Diy HTPC build

gollum456

Reputable
Mar 30, 2014
4
0
4,510
Hi all, my PC (10 year old lol) has finally given up the ghost, so I have decided to build a HTPC which will sit in my TV cabinet as a replacement. I only want it for internet browsing, streaming video's and pictures from my phone and to play Blu-ray discs.
I do however want some degree of future proofing so I don't want to go cheapest of the cheap. Before I post what I came up with using PC parts picker, I would appreciate it if you could answer some questions I have:-

1) Intel i3 or i5? will a top end i3 processor be sufficient or is it worth the extra £40 or so for a lower end i5?

2) Am I better off with a cheaper mobo with a dedicated graphics card and sound card or a Intel H67 mobo that can do it all?

3) Should i have a separate HDD for operating system and one for storage?

4) If the answer to (3) is yes, should I use a SSD for operating system? If so why?

5) If I get a 1 TB HDD do I need to partition it? If yes, why?

6) can I make this system cheaper considering what I need it for?

This is all I can think of at the moment lol. :) My builds with slight variations are here - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/gol...edbuild_989646

Any advice greatly appreciated.
 
You could probably do all of those things fine on a Celeron, I'd say anything more powerful than an i3 would be a waste.

I'd go for an i3-4130 with 4GB RAM and a SSD with no GPU.

CPU - The i3-4130 is more than powerful enough for browsing and videos, it's actually a great gaming CPU so it should last you a while. The integrated graphics are fine for 1080P and you can just add a graphics card later if you want an upgrade.

RAM - 4GB is fine for your usage and again, you can upgrade later if not.

MOBO - You should be fine with something basic here so long as it has everything you need in terms of ports. ie. you might want a wi-fi antenna connector or surround sound or something. I wouldn't bother with dedicated sound or graphics cards unless you have awesome $500+ speakers or something as you won't see a huge benefit otherwise.

SSD - A SSD will make all of your programs including your OS open a lot faster and so the system will just generally feel quicker and more satisfying to use. They are expensive per GB though so I'd get a 120-256GB one and a 1-2TB HDD



 

gollum456

Reputable
Mar 30, 2014
4
0
4,510
Sorry, don't know why link isn't working. My build is as follows:-

Intel core i3 3250 3.5ghz
Intel DH67BLB3 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard
Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory
Sandisk 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (for o/s)
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (for storage)
Silverstone GD05B-USB3.0 (Black) HTPC Case
Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
Pioneer BDC-207DBK Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer
TP-Link TL-WN881ND 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter

I think I have everything I need, or do l? Is there anywhere in this build where I could save a few pounds? Mobo perhaps?
 

combine1237

Honorable
Jul 19, 2012
808
0
11,360
If you can get upgraded psu over cx series for greater quality. Unless you want to game just get a haswell i3 and 4gb of ram along with a ~ 128 gb ssd for more space, better igpu, and 8gb of ram is not needed for browsing the internet and video playback.