Hi all!
I am gonna take a crack at building a HTPC. I have never built in a small case and have only used full-sized ATX Mobos in full-sized towers. I just want to make sure everything in my build is compatible as well as practical for what I will be using it for.
Approximate Purchase Date: This month or next
Budget Range: 400-600 (can go higher if need be, but nothing over 800)
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Watch TV (through either HD Homerun Prime or a Tuner Card), Watch HD(1080P) Movies, Music, DVR, Surf Net
Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, Display, Cables, Software
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg
Country of Origin: USA
Parts Preferences: Intel CPU, otherwise whatever works and does not fail
Overclocking: Nope
SLI or Crossfire: No need
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080, 1920x1200, Possibly higher? I am using a Samsung 40'' LCD 1080P HDTV 120FPS
Additional Comments: I will be using Win7 x64 Ultimate. Would like a nice black Case that will look nice next to my other A/V units. I would love to have a remote or an RF/IR sensor to use a remote or else I want a HTPC device such as a mouse/remote/keyboard or something like that to navigate the system. Also, would the integerated graphics in the Sandy Bridge be enough to playback 1080P movies and stuff like that without getting bogged down? I am not a big fan of lag in any form and I have read about the 23-24FPS problem with losing a frame and if that would pose a problem in playback would going with a P67 MOBO and a low-profile graphics card be an option?
This is basically what I have so far, the case and graphics is what I am really concerned with, I don't want to run into any issues with playing back movies.
Newegg Saved Wishlist of the HTPC Build
Mobo
ASRock H67M (B3) LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
ASRock H67M-GE/HT LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
CPU
Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz
RAM
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 Is 4GB enough? Would 8GB be better?
PS
Diablotek PHD Series 380W Micro ATX Power Supply
Cases - can't decide which one is best (Cases with a PS I will not be buying the one above)
Antec Black Aluminum / Steel Fusion Remote Black Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case
nMEDIAPC Black Aluminum / Steel HTPC 2000B ATX Media Center / HTPC Case
APEVIA Black SECC Steel / Aluminum X-MASTER-BK/500 ATX Media Center / HTPC Case
CD/Blu-Ray
LITE-ON Black Blu-ray Burner Its a burner because its really not all the more expensive than a reader... looking to the future!
HDD
Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 7200 RPM Boot Drive
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Media Drive
Have I covered all the bases? Do I need to change/add anything to make it work flawlessly? Currently I stream movies from my PC to my 360 which some movies don't work a lot of the time (hardware issue?) so I wanna make sure when I play them directly from or stream to this HTPC it will work with no probs.
I am gonna take a crack at building a HTPC. I have never built in a small case and have only used full-sized ATX Mobos in full-sized towers. I just want to make sure everything in my build is compatible as well as practical for what I will be using it for.
Approximate Purchase Date: This month or next
Budget Range: 400-600 (can go higher if need be, but nothing over 800)
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Watch TV (through either HD Homerun Prime or a Tuner Card), Watch HD(1080P) Movies, Music, DVR, Surf Net
Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, Display, Cables, Software
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg
Country of Origin: USA
Parts Preferences: Intel CPU, otherwise whatever works and does not fail
Overclocking: Nope
SLI or Crossfire: No need
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080, 1920x1200, Possibly higher? I am using a Samsung 40'' LCD 1080P HDTV 120FPS
Additional Comments: I will be using Win7 x64 Ultimate. Would like a nice black Case that will look nice next to my other A/V units. I would love to have a remote or an RF/IR sensor to use a remote or else I want a HTPC device such as a mouse/remote/keyboard or something like that to navigate the system. Also, would the integerated graphics in the Sandy Bridge be enough to playback 1080P movies and stuff like that without getting bogged down? I am not a big fan of lag in any form and I have read about the 23-24FPS problem with losing a frame and if that would pose a problem in playback would going with a P67 MOBO and a low-profile graphics card be an option?
This is basically what I have so far, the case and graphics is what I am really concerned with, I don't want to run into any issues with playing back movies.
Newegg Saved Wishlist of the HTPC Build
Mobo
ASRock H67M (B3) LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
ASRock H67M-GE/HT LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
CPU
Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz
RAM
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 Is 4GB enough? Would 8GB be better?
PS
Diablotek PHD Series 380W Micro ATX Power Supply
Cases - can't decide which one is best (Cases with a PS I will not be buying the one above)
Antec Black Aluminum / Steel Fusion Remote Black Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case
nMEDIAPC Black Aluminum / Steel HTPC 2000B ATX Media Center / HTPC Case
APEVIA Black SECC Steel / Aluminum X-MASTER-BK/500 ATX Media Center / HTPC Case
CD/Blu-Ray
LITE-ON Black Blu-ray Burner Its a burner because its really not all the more expensive than a reader... looking to the future!
HDD
Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 7200 RPM Boot Drive
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Media Drive
Have I covered all the bases? Do I need to change/add anything to make it work flawlessly? Currently I stream movies from my PC to my 360 which some movies don't work a lot of the time (hardware issue?) so I wanna make sure when I play them directly from or stream to this HTPC it will work with no probs.