Building a media PC for the living room

ThxMAD · May 31, 2017

Hello everyone,

I am looking for a low-cost build for a media PC that would be connected to my main TV, which is only 1080P capable, and would be directly connected to an ethernet cable. It would be used for the following:

Access media stored locally and in Onedrive (music and HD videos)
Use In-Home Streaming feature from Steam as a client (main gaming rig is somewhere else in the house)
Stream HD videos
Read Blu-ray Discs
Run full Windows 10, Chrome and Steam of course

For these uses, I have a couple of questions:

I was currently looking at this build:

CPU - i3-7100
Motherboard - ASRock H110M-ITX Mini-ITX
RAM - Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133
Case - Inwin BP655.FH200B Mini ITX w/200W Power Supply
Blu-ray drive - LG WH14NS40
HDD - Western Digital WD10EZEX 1TB

Thanks for your help!

USAFRet · May 31, 2017

The i3 is enough
8GB RAM recommended
GPU not needed.

My current HTPC uses (currently) an i5-3570k. Previously, it was a Pentium G840, w4GB RAM. Worked just fine.

Zerk2012 · May 31, 2017

You need to buy a B250 board with that processor.
Even this would work nice.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($62.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI - B250I GAMING PRO AC Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($88.33 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($66.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $217.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-31 16:25 EDT-0400

geofelt · May 31, 2017

Your plan would work as is.
To answer your questions:

I3 is more than enough.
Integrated graphics is fine.
You never can have too much ram.
But, I have some concerns.

1. Most power supplies that come with cases are junk.
Antec might be the main exception.
Look for a case that appeals to you and buy a quality Seasonic psu.
150w will work with the efficient kaby lake processors.
Here is an antec isk300
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129080

H110 motherboards are cheap.
But, unless they were manufactured after Dec 2016, they will not have the bios that enables running a 7th gen processor.
Better to buy a B250 based motherboard to be certain.

I3-7100 is more than you need. Look at the G4620 which still has 4 threads. It also includes the excellent HD630 integrated graphics.

Integrated graphics performs better with dual channel ram. Buy a 2 x 4gb kit if 8gb will suffice. Speed does not matter.

I will never again build without a ssd for the "C" drive. It makes everything you do much quicker.
120gb is minimum, it will hold the os and a handful of games.
But, many things default to the "C" drive.
When a SSD nears full, it will lose performance and endurance.
240gb is the recommended minimum.
Samsung EVO is a good choice for performance and reliability.

logainofhades · May 31, 2017

Zerk2012 :

I mostly agree with that setup. I would change the ram to ddr4 2400, as that is what Kaby Lake chips are specced for. Will give a slight boost to IGP performance too. The pentium G4560 runs a weaker IGP, than the i3, (610 vs 630) but I haven't seen any performance numbers for them.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($62.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI - B250I GAMING PRO AC Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($88.33 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $210.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-31 16:34 EDT-0400

Edit- I was not aware of the 4600 and 4620 using the HD 630 graphics. Probably would recommend one of those instead, as well.

Zerk2012 · May 31, 2017

I don't think it will matter watching movies at 1080p

ThxMAD · May 31, 2017

geofelt :

Your plan would work as is.
To answer your questions:

I3 is more than enough.
Integrated graphics is fine.
You never can have too much ram.
But, I have some concerns.

1. Most power supplies that come with cases are junk.
Antec might be the main exception.
Look for a case that appeals to you and buy a quality Seasonic psu.
150w will work with the efficient kaby lake processors.
Here is an antec isk300
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129080

H110 motherboards are cheap.
But, unless they were manufactured after Dec 2016, they will not have the bios that enables running a 7th gen processor.
Better to buy a B250 based motherboard to be certain.

I3-7100 is more than you need. Look at the G4620 which still has 4 threads. It also includes the excellent HD630 integrated graphics.

Integrated graphics performs better with dual channel ram. Buy a 2 x 4gb kit if 8gb will suffice. Speed does not matter.

I will never again build without a ssd for the "C" drive. It makes everything you do much quicker.
120gb is minimum, it will hold the os and a handful of games.
But, many things default to the "C" drive.
When a SSD nears full, it will lose performance and endurance.
240gb is the recommended minimum.
Samsung EVO is a good choice for performance and reliability.

Thanks a lot, learned quite a bit on your post. Will watch out for these!

ThxMAD · May 31, 2017

logainofhades :

Zerk2012 :

I mostly agree with that setup. I would change the ram to ddr4 2400, as that is what Kaby Lake chips are specced for. Will give a slight boost to IGP performance too. The pentium G4560 runs a weaker IGP, than the i3, (610 vs 630) but I haven't seen any performance numbers for them.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($62.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI - B250I GAMING PRO AC Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($88.33 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $210.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-31 16:34 EDT-0400

Edit- I was not aware of the 4600 and 4620 using the HD 630 graphics. Probably would recommend one of those instead, as well.

Thanks for your contribution, I will probably end up with this build. Very appreciated!

logainofhades · Jun 1, 2017

Zerk2012 :

Well with the ram a bit better performance, for less, is a good thing. The 610 vs the 630, I really cannot say how much of a difference there is.

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Building a media PC for the living room

ThxMAD

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logainofhades

USAFRet

Titan

Zerk2012

Titan

geofelt

Titan

logainofhades

Titan

Zerk2012

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ThxMAD

Commendable

ThxMAD

Commendable

logainofhades

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