Small and quiet HTPC build for ~£350 (~$500)

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uberrich

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May 22, 2013
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I'm looking to build a new HTPC system. The space it has to go in is quite limited - max. height is 150mm and max. depth 390mm (no restriction on width). I also want it to be as quiet and low power as possible as it's going to sit in the lounge. I plan to run Arch Linux on the box with XBMC as the media system. It'll be used to watch live OTA TV (the UK Freeview FTA DVB-T service), though the backend for that is already working (VDR on a Raspberry Pi), so this system only needs to be the front end for TV. Otherwise it needs to be capable of 1080p playback of various video codecs and also able to play content from various online video services (BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4OD, YouTube, possibly Netflix in the future, etc.). All media files will be stored elsewhere on my network and streamed via SMB shares (or maybe via Plex, not sure about that yet), so local storage only needs to be minimal. Lastly I need SPDIF (optical or coax) output to feed 5.1 into my aging receiver that doesn't have an HDMI input!

I have selected components that I think will do the above, but I really want to get the experts on here to sanity check my choices and, where necessary, suggest better ones. I'm happy to go back to the drawing board completely if my selection is utter garbage!

So here's my kit list:

CPU
Intel Celeron Processor G1610
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00B4NZYRQ
£34

Hard drive
Adata XPG SX900 64GB 2.5" SSD
http://www.cclonline.com/product/107403/ASX900S3-64GM-C/Solid-State-Drives-SSDs-/ADATA-XPG-2-5-64GB-SSD/HDD1809/
£70

Motherboard
ASRock B75M-ITX mITX
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007RQ0HKS
£69

RAM
Corsair 4GB XMS Memory module, 1333MHz, 9-9-9-24, 1.5V
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003ZDJ42O
£28

Chassis
Lian Li PC-Q09FN
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007N6YR6W
£100

The chassis comes with a PSU and a fan, and of course the CPU will come with the stock cooler, but as I want this to be as quiet a system as possible, I figured I might need to replace these items with specialist quiet equipment, as below. I'd be grateful to hear the communities opinions on whether these extras are really necessary for a quiet system and whether the below are the best choices to achieve it.

SFX PSU
be quiet! 300W SFX uATX PSU 12V Version 3.2
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/300w-be-quiet!-bn133-sfx-micro-atx-psu-with-80mm-quiet-fan-80plus-green
£40

CPU Cooler
Scythe Kozuti Low Profile CPU Cooler, SCKZT-1000
http://www.quietpc.com/kozuti
£30

Case Cooling
Noctua NF-P12 PWM 120mm Cooling Fan
http://www.quietpc.com/nf-p12-pwm
£19


For completeness, here are the answers to the template in the sticky post:

Approximate Purchase Date: ASAP - hopefully within two weeks

Budget Range: ~£350 (~$500)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: As above, but briefly, HTPC with 1080p playback and SPDIF audio output. No usage for games or general work.

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: n/a. Completely new build

Do you need to buy OS: No. Plan on running Arch Linux.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Not fussy. Wherever's cheapest.

Location: London, UK.

Parts Preferences: Not fussy. Whatever's best for the job within budget

Overclocking: No, unless the community thinks I need it

SLI or Crossfire: No. I assume this won't be needed and I won't have room in a small case regardless.

Your Monitor Resolution: 1080p

Additional Comments: None. Think this post is long enough already!

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Because my seven year old laptop is way too loud when running XBMC and crashes all the time!


I think that's everything. Happy to provide more info if anyone needs it.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read and respond. Greatly appreciated. :)

All the best
Rich.


 
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Transmaniacon

Transmaniacon

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Nov 3, 2008
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Agreed:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A8-5600K 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor (£69.19 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard (£60.93 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£31.50 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial M4 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£55.99 @ Dabs)
Case: Lian-Li PC-C37B HTPC Case (£103.50 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 380W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£38.78 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £359.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-22 16:53 BST+0100)

The stock fans should be plenty quiet, and this is a very good PSU for a low power system.
 
