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HTPC build advice

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  • Streaming
  • Systems
Last response: in Systems
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October 16, 2014 8:28:42 AM

Budget & Location:
Budget: $500
Location: US

Use:
I will be using this as an HTPC and a Steam streaming device. I have a gaming rig, but it is in the office and I would like to be able to jump on and play a streaming Steam game if I wanted to. I will be running XBMC, as well as playing and streaming HD/3D media files to HDTVs on my wired home network.

Monitors & Peripherals
This will only be hooked up to my 1920 x 1080 HDTV. I do not need an OS, and although I have a wired mouse and keyboard, I think I would like a bluetooth setup to make searching and game playing easier.

I have an i5/256GB/8GB RAM Surface Pro 3 that I thought about using, but I think that I am going to return it because it gets kind of hot when running HTPC stuff and I am afraid that will lessen its lifespan. Plus, it is a really expensive option.

Thank you in advance for any and all advice, suggestions and help.

More about : htpc build advice

October 16, 2014 8:54:23 AM

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($73.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: HIS Radeon R7 260X 2GB iCooler Video Card ($120.05 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $497.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-16 11:54 EDT-0400
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October 16, 2014 9:10:25 AM

logainofhades said:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($73.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: HIS Radeon R7 260X 2GB iCooler Video Card ($120.05 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $497.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-16 11:54 EDT-0400


Thank you very much for your response and build suggestion. This will do everything that I need it to? I guess I am a little worried about the CPU. I though I would have to go for at least an iX series.
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October 16, 2014 9:13:51 AM

An i3 would have been better, but that would have taken you over budget, and you would have been stuck with a worse GPU.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($73.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GT 730 1GB Video Card ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $502.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-16 12:15 EDT-0400
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October 16, 2014 9:15:48 AM

logainofhades said:
An i3 would have been better, but that would have taken you over budget, and you would have been stuck with a worse GPU.


Dohhh! I didn't even see the GPU you have listed. That looks like it would be great. Can you recommend a Nvidia GPU equivalent?
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October 16, 2014 9:29:38 AM

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A8-7600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($107.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI A78M-E35 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($73.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($77.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Silverstone ML03B HTPC Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($42.27 @ TigerDirect)
Keyboard: Microsoft 2LF-00001 Wireless Standard Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($19.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $500.19
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-16 12:29 EDT-0400

This is miles better for watching movies than the Surface Pro. This has a Hybrid drive, which gives the benefit of the speed of an SSD with the storage of a hard drive. It can also just sit beside your television for the convenience and a BluRay drive for the 3D and high definition content.

Let me know what you think.
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October 16, 2014 9:32:08 AM

This is the closest you are going to get to an Nvidia equivalent.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($73.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($137.98 @ OutletPC)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($19.30 @ Amazon)
Total: $525.22
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-16 12:31 EDT-0400
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October 16, 2014 10:16:41 AM

dottorrent said:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A8-7600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($107.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI A78M-E35 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($73.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($77.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Silverstone ML03B HTPC Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($42.27 @ TigerDirect)
Keyboard: Microsoft 2LF-00001 Wireless Standard Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($19.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $500.19
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-16 12:29 EDT-0400

This is miles better for watching movies than the Surface Pro. This has a Hybrid drive, which gives the benefit of the speed of an SSD with the storage of a hard drive. It can also just sit beside your television for the convenience and a BluRay drive for the 3D and high definition content.

Let me know what you think.


Thank you for the response.

I have not used an AMD APU before, but I do like the idea of having the CPU/GPU in one chip. I have read, though, that they tend to run high power and heat. Is that true?

logainofhades said:
This is the closest you are going to get to an Nvidia equivalent.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($73.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($137.98 @ OutletPC)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($19.30 @ Amazon)
Total: $525.22
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-16 12:31 EDT-0400


That is not a bad card, at all. What do you think about the AMD suggestion?
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October 16, 2014 10:19:32 AM

It won't game as well as a dedicated CPU/GPU will. For just HTPC use the AMD APU's are pretty solid.
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October 16, 2014 10:29:51 AM

logainofhades said:
It won't game as well as a dedicated CPU/GPU will. For just HTPC use the AMD APU's are pretty solid.


Thanks!

I will only be gaming through Steam's In-Home Streaming service, so no actual gaming will be done on the HTPC. Would that be good to go?

Edit: If I went with the AMD, do I have to use 2133 RAM or can I use 1866?
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!