Disclaimer: Just so you know that I'm not just out to waste everyone's time, I have spent about 20 hours over the past few days doing research, catching myself up on the technology (AMD APUs, Intel Sandy Bridge, etc), and of course browsing the forums here. I was able to put together what I thought would be a decent system, but it seems inordinately pricey (about $850 all together), and I'm not 100% sure it'll work as intended.
What I'm looking for: Some advice on if this is even close to being an optimal set up for what I have in mind.
Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next week or two, unless there's a compelling reason to wait longer
Budget Range: $500-600 before rebates
System Usage: This will be a HTPC.
Parts Not Required: I don't need a tuner card, I don't use cable/satellite TV. If there's another reason to get one, let me know
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I generally use Newegg, Tiger Direct (haven't used in a while), or Amazon for parts
Country of Origin: USA
Parts Preferences: I've generally stuck with Intel CPUs, nVidia GPUs, and Western Digital HDDs, but have absolutely no aversion to quality parts from any manufacturer
Overclocking: No
SLI or Crossfire: No
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 on a 42" LCD TV
Additional Comments: My requirements are pretty basic:
1) Enough HDD space to rip my existing DVD (and a few Blu-Ray) collection, I'd like to box up the physical copies and get them out of the way.
2) Blu-Ray drive (which I have already) for future purchases.
3) Obviously internet for Netflix, etc.
4) Quiet, cool, low power, no (or few) flashy lights
_____________________________________________
This was what I came up with:
Case: SilverStone Aluminum/Steel Micro ATX HTPC Computer Case GD05B (Black)
The idea was to get a case that has some room in it, and this one seemed to best reviewed. It's got the perfect number of slots (2- 3.5" bays for my HDDs, a 2.5" bay for the SSD, and a 5.25" external bay for the Blu-Ray drive)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 380B 380W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Motherboard: ASUS P8H61-M (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
CPU: Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz
I'm open to switching components around and going with AMD
CPU Cooler: Scythe SCSK-1100 100mm Shuriken
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
Video Card: SAPPHIRE 100322L Radeon HD 6450 1GB DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
Do I really need this with the Sandy Bridge processor or is it overkill?
System Hard Drive (SSD): Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive
Data Drives: SAMSUNG EcoGreen F4 HD204UI 2TB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit
Remote: Rosewill WMC Remote control/Reciever RRC-127
What I'm looking for: Some advice on if this is even close to being an optimal set up for what I have in mind.
Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next week or two, unless there's a compelling reason to wait longer
Budget Range: $500-600 before rebates
System Usage: This will be a HTPC.
Parts Not Required: I don't need a tuner card, I don't use cable/satellite TV. If there's another reason to get one, let me know
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I generally use Newegg, Tiger Direct (haven't used in a while), or Amazon for parts
Country of Origin: USA
Parts Preferences: I've generally stuck with Intel CPUs, nVidia GPUs, and Western Digital HDDs, but have absolutely no aversion to quality parts from any manufacturer
Overclocking: No
SLI or Crossfire: No
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 on a 42" LCD TV
Additional Comments: My requirements are pretty basic:
1) Enough HDD space to rip my existing DVD (and a few Blu-Ray) collection, I'd like to box up the physical copies and get them out of the way.
2) Blu-Ray drive (which I have already) for future purchases.
3) Obviously internet for Netflix, etc.
4) Quiet, cool, low power, no (or few) flashy lights
_____________________________________________
This was what I came up with:
Case: SilverStone Aluminum/Steel Micro ATX HTPC Computer Case GD05B (Black)
The idea was to get a case that has some room in it, and this one seemed to best reviewed. It's got the perfect number of slots (2- 3.5" bays for my HDDs, a 2.5" bay for the SSD, and a 5.25" external bay for the Blu-Ray drive)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 380B 380W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Motherboard: ASUS P8H61-M (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
CPU: Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz
I'm open to switching components around and going with AMD
CPU Cooler: Scythe SCSK-1100 100mm Shuriken
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
Video Card: SAPPHIRE 100322L Radeon HD 6450 1GB DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
Do I really need this with the Sandy Bridge processor or is it overkill?
System Hard Drive (SSD): Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive
Data Drives: SAMSUNG EcoGreen F4 HD204UI 2TB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit
Remote: Rosewill WMC Remote control/Reciever RRC-127
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