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aatje92

aatje92

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Mar 31, 2013
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Looks like a great build that would last him a long time.

I was thinking maybe a Seasonic Fanless PSU for more quiet but those are expensive :O
 
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uberrich

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May 22, 2013
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Wow, thanks for the quick responses guys! Really appreciate it.

I have to admit to steering away from AMD (and ATI) in general just because I'm wary of Linux support for them in terms of graphics drivers. Is that a valid concern?
 
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uberrich

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May 22, 2013
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Okay thanks guys. I've done a bit of research into the Trinity series APUs (which I believe the A8-5600K is a member of) on Linux and this is what I've found:

Phoronix says: "The short story to running AMD A-Series Trinity APUs on Linux is that it works", but "The main worry with the AMD Trinity APU support under Linux comes down to the graphics support." (http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=amd_a10_5800k&num=2)

The Arch Linux wiki says: "As of April 26, 2013, Catalyst packages are no longer offered in the official repositories. In the past, Catalyst has been dropped from official Arch support because of dissatisfaction with the quality and speed of development. This time, it's the incompatibility with Xorg 1.14." (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/AMD_Catalyst)

In short, I think it probably will work, but maybe not quite as easily as an Intel option and perhaps it won't be supported so well going forward.

Regarding the other parts, I really like the look of that Lian Li chassis and I like the idea of being able to use a micro-atx mobo and having the option of standard ATX PSUs, so thanks very much for pointing that out.

So, I'm still a little wary about going down the AMD route, but I'll look at it in a bit more detail. However, if you were going to do for an Intel based build, what components would you suggest?
 
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Transmaniacon

Transmaniacon

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G2120 3.1GHz Dual-Core Processor (£59.99 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£64.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£38.91 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial M4 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£55.99 @ Dabs)
Case: Lian-Li PC-C37B HTPC Case (£105.50 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 380W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£38.78 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £364.16
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-23 13:49 BST+0100)
 
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uberrich

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May 22, 2013
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Okay thanks. Just a couple of questions/comments:

    ■ So you think I need to go up to a Pentium? A Celeron won't cut it? That's almost doubling the cost of the CPU.

    ■ And is 8GB of RAM necessary? Is four not enough?

    ■ I see you've gone for a H77 based board. The reason I chose a B75 one was because I figured I probably didn't need the extra features of the H77, and I assumed the B75 would be cheaper. Is that a correct assumption? And if so, is the extra expense of the H77 worth it?

Apologies if that all sounds a bit like a demand to support your position! I don't mean to sound like I'm interrogating! :) Just trying to learn and understand why you guys choose the things you do.

Thanks again.
Rich.
 
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Transmaniacon

Transmaniacon

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I personally would go with the Pentium for smooth 1080P playback and just an overall more responsive computer.

You can go with B75, just make sure you will have enough SATA3/USB3 ports.

4GB would be fine, but there is a lot more value in 8GB kits.
 
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uberrich

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May 22, 2013
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Okay, thanks very much for the explanation and for all your assistance with this.

And just to reiterate, if I can assure myself of Linux compatibility, you would definitely recommend the AMD A8 APU over the Intel Pentium G2120, correct?
 
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uberrich

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May 22, 2013
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Hi everyone

Just wanted to report back on this. In the end I went down a completely different path and bought a Cubox Pro (http://www.solid-run.com/cubox) for ~£120. It's working brilliantly! :) Saved myself over 200 quid by going ARM vs x86. Can't recommend this approach enough if you're after a single application box.

Thanks to everyone who submitted input. The internet is a better place for people like you! :)

Cheers
Rich.
 
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aatje92

aatje92

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Awesome, looks like a nifty little thingy. Could've also gone with a RespberryPI, a little bit more to setup but cheaper i would've gone that route :p.
 
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uberrich

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May 22, 2013
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I actually already had a RPi, which is kinda where I got the idea from. I was hoping to use the Pi, but I needed SPDIF output and the Pi outputs digital audio via HDMI only. So I searched around for an ARM-based platform that has SPDIF and found the Cubox! Never looked back. :D
 
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