Final Check Help? 1st build, HTPC+

[novuslotus]

Thank so much to the input I've already had thus far from these forums. Kind of nervous to pull the trigger, but here's what I'm aiming for:

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Next 12-24 hrs, BUDGET RANGE: Around $700.
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: HD DVR/Media Center, capable of playing/rip Bluray (after future purchase of drive), stream hulu/orb, run XBMC & Miro, everyday internet surfing, productivity. No gaming.
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: No keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, already have PCI TV tuner, will get Win7 64-bit OS separately, outside this budget, from school.
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: none specified, COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
OVERCLOCKING: Not in the near future.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Quiet is key, but powerful enough to smoothly function. Will go with onboard graphics unless I discover it's not enough, then will pick up an ATI card if needed. Going with modular PSU as they seem to work better in the 8000 case.

Current plan:
CASE – nMedia 8000 case. $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811204039
CPU – AMD Athlon II X4 630 Propus 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core. $113
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103704
MOTHERBOARD – MSI 790FX-GD70 AM3. $164
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130223&Tpk=MSI%20790FX-GD70
PSU – OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V / EPS12V Modular Power Supply. $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022
TV-TUNER – Hauppauge card. (already have it)
HARD DRIVES – 2 x 1TB Western Digital Green Hard Drives (WD10EADS). $160 (already bought them, or else would have gone Samsung)
OPTICAL DRIVE – Samsung Super-WriteMaster SH-S223. $20 used (will switch out for Bluray drive later)
RAM – G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333, PC3 10666. $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231276

TOTAL: $722

Would really appreciate anyone who can let me know if they see any huge design flaws here or any reason this wouldn't come together for the purposes I described above. Thanks so much to everyone!

 

[gkay09]

^ That FX board doesnt come with onboard graphics...And you wont need a FX chipset...
Go with a 785G chipset mobo that comes with onboard 4200 and would suffice for 1080p decode and playback...

and as for the CPU, the 630 is just an overclocked 620...
Get this CPU + RAM combo...after rebates, it is a good deal...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.313680

 

[Silvune]

Have you considered getting an i3? It is just as cheap as a AMD build in this kind of usage range and lower power usage is another advantage.

 

[MadAdmiral]

On the i3: I would stick with a quad core. Dual cores are slowly going extinct.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

On the i3: I would stick with a quad core. Dual cores are slowly going extinct.

Have you seen the benchmarks for the i3? They compete directly with the AMD quad cores in many areas, including video encoding. The i3 is an excellent suggestion for this particular build.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3704&p=8

 

[MadAdmiral]

They're close, but still behind (at least the best AMD). And I would not say that being over 25 frames per second behind is close on video encoding. You missed the last line of the review: "If you do a lot of encoding, you want four cores. Simple as that."

I'm not going to say that a straight up HTPC wouldn't benefit from looking at the i3s, but the AMD dual cores are still a lot cheaper.

Once you consider the deals, the prices are drastically different (like $60-70).

 

[mindless728]

go for the AMD quad, out performs the i3 and the system would have slightly better integrated solution

 

[shortstuff_mt]

They're close, but still behind (at least the best AMD). And I would not say that being over 25 frames per second behind is close on video encoding. You missed the last line of the review: "If you do a lot of encoding, you want four cores. Simple as that."

The problem is, nobody has mentioned the "best" AMD chips in this thread. The OP was going to go with the Athlon II X4 630, so that's what I used in the comparison. The i3 competes very well with the Athlon II X4. That's going strictly on performance, the two chips aren't even in the same ball park when you look at the power consumption numbers. I'm just saying that the i3 suggestion was not as bad as you made it seem. I would certainly consider it for the OP's intended use.

If you're going to accuse me of not reading part of the article, I guess I'll do the same. Here's a paragraph from the conclusion:

"For a HTPC there's simply none better than these new Clarkies. The on-package GPU keeps power consumption nice and low, enabling some pretty cool mini-ITX designs that we'll see this year. Then there's the feature holy-grail: Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD-MA bitstreaming over HDMI. If you're serious about building an HTPC in 2010, you'll want one of Intel's new Core i3s or i5s."

Since this is mainly a HTPC, I don't see how the arguments against it are valid.

 

[boljack]

Try and look at this

-GIGABYTE GA-MA785GMT-UD2H AM3 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail = $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128397

-AMD Athlon II X4 620 Propus 2.6GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor Model ADX620WFGIBOX - Retail =$188.99

-OCZ AMD Black Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model OCZ3BE1600C8LV4GK - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.313680

-nMEDIAPC Red Wood Wood/Steel HTPC 8000 ATX Media Center / HTPC Case - Retail =$89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811204039

– OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V / EPS12V Modular Power Supply. $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341022

Or you can choose this combo for the same total amount but powerful PSU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.319773

All for $439.

If u have a AVR that supports HD sound I would look at the Intel Clarkedale build, but I believe you can also add HD 5600 or 5400 series when it comes out which will probably supports HD sound bitstreaming like their big brother.