Mid-High Range HTPC - About to purchase

[rdy2go]

Planning to pick up this HTPC tonight and wanted to double check if anyone saw any obvious flaws. Also, planning to use 7MC with it for wife friendliness, open to other recommendations there as well. #1 priority is solid DVR capabilities.

GIGABYTE GA-H57M-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel H57 HDMI USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
$119.99
The mobo is overkill but for $20 more I figured adding USB 3.0 and RAID for future options made it worthwhile.

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ600MXSP 600W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply compatible with core i7
$49.99
The PSU also seems to be overkill but I know this one works with the mobo and it's been awhile since I did a build, open to recommendations (needs to have EPS I think).

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$89.99

Intel Core i3-530 Clarkdale 2.93GHz LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Model BX80616I3530
$119.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
$105.99

nMEDIAPC Black Aluminum / Acrylic / Steel HTPC 5000B Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case
$59.99

---------------------------------
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Today!
BUDGET RANGE: 500-650

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: DVR, Playing saved movies/pictures, hulu, web browsing, video conferencing

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, video capture /tuner card (dual ATI 650 HD TV Wonder PCI, from woot)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe, prob no

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080 and up

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Quiet HTPC

 

[shortstuff_mt]

The build looks good. I would usually recommend picking up some CAS 7 RAM, but it really won't matter for a HTPC. My one suggestion would be to look at a smaller 80+ Bronze or Silver rated PSU for a cooler running and more efficient machine. You're right, 600W is massive overkill for that system. Even a quality 380W PSU would work fine. Here's a few suggestions:

Antec EarthWatts Green EA-430D Green 430W 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply $59.99

SeaSonic S12II 380B 380W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail $51.99

SeaSonic S12II 430B 430W ATX12V V2.3/EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail $61.99

 

[rdy2go]

The build looks good. I would usually recommend picking up some CAS 7 RAM, but it really won't matter for a HTPC. My one suggestion would be to look at a smaller 80+ Bronze or Silver rated PSU for a cooler running and more efficient machine. You're right, 600W is massive overkill for that system. Even a quality 380W PSU would work fine. Here's a few suggestions:

Antec EarthWatts Green EA-430D Green 430W 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply $59.99

SeaSonic S12II 380B 380W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail $51.99

SeaSonic S12II 430B 430W ATX12V V2.3/EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail $61.99

It looks like the difference between 80 plus and 80 plus bronze isn't big. Would there be more heat and noise by using a larger PSU (600 vs. 380)? the 600w is the same price or lower.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_PLUS

 

[rwpritchett]

+1 to shortstuff's comment... unless you are buying these parts as a packaged deal.

WAF is very important for HTPC's. I suggest you invest in a logitech harmony remote and/or dinovo keyboard to make things easier for your spouse.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

The extra heat and noise isn't from the higher wattage rating, it's from the 80+ Bronze rating. The less power that's lost as heat energy the better. PSU's also run at their peak efficiency at about 50% load. A 600W PSU isn't a good idea for a low power HTPC that would be lucky to pull 200W.

If you're not impressed with the difference between 80+ and 80+ Bronze, you could step up to 80+ Silver. The problem is that there aren't many low wattage 80+ Silver PSU's available.

OCZ Z-Series OCZZ550 550W ATX12V 2.2/ EPS12V 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Active PFC Power Supply $89.99 - $20 MIR

Of course you can do whatever you want. I'm just trying to help.

 

[rdy2go]

The extra heat and noise isn't from the higher wattage rating, it's from the 80+ Bronze rating. The less power that's lost as heat energy the better. PSU's also run at their peak efficiency at about 50% load. A 600W PSU isn't a good idea for a low power HTPC that would be lucky to pull 200W.

If you're not impressed with the difference between 80+ and 80+ Bronze, you could step up to 80+ Silver. The problem is that there aren't many low wattage 80+ Silver PSU's available.

OCZ Z-Series OCZZ550 550W ATX12V 2.2/ EPS12V 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Active PFC Power Supply $89.99 - $20 MIR

Of course you can do whatever you want. I'm just trying to help.

Great Stuff! Thanks for the help. It's going to be one of these two:

Antec EarthWatts Green EA-430D Green 430W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Suppl

SeaSonic S12II 430B 430W ATX12V V2.3/EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail


Do you have a personal preference? Antec or SeaSonic

 

[rdy2go]

I opted for the SeaSonic because of the warranty and fan for only $2 more.

 

[MadAdmiral]

That's a good choice. Both Antec and SeaSonic's units are high quality, but I would say that SeaSonic's are slightly better.