2011-11-29, 23:48
Or do I need to spend more?
Hi Guys,
I have been scouring these forums for information on HTPC builds and I have come up with the following based on what I want it to do:
*Most of my media is on my NAS. I have ripped my DVD collection maintaining file structure so as to keep special features, director's commentary etc so they are all .vob, .bup, .ifo etc, and my TV Shows are mostly downloaded .avi, or are full rips to .iso (to make it easier on myself when naming episodes). I will also occasionally play the odd DVD and BluRay Disc.
It certainly seems more expensive than some of the others I have seen on the forums, but I have two considerations there; firstly, I am in Australia and will be purchasing here and, secondly, I notice most of the proposed builds don't include operating systems, or hard drives, or some other potentially expensive component.
Anyway, onto the proposal (links are to mwave.com.au who have an assembly deal for about $70 they build, test, update and basically make sure everything is working as it should - seems ideal for a first time non-Dell/Acer type purchaser).
MOBO: ASRock A75 Pro 4 M $99.99 - but I would be happy with anything that had optical audio out, HDMI out, and gave some future proofing. Not a lot, but I think USB3 and SATA3 is a good place to start.
CPU: AMD A6 3500 $99.99 - been seeing some good reviews on the forums. Just to confirm - no need for GPU with one of the A6's?
CASE(1): Fractal Design Mini Tower $135.00 - I love the look of this case! Nice clean front, sound absorbing material on the inside, not too big (I am not concerned about having my HTPC look like just another AV component, and I have the room for a larger tower). It was that case or this;
CASE(2): Thermaltake Dokker Midi Tower with HDD Dock $62.99 - I like the added functionality of the HDD dock on top, although this PC will only be running OS and XBMC. In any case (hahah), neither comes with PSU, so;
PSU: Antec EA 380D Green 380W ATX Power Supply 80mm Low Noise $59.95 -thanks bluray
RAM: G Skill Ripjaws 4GB 2x 2GB 240pin DIMM PC3 12800 DDR3 1600 CL9 1 5 $35.30 - I don't really know much about RAM, help here would be appreciated! In particular what difference will the timings make? eg 7-7-7-21, or 9-9-9-24 etc?
SSD: Kingston 64Gb 250Mb/s read, 145Mb/s write $99.00 - I have read that OCZ have dodgy SSD's. Can anyone confirm my choice of SSD?
ODD: LG BluRay Read/DVD Write $69.99 - no requirement for burning BluRay in the foreseeable future. If/when I do I will upgrade the drive.
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit $99.00
$788.86 (Case #1) - including build fee
$706.85 (Case #2 - Dokker) - including build fee
And here is what I already have;
Media Storage: D-Link DNS-323 2x 2Tb in Raid1 (total storage 2Tb)
Network: Belkin N600DB (although PC will be wired in using Cat6 cable)
TV: Sony 40" 1080p LCD - while I currently won't notice much benefit from 1080p I will upgrade my TV (possibly to a 1080p LCD Projector) in the near future.
Tuner: Sony 6.2 Dolby DTS - this is where the optical output will go. For the quality, and ease, I can't go past optical sound.
Thanks for taking the time to read, any advice/feedback/suggestions will be gladly welcomed. Although if I am going to get mwave to build it for me then it will need to be a) something they sell and, b) something they have in stock (I want to get my PC yesterday )
Cheers,
francis
Hi Guys,
I have been scouring these forums for information on HTPC builds and I have come up with the following based on what I want it to do:
- It should be fast
- It should be able to play up to, and including, 1080p and BluRay Discs*
- It should have optical audio out
- It will only have OS and XBMC installed
- It should be able to play DVD and BluRay
- It should be able to run all mainstream skins (Aeon, for example)
- It should be reasonably quiet (doesn't need to be silent, though)
*Most of my media is on my NAS. I have ripped my DVD collection maintaining file structure so as to keep special features, director's commentary etc so they are all .vob, .bup, .ifo etc, and my TV Shows are mostly downloaded .avi, or are full rips to .iso (to make it easier on myself when naming episodes). I will also occasionally play the odd DVD and BluRay Disc.
It certainly seems more expensive than some of the others I have seen on the forums, but I have two considerations there; firstly, I am in Australia and will be purchasing here and, secondly, I notice most of the proposed builds don't include operating systems, or hard drives, or some other potentially expensive component.
Anyway, onto the proposal (links are to mwave.com.au who have an assembly deal for about $70 they build, test, update and basically make sure everything is working as it should - seems ideal for a first time non-Dell/Acer type purchaser).
MOBO: ASRock A75 Pro 4 M $99.99 - but I would be happy with anything that had optical audio out, HDMI out, and gave some future proofing. Not a lot, but I think USB3 and SATA3 is a good place to start.
CPU: AMD A6 3500 $99.99 - been seeing some good reviews on the forums. Just to confirm - no need for GPU with one of the A6's?
CASE(1): Fractal Design Mini Tower $135.00 - I love the look of this case! Nice clean front, sound absorbing material on the inside, not too big (I am not concerned about having my HTPC look like just another AV component, and I have the room for a larger tower). It was that case or this;
CASE(2): Thermaltake Dokker Midi Tower with HDD Dock $62.99 - I like the added functionality of the HDD dock on top, although this PC will only be running OS and XBMC. In any case (hahah), neither comes with PSU, so;
PSU: Antec EA 380D Green 380W ATX Power Supply 80mm Low Noise $59.95 -thanks bluray
RAM: G Skill Ripjaws 4GB 2x 2GB 240pin DIMM PC3 12800 DDR3 1600 CL9 1 5 $35.30 - I don't really know much about RAM, help here would be appreciated! In particular what difference will the timings make? eg 7-7-7-21, or 9-9-9-24 etc?
SSD: Kingston 64Gb 250Mb/s read, 145Mb/s write $99.00 - I have read that OCZ have dodgy SSD's. Can anyone confirm my choice of SSD?
ODD: LG BluRay Read/DVD Write $69.99 - no requirement for burning BluRay in the foreseeable future. If/when I do I will upgrade the drive.
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit $99.00
$788.86 (Case #1) - including build fee
$706.85 (Case #2 - Dokker) - including build fee
And here is what I already have;
Media Storage: D-Link DNS-323 2x 2Tb in Raid1 (total storage 2Tb)
Network: Belkin N600DB (although PC will be wired in using Cat6 cable)
TV: Sony 40" 1080p LCD - while I currently won't notice much benefit from 1080p I will upgrade my TV (possibly to a 1080p LCD Projector) in the near future.
Tuner: Sony 6.2 Dolby DTS - this is where the optical output will go. For the quality, and ease, I can't go past optical sound.
Thanks for taking the time to read, any advice/feedback/suggestions will be gladly welcomed. Although if I am going to get mwave to build it for me then it will need to be a) something they sell and, b) something they have in stock (I want to get my PC yesterday )
Cheers,
francis