Home entertainment PC

[xchalasx]

Hello All,


I am building a new home entertainment pc that will hook up to my tv. I need it to be as budget as possible and be able to play 1080p movies and push a 5.1 sound system. Please take a look and help me cut corners. I am sing New egg business account, but don't mind other options

LOGISYS Computer CS301BK Black solid 6.0mm SECC metal ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 480W Power Supply
Item #: N82E16811148047

MSI A55M-P35 FM1 AMD A55 (Hudson D2) Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813130619

MSI R6670-MD1GD3 Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
Item #: N82E16814127666

SIIG IC-510012-S2 5.1 Channels PCI Interface SoundWave
Item #: N82E16829270008

Kingston HyperX 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9D3/4G
Item #: N82E16820104244

AMD A8-3850 Llano 2.9GHz Socket FM1 100W Quad-Core Desktop APU with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 6550D AD3850WNGXBOX
Item #: N82E16819103942

LG Black 12X Super Multi Blue with 3D Playback & M-DISC Support SATA WH12LS39 LightScribe Support - OEM
Item #: N82E16827136241

Seagate Barracuda Green ST1500DL003 1.5TB 5900 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822148725

 

[JKatwyopc]

If you want to keep it on a low budget, ditch the sound card and the graphics card. neither one is necessary for your purposes.

Why do you need a sound card when one is already built-in to the motherboard? Why don't you just use the built-in 7.1 sound system that comes with the motherboard and just don't connect the extra speaker pair? As far as I can tell that add-in sound card is probably inferior to the built-in sound anyway.

The graphics card is not required because the built in graphics on the A8-3850 should be able to handle what you are doing. Based on eliminating those two items you can now put the extra $100 towards a better Motherboard such as this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131769 which has SATA III (6Gbs), USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI output and still comes out to over $50 less.

 

[madreag]

I would get a motherboard like the Asus F1A75-I DELUXE FM1 A75:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131789
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005M2AQQO/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details
~$140
This motherboard would give you plenty of features, including WIFI. It has HDMI, DVI, Displayport, optical and analog out, usb 3.0 etc... so you should have everything you'll need from this Mobo (I know... it is expensive).

Case + PSU: SILVERSTONE Sugo Series SG06-B + 300W PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163151
$119.99
This case will support the mini itx form factor. It has room for a slimline optical drive, and 3.5" and 2.5" HDD ports. It also comes with a cheap 300W PSU, which is more then enough to drive the A8 and everything else. (I have an A8-3870k and it hasn't crashed once-even when stress tested)

CPU+GPU: The A8-3850 will be able to play any 1080p files and even play games like BF3 (I speak from experience) so getting the HD 6670 is not needed.

Sound: Well if you really want to pay for a sound card, I will recommend:
HT | OMEGA eClaro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271006
$184.99
I have this sound card (on my main desktop), and it really does sound amazing. But... you really don't need this. I am using the on board sound from the motherboard mentioned above on my HTPC.

 

[xchalasx]

If you want to keep it on a low budget, ditch the sound card and the graphics card. neither one is necessary for your purposes.

Why do you need a sound card when one is already built-in to the motherboard? Why don't you just use the built-in 7.1 sound system that comes with the motherboard and just don't connect the extra speaker pair? As far as I can tell that add-in sound card is probably inferior to the built-in sound anyway.

The graphics card is not required because the built in graphics on the A8-3850 should be able to handle what you are doing. Based on eliminating those two items you can now put the extra $100 towards a better Motherboard such as this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131769 which has SATA III (6Gbs), USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI output and still comes out to over $50 less.

I see. I am not familiar with on board video/audio. Thanks for pointing that out.

that one Mobo you posted does not have HDMI (according to description)

"Video PortsD-Sub + DVI"

Would you recommend any other mobo?

What about this one:

ASRock A75 PRO4-M FM1 AMD A75 (Hudson D3) HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

 

[xchalasx]

I found this other Mobo, which I think is perfect for I want:

http://www.neweggbusiness.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157258

It has HDMI and 5 audio ports.

What do you guys think about the RAM? is it worth it? or should I get a cheaper set?

So far I got:


LOGISYS Computer CS301BK Black solid 6.0mm SECC metal ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 480W Power Supply
Item #: N82E16811148047

ASRock A75 PRO4 FM1 AMD A75 (Hudson D3) SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
Item #: N82E16813157258

Kingston HyperX 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9D3/4G
Item #: N82E16820104244

AMD A8-3850 Llano 2.9GHz Socket FM1 100W Quad-Core Desktop APU with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 6550D AD3850WNGXBOX
Item #: N82E16819103942

LG Black 12X Super Multi Blue with 3D Playback & M-DISC Support SATA WH12LS39 LightScribe Support - OEM
Item #: N82E16827136241

Seagate Barracuda Green ST1500DL003 1.5TB 5900 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822148725

Subtotal: $455.94

 

[xchalasx]

I would get a motherboard like the Asus F1A75-I DELUXE FM1 A75:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131789
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005M2AQQO/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details
~$140
This motherboard would give you plenty of features, including WIFI. It has HDMI, DVI, Displayport, optical and analog out, usb 3.0 etc... so you should have everything you'll need from this Mobo (I know... it is expensive).

