HTPC build and cases with remotes

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fredsone

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Apr 14, 2015
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Hi

I am thinking about building a HTPC.
I have just started looking at parts and am currently looking at an AMD A6-7400K and a MSI A88XI AC Mini ITX FM2+ as a start point.
Any views on this combo are welcome, if we build the pc its initial use will be cable tv and online streaming.

I see there are a number of case remote combos available, but how do the htpc remotes work?
I can’t find much online, as best as I can ascertain they work like a wireless mouse with some sort of gyroscope location function... sort of....

 
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Outlander_04

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Usually the remotes are IR just like a tv remote . The one that shipped with the tv tuner card I have has MCE drivers that work with windows MCE to control the functions of MCE .

I have never seen that case though . I suggest you contact the manufacturer or retailer and ask them what it does and how it works . They will be the ones who know
 
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jmsellars1

jmsellars1

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Dec 31, 2010
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You can buy media remotes separate from cases, don't let it dictate which case you choose. I've never used one but as far as I know they usually have a button to open Windows Media Centre or XBMC and the remote will flick through that. You just have to set your media library to go through Windows Media Centre or XBMC or something.

The A6-7400K is a decent choice but if it was me I'd get either an AMD 5350 or A8-7600. The 5350 is still enough power for your purpose but much cheaper and the A8 is much more powerful for only $20 more.
 
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fredsone

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Apr 14, 2015
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Hi
Thanks for the replies.
I didn’t know about MCE, I will need to look into that.
The case caught my eye because it is cheap and looks like something that should be next to a TV although I am not sure about using a generic power supply included in a €50 case :)...

Thanks for the AMD 5350/A8-7600 tips I will compare them, this is my second attempt at a build so any input is appreciated.

Regards
 
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jmsellars1

jmsellars1

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Fair enough. If I was building a HTPC/NAS type system at the moment I'd definitely use a 5350. Performance isn't great but definitely enough for movies and browsing. Most importantly though the power consumption is very low, that's good for a system that's likely to be left on all the time. Keeps it nice and cool too.

Here's another idea if you like this case as I do:

PCPartPicker part list: http://de.pcpartpicker.com/p/LYzVzy
Price breakdown by merchant: http://de.pcpartpicker.com/p/LYzVzy/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD 5350 2.05Ghz Quad-Core Processor (€46.90 @ Caseking)
Motherboard: ASRock AM1H-ITX Mini ITX AM1 Motherboard (€64.07 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: GeIL EVO Leggara Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (€49.53 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Seagate Momentus SpinPoint 2TB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive (€114.25 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: Streacom ST-F1CS-EVO HTPC Case (€85.27 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Optical Drive: Panasonic UJ-265 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer (€92.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Other: 120W PSU (€27.99)
Total: €481.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-19 14:57 CEST+0200


That bluray reader is very expensive though unfortunately, you could shop around to find a cheaper one. Same issue with the hard drive really, have a look around and see if you can find cheaper ones or perhaps try an external USB 3.0 one? I'd help but I don't speak any German :eek:. It needs to be a slim (laptop) slot loading optical drive and 2.5'' hard drive. (The case says it supports 3.5'' drives but I think you would have heat issues and it means your cooler needs to be like 25mm tall and there aren't many coolers on the market that small.

If you could do that, this would be a nice little system with a fanless PSU. Hope that helps.

EDIT: That case has a gap for an IR receiver by the way and Streacom make a receiver and remote for it.
 
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fredsone

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Apr 14, 2015
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Thanks for the suggestions Jmsellars1

I have looked at a lot of cases and have tentatively narrowed it to your suggestion of the Streacom ST-F1CS EVO or perhaps the Silverstone ML03B, but then there is the.........

The Seagate 2.5" drive is a good idea, I had overlooked that solution.

As for the motherboard, I originally chose the AMD MSI A88XI AC Mini ITX FM2+ because it has more spec than I need (can’t go wrong there), I have seen it for about €90 and it has WIFI.
We need any build to have WIFI which (unless it is integrated into the board) could pose an issue in some of the smaller cases.
Was your suggestion of the ASRock AM1H-ITX driven only by price or do you see this board as a better option for a HTPC?

Regards
 
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jmsellars1

jmsellars1

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The ASRock AM1H-ITX actually has some great features for a small build.

- It has a 'Pico' type PSU integrated into the board which means it can be powered by a power brick like you use for a laptop. They're not (usually) cheap but generally very efficient, small and fanless.

- It also has a mini PCI-e slot so you can add a wi-fi/bluetooth card without using a full PCI-e slot or a USB port. The Intel Wireless-AC 7260 for example has dual band wi-fi and bluetooth, cheaper cards are available too.

- It also supports 7.1 audio and display port in case you wanted to use either of those.


One downside to this board though is that the PCI-e x16 slot actually runs at x4 speed. That means it would probably bottleneck a mid-high end graphics card. Shouldn't matter if you're not using one though. I wouldn't recommend one on this build anyway, the heat and power consumption would go through the roof and you can't fit one in that Streacom case anyway.
 
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Chayan4400

Chayan4400

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor (€57.26 @ Home of Hardware DE)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (€67.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (€53.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Seagate 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€93.17 @ Pixmania DE)
Case: Antec ISK600 Mini ITX Tower Case (€54.40 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€69.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Other: LG Optical Drive (€15.66)
Other: Logitech K400 Wireless Keyboard and Trackpad (€24.89)
Total: €437.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-21 13:05 CEST+0200

There you go. Includes everything you will need, except for Windows :). If you need a blu-ray player, swap out the DVD drive for this: Click Here.

The K400 is a must for any HTPC build, it makes navigating windows very easy from the couch. The case is very sleek and minimalistic, so it won't ruin the look of the room. It also has good ventilation to keep all the components cool.

The Pentium will handle 1080p streaming no problem, and won't consume huge amounts of electricity. It also can play a few tuned down games too, as long as it isn't anything too wild. The motherboard is perfect for an HTPC build, it has optical out, HDMI and 7.1 audio, so you can go all digital if you want to.

The PSU is the most important, excellent quality since it is from seasonic, and also is modular so no extra cables, which is important in such a small case. 8 GB of RAM is plenty for this build, should allow plenty of multitasking! 2TB of HDD space is enough for about ~50 HD movies.

All in all, I think the only way you can improve on this build for HTPC purposes is a boot SSD for fast boot up times.
Something like this: Click Here.

Also, this is just my opinion, but with windows 8 a lot of the MCE remotes became incompatible, and really since windows 10 is more tablet-like in it's UI design, I'd say you will be more comfortable with the K400. No one really uses MCE remotes anymore, simply because it is easier to use a trackpad than to select things by waving a remote around (think Wii games.), because most remotes are inaccurate, and some don't even have the cursor option, relying instead completely on buttons.

UPDATE: Here are the links for the last two items:

Logitech K400:Click Here
LG Slimline DVD Drive: Click Here.
 
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jmsellars1

jmsellars1

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I love the K400, I have one myself and they are great. Haven't had to change the batteries in 2 years, feels high quality and is indestructable. It gets dropped and thrown around regularly and works fine, not a scratch on it. The only annoying thing is that it actually needs line of sight of the receiver to work so even if you're 6 feet away and there's just a coffee table in the way or something it won't work. Easily fixed though, you could just get a USB extension cable and put the receiver on top of the TV or something.
 
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