APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Next month or so
BUDGET RANGE: 400$ +/- 50$
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: HTPC for DVD, Hulu, Music, etc. Will also share a printer, drives, etc. May use to serve media around the house, if possible.
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, OS (Win 7 64 Pro or Home Prem)
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg, Amazon
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: US
PARTS PREFERENCES: microATX form factor
OVERCLOCKING: No
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080 (over HDMI through Denon AVR-2310CI into Pioneer Kuro KRP-500M)
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: PC will be housed in media closet close to gigabit ethernet, cable, power, etc. Would like it to use as little electricity as is reasonable.
I'd like to build an HTPC/Media PC for my living room. I haven't ever fully built a PC, but have basically done everything except put a MB in a case. I used to build/rebuild/OC (on the old Celeron 300s) about 12 years ago, but since then have been purchasing pre-built mostly.
PC will be in closet, so the look of the case is not terribly important. Will be hooked up via HDMI, and will use a Media Center remote through my existing IR Repeater system.
I'm currently considering the following parts:
Motherboard + CPU Combo = $216, $206 AR
GIGABYTE GA-H55M-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i3-540 Clarkdale 3.06GHz LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80616I3540
Combo Discount
MIR
RAM - 93$
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
Remote - 27$
AVS Gear GP-IR02BK Vista 2 channel IR Remote Control
Hard-disk - Whatever SATA 500-1TB drive I can find for 40-75$
No Optical Drive needed right now
My biggest issue is the case / PSU to buy. What would work well for this? I'd prefer to buy a combo, just for ease of building, but can be persuaded to buy separates. As I said, the case doesn't have to be a pretty HTPC, so long as it is reliable. One 5.25", a few internal 3.5" bays, and some front USB ports. There are so many choices, and I'm not sure what to look for. Cheaper is better, but it's hard to tell what is cheap and what is junk.
Obviously, I'm open to suggestions about my choices. I'm not locked into Intel i3, but want something easy and reliable for family use. Trying to be reasonably future-proof (chosing this over D525 Atom).
Thanks in advance.
BUDGET RANGE: 400$ +/- 50$
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: HTPC for DVD, Hulu, Music, etc. Will also share a printer, drives, etc. May use to serve media around the house, if possible.
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, OS (Win 7 64 Pro or Home Prem)
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg, Amazon
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: US
PARTS PREFERENCES: microATX form factor
OVERCLOCKING: No
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080 (over HDMI through Denon AVR-2310CI into Pioneer Kuro KRP-500M)
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: PC will be housed in media closet close to gigabit ethernet, cable, power, etc. Would like it to use as little electricity as is reasonable.
I'd like to build an HTPC/Media PC for my living room. I haven't ever fully built a PC, but have basically done everything except put a MB in a case. I used to build/rebuild/OC (on the old Celeron 300s) about 12 years ago, but since then have been purchasing pre-built mostly.
PC will be in closet, so the look of the case is not terribly important. Will be hooked up via HDMI, and will use a Media Center remote through my existing IR Repeater system.
I'm currently considering the following parts:
Motherboard + CPU Combo = $216, $206 AR
GIGABYTE GA-H55M-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i3-540 Clarkdale 3.06GHz LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80616I3540
Combo Discount
MIR
RAM - 93$
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
Remote - 27$
AVS Gear GP-IR02BK Vista 2 channel IR Remote Control
Hard-disk - Whatever SATA 500-1TB drive I can find for 40-75$
No Optical Drive needed right now
My biggest issue is the case / PSU to buy. What would work well for this? I'd prefer to buy a combo, just for ease of building, but can be persuaded to buy separates. As I said, the case doesn't have to be a pretty HTPC, so long as it is reliable. One 5.25", a few internal 3.5" bays, and some front USB ports. There are so many choices, and I'm not sure what to look for. Cheaper is better, but it's hard to tell what is cheap and what is junk.
Obviously, I'm open to suggestions about my choices. I'm not locked into Intel i3, but want something easy and reliable for family use. Trying to be reasonably future-proof (chosing this over D525 Atom).
Thanks in advance.
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