Case + PSU: SILVERSTONE Sugo Series SG06-B + 300W PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163151
$119.99
This case will support the mini itx form factor. It has room for a slimline optical drive, and 3.5" and 2.5" HDD ports. It also comes with a cheap 300W PSU, which is more then enough to drive the A8 and everything else. (I have an A8-3870k and it hasn't crashed once-even when stress tested)

CPU+GPU: The A8-3850 will be able to play any 1080p files and even play games like BF3 (I speak from experience) so getting the HD 6670 is not needed.

Sound: Well if you really want to pay for a sound card, I will recommend:
HT | OMEGA eClaro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271006
$184.99
I have this sound card (on my main desktop), and it really does sound amazing. But... you really don't need this. I am using the on board sound from the motherboard mentioned above on my HTPC.

That Mobo is a bit of an overkill. This machine will only be playing netflix, bluerays, and media content from the HDD only.

Wow, that is an innexpensive but powerful processor!

The Tower I have is $36 with 480W power supply.

 

[madreag]

I found this other Mobo, which I think is perfect for I want:

http://www.neweggbusiness.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157258

It has HDMI and 5 audio ports.

What do you guys think about the RAM? is it worth it? or should I get a cheaper set?

So far I got:


LOGISYS Computer CS301BK Black solid 6.0mm SECC metal ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 480W Power Supply
Item #: N82E16811148047

ASRock A75 PRO4 FM1 AMD A75 (Hudson D3) SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
Item #: N82E16813157258

Kingston HyperX 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9D3/4G
Item #: N82E16820104244

AMD A8-3850 Llano 2.9GHz Socket FM1 100W Quad-Core Desktop APU with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 6550D AD3850WNGXBOX
Item #: N82E16819103942

LG Black 12X Super Multi Blue with 3D Playback & M-DISC Support SATA WH12LS39 LightScribe Support - OEM
Item #: N82E16827136241

Seagate Barracuda Green ST1500DL003 1.5TB 5900 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822148725

Subtotal: $455.94

4GB is plenty of ram for an HTPC. I would personally go with:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231313
$24.99

and

If you want to spend an extra $20 you can get 8GB ram:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314
$46.99

Whatever ram you end up with, just make sure it is DDR3 1600. 1333 will do, but the Integrated graphics borrows from system ram; so you want the 1600 for a slight buff in performance.

-Madreag

 

[xchalasx]

4GB is plenty of ram for an HTPC. I would personally go with:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231313
$24.99

and

If you want to spend an extra $20 you can get 8GB ram:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314
$46.99

Whatever ram you end up with, just make sure it is DDR3 1600. 1333 will do, but the Integrated graphics borrows from system ram; so you want the 1600 for a slight buff in performance.

-Madreag

Would 2gb DDr3 1600 be enough?

Also, it seems like an i3-2125 would be afaster choice. What do you guys think?

 

[regularguy290]

Would 2gb DDr3 1600 be enough?

Also, it seems like an i3-2125 would be afaster choice. What do you guys think?

The i3 is faster but if all you do is watch netflix and play bluray you won't notice the difference. i would get whichever is cheaper. if you go with the AMD APU i would make sure to use two sticks of ram. the graphics use the ram for its memory, and dual channel will help it perform better by a big margin. you will want at least 4GB total. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

 

[xchalasx]

The i3 is faster but if all you do is watch netflix and play bluray you won't notice the difference. i would get whichever is cheaper. if you go with the AMD APU i would make sure to use two sticks of ram. the graphics use the ram for its memory, and dual channel will help it perform better by a big margin. you will want at least 4GB total. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

I played around with the cart and replace Ram, mobo and cpu for:

Intel Core i3-2125 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I32125

BIOSTAR TH61ITX+RCH LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
Item #: N82E16813138335

AMD Entertainment Edition 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model AE34G1609U2-U
Item #: N82E16820103012

Price-wise is roughly $10 more. But Mobo comes with remote controller.

 

[madreag]

The intel integrated graphics (HD 2000 and HD 3000) are significantly less powerful then any of the AMD APUs... I really don't understand why anyone would go the i3 route unless they want a discrete GPU. - IMHO

 

[grumbledook]

HD3000 will handle 1080p, as will a weaker llano. a6-3500 will save you some more bucks over the 3850

 

[xchalasx]

All, after careful consideration I went with an already built machine with better specs for about $30 more:

http://www.neweggbusiness.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883157228

Thank you all for your help!!