms4y Wrote: [ -> ]@DavidT99 - The prices were with delivery according to Google shopping but if not will get them from Amazon.

Always go to the site selling the goods as I often find the prices on price comparison websites don't always pick up delivery charges.

David

(2012-10-09, 13:30)r4ms4y Wrote: [ -> ]@RaggSokk3n - How much did yours cost you? Is there anything you wish you had done differently?

I live in Norway so prices are about 20-25% higher than the UK and US prices.
8000Nok for two with remote and keyboard - so about 800£ or 1400$
Only thing I would do differently is change the harmony 200 in the living room for a Motorola nyxboard hybrid.