2014-03-03, 19:02
I'm still planning my build, and after a fair bit of research, I was close to going with the components suggested in my starter thread. However, I could do with some mobo advice...
This is for a HTPC / general purpose machine (little to no gaming) to be connected to an LED TV.
The components suggested by tboggie were as follows:
Going through that list...
- The case is spot on for size. It would fit nicely in my TV unit with a bit of breathing space. Currently my TV unit has a partially enlcosed rear, but I could easily trim cut the piece out that would sit behind the HTPC to give greater airflow.
- The CPU looks good. There doesn't seem to be a need to get a quad-core as I'm not going to be using the PC for gaming. The dual-core uses signficantly less power and is cheaper.
- I think the PSU should be ok, but when I was researching the Silverstone ML03B case, I read that people may struggle with a PSU the size of the CX430M AND an optical drive - cos they sit back to back and there's no space for the cables. However, after checking PartPicker and seeing similar builds, it looks like it should be ok... Fingers crossed on that one...
- The RAM is fine.
- I'll probably drop the remote. I do have a wee one that I used for my RPi, which should suffice for short term.
- Keyboard looks fine, saw one in a shop last week (smaller than I'd imagined).
- HD looks fine, and the Green seemingly better on energy usage.
- I'll probably add this dvd/rw drive to the above:
Samsung 24x SATA DVD RE – £12.71
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/samsung-s...-black-oem
- As far as the mobo is concerned, the one tboggie suggested is a mini-ITX. But as the case is micro-ATX, I'm thinking it may be worth putting a mATX mobo in instead, which will be a little cheaper, and potentially give more connectivity / features. But I'm not sure which to go for, both in terms of make and chipset. I checked out the 6gb/s AMD FM2 mATX mobos with hdmi. The most expensive one they sell is still £6 cheaper than the mooted mini. I'm pretty sure all FM2+ mobos are back-compatible with FM2, so that gives me the following array of choices (in asc order of price):
MSI A78M-E35 - £39.34
MSI A78M-E45
MSI FM2-A75MA-E35
MSI A88XM-E35
MSI A88XM-E45
Gigabyte GA-F2A78M-D3H
Asus A88XM-A
Asus A88XM-PLUS - £56.26
The key differences between the MSI E35s and E45s appears to be the amount of RAM they support - 32GB vs 64GB. As I'll initially be putting 4GB in, I don't think that's much of a concern.
Am I best off going with one with the latest chipset (A88)? Is an MSI A88 preferable to a Gigabyte A78?
I notice Asus seem to get the best reviews as a company.
Any pointers?
Cheers.
This is for a HTPC / general purpose machine (little to no gaming) to be connected to an LED TV.
The components suggested by tboggie were as follows:
(2014-02-20, 20:47)tboggie Wrote: Case - Silverstone ML03B - £54
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/silversto...std-atx%29
CPU - AMD A6 6400K - £42 *Supports 3D Bluray*
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/amd-a6-64...65w-retail
Motherboard - MSI FM2-A75IA-E53 - £62
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-fm2-a...i-mini-itx
PSU - Corsair Builder Series CX 430W - £38
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/430w-cors...ps-12v-atx
4GB (2 x 2GB) RAM - £37
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMX4GX3M...+X+2GB+RAM
MCE Remote - £11
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Emprex-3009ARF-W...roduct_top
Logitech K400 Wireless Touch Keyboard - £30
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-K400-Wi...words=K400
2TB Sata - £65
http://www.amazon.co.uk/6Gbps-SATA-Hard-...ywords=2TB
Going through that list...
- The case is spot on for size. It would fit nicely in my TV unit with a bit of breathing space. Currently my TV unit has a partially enlcosed rear, but I could easily trim cut the piece out that would sit behind the HTPC to give greater airflow.
- The CPU looks good. There doesn't seem to be a need to get a quad-core as I'm not going to be using the PC for gaming. The dual-core uses signficantly less power and is cheaper.
- I think the PSU should be ok, but when I was researching the Silverstone ML03B case, I read that people may struggle with a PSU the size of the CX430M AND an optical drive - cos they sit back to back and there's no space for the cables. However, after checking PartPicker and seeing similar builds, it looks like it should be ok... Fingers crossed on that one...
- The RAM is fine.
- I'll probably drop the remote. I do have a wee one that I used for my RPi, which should suffice for short term.
- Keyboard looks fine, saw one in a shop last week (smaller than I'd imagined).
- HD looks fine, and the Green seemingly better on energy usage.
- I'll probably add this dvd/rw drive to the above:
Samsung 24x SATA DVD RE – £12.71
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/samsung-s...-black-oem
- As far as the mobo is concerned, the one tboggie suggested is a mini-ITX. But as the case is micro-ATX, I'm thinking it may be worth putting a mATX mobo in instead, which will be a little cheaper, and potentially give more connectivity / features. But I'm not sure which to go for, both in terms of make and chipset. I checked out the 6gb/s AMD FM2 mATX mobos with hdmi. The most expensive one they sell is still £6 cheaper than the mooted mini. I'm pretty sure all FM2+ mobos are back-compatible with FM2, so that gives me the following array of choices (in asc order of price):
MSI A78M-E35 - £39.34
MSI A78M-E45
MSI FM2-A75MA-E35
MSI A88XM-E35
MSI A88XM-E45
Gigabyte GA-F2A78M-D3H
Asus A88XM-A
Asus A88XM-PLUS - £56.26
The key differences between the MSI E35s and E45s appears to be the amount of RAM they support - 32GB vs 64GB. As I'll initially be putting 4GB in, I don't think that's much of a concern.
Am I best off going with one with the latest chipset (A88)? Is an MSI A88 preferable to a Gigabyte A78?
I notice Asus seem to get the best reviews as a company.
Any pointers?
Cheers.
