- Feb 23, 2009
- 6
- 0
- 18,510
Approximate Purchase Date: The sooner the better, found some deals that expire shortly
Budget Range: $800-ish
System Usage from Most to Least Important: HTPC to replace our cable company's DVR, network attached storage for backups of my other computers on the network, Blu-Ray player, convenient living room PC for internet browsing or very light gaming. Important to keep power consumption, heat, and noise as low as absolutely possible. Need to output over HDMI and optical for home theater receiver. Okay with system being a little overpowered if it allows for a longer service life, gives a little extra capability when needed, and falls to a low enough idle wattage.
Are you buying a monitor: No, be using it over HDMI on the living room HDTV
Parts to Purchase:
CPU - Intel i3-4330
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116945
Motherboard - Asus H87M-PRO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131994
Case - Silverstone ML04B
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163239
PSU - Seasonic G Series 360W
http://www.amazon.com/Seasonic-80PLUS-ATX12V-Supply-SSR-360GP/dp/B008XEYT5M/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
RAM - G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600 9-9-9-24
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428
OS - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986
SSD - [Already own] - Intel Intel 510 Series 120GB SATA III (For OS only)
HDD 1 - Western Digital Red NAS Hard Drive WD20EFRX 2TB IntelliPower 64MB (For DVR recordings, I am *very* open to suggestions, but need reliability)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236343
HDD 2 - [Already own] Western Digital WD Green WD30EZRX 3TB IntelliPower 64MB (For backups from other computers on the network, music, movies, etc.)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136874
Blu-ray Reader - LG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM UH12NS30 (open to other models, compatibility/usability is key)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136268
Tuner Card - Ceton InfiniTV 4 PCIe (open to other models, but this looks to have the best compatibility/reliability/widest user base)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815706001
Do you need to buy OS: Yes, be picking up a copy of Windows 7 (built in WMC)
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon (I'm a prime member) or Newegg
Location: OKC area
Parts Preferences: I really prefer Intel CPU's and Asus mobo's
Overclocking: Not at the expense of power consumption/heat... so no
SLI or Crossfire: No
Your Monitor Resolution: TV will be running at 1080p
Additional Comments:
- Are there any considerations between using a i3-4130 and an i3-4330 (.1GHz and 1MB cache that big a difference for $30)? I understand the i3-4330 might be a little overkill, but if it allows me some expandability/lifespan in the future and falls to a low enough idle current draw, I'm fine with it. Most worried with having a processor powerful enough to be viable to run the tuner card so it can perform DVR duties and do some very light gaming or play a Blu-ray at the same time.
- From what I'm seeing I should be expecting idle power draw of around 30W, correct?
- I went with the Asus H87M-PRO instead of the H87I-PLUS to allow some flexibility for future expansion, didn't see a huge wattage difference (2-3 watts at load despite form factor), does that sound right?
- The fastest ram I can use in the board is 1600, correct? Is 8GB going to draw significantly more wattage than 4GB? I figured it's adding a little lifespan and if need be I can pull a stick to run a different project in the future.
- Comparable AMD offerings, while potentially more powerful, are going to destroy any kind of heat/power considerations, correct?
- There's no point to shelling out for a Blu-ray burner, is there? I have one on my main computer, and I feel like this computer isn't quite powerful enough for me to trust it burning Blu-rays.
And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Was looking at using an Acer RevoCenter with a D525 and decided I might as well get something snappier with more capability and replace the cable company DVR at the same time.
Appreciate any and all feedback you have - thanks in advance!
Budget Range: $800-ish
System Usage from Most to Least Important: HTPC to replace our cable company's DVR, network attached storage for backups of my other computers on the network, Blu-Ray player, convenient living room PC for internet browsing or very light gaming. Important to keep power consumption, heat, and noise as low as absolutely possible. Need to output over HDMI and optical for home theater receiver. Okay with system being a little overpowered if it allows for a longer service life, gives a little extra capability when needed, and falls to a low enough idle wattage.
Are you buying a monitor: No, be using it over HDMI on the living room HDTV
Parts to Purchase:
CPU - Intel i3-4330
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116945
Motherboard - Asus H87M-PRO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131994
Case - Silverstone ML04B
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163239
PSU - Seasonic G Series 360W
http://www.amazon.com/Seasonic-80PLUS-ATX12V-Supply-SSR-360GP/dp/B008XEYT5M/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
RAM - G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600 9-9-9-24
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428
OS - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986
SSD - [Already own] - Intel Intel 510 Series 120GB SATA III (For OS only)
HDD 1 - Western Digital Red NAS Hard Drive WD20EFRX 2TB IntelliPower 64MB (For DVR recordings, I am *very* open to suggestions, but need reliability)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236343
HDD 2 - [Already own] Western Digital WD Green WD30EZRX 3TB IntelliPower 64MB (For backups from other computers on the network, music, movies, etc.)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136874
Blu-ray Reader - LG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM UH12NS30 (open to other models, compatibility/usability is key)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136268
Tuner Card - Ceton InfiniTV 4 PCIe (open to other models, but this looks to have the best compatibility/reliability/widest user base)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815706001
Do you need to buy OS: Yes, be picking up a copy of Windows 7 (built in WMC)
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon (I'm a prime member) or Newegg
Location: OKC area
Parts Preferences: I really prefer Intel CPU's and Asus mobo's
Overclocking: Not at the expense of power consumption/heat... so no
SLI or Crossfire: No
Your Monitor Resolution: TV will be running at 1080p
Additional Comments:
- Are there any considerations between using a i3-4130 and an i3-4330 (.1GHz and 1MB cache that big a difference for $30)? I understand the i3-4330 might be a little overkill, but if it allows me some expandability/lifespan in the future and falls to a low enough idle current draw, I'm fine with it. Most worried with having a processor powerful enough to be viable to run the tuner card so it can perform DVR duties and do some very light gaming or play a Blu-ray at the same time.
- From what I'm seeing I should be expecting idle power draw of around 30W, correct?
- I went with the Asus H87M-PRO instead of the H87I-PLUS to allow some flexibility for future expansion, didn't see a huge wattage difference (2-3 watts at load despite form factor), does that sound right?
- The fastest ram I can use in the board is 1600, correct? Is 8GB going to draw significantly more wattage than 4GB? I figured it's adding a little lifespan and if need be I can pull a stick to run a different project in the future.
- Comparable AMD offerings, while potentially more powerful, are going to destroy any kind of heat/power considerations, correct?
- There's no point to shelling out for a Blu-ray burner, is there? I have one on my main computer, and I feel like this computer isn't quite powerful enough for me to trust it burning Blu-rays.
And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Was looking at using an Acer RevoCenter with a D525 and decided I might as well get something snappier with more capability and replace the cable company DVR at the same time.
Appreciate any and all feedback you have - thanks in advance!
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