Intel x Corsair x EVGA Home Office HTPC Build

213crz

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Oct 10, 2011
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Approximate Purchase Date: 30 Days

Budget Range: (e.g.: 600-800) $800 After Rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Home Office / Home Theater

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: No pref.

Country: SoCaL, USA

Parts Preferences: EVGA or Corsair

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Monitor Resolution: 1080p

Additional Comments: We would like to be able to go Z77/Sandy Bridge and up date CPU at a later date. I will update with a list of apps and programs as soon as I get the list compiled thank you very much!!
 
Solution
CPU: Intel i5-2500K 3.3GHz w/ Intel HD 3000 - $220
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

CPU Cooling: Intel Stock Cooling is fine

RAM: Corsair XMS3 8GB DDR3 1333MHz - $49
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145315

Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Extreme4 - $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293

Graphics Card: Because you aren't gaming, stick with Intel HD 3000, it's fanastic, great for your needs and supports 3D Playback. When you get an Ivy Bridge, with the Z77 motherboard you can use HD 4000.

PSU: Antec 550W 80Plus Certified Modular - $65
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016

HDD: Seagate...

quicksand10

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Jan 23, 2012
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It still is the best. Sorry we took a while. :p :lol:

If you're only using this PC as a HTPC, have you considered an AMD Llano based machine?

ASUS F1A75-I miniITX motherboard
AMD Llano (E2/A4/A6/A8) APU?

if you go with an E2 oriented build, consider the ASUS onboard AMD CPU motherboards (no AMD CPU is passively cooled, no fans, very quiet)

Otherwise, if you're dead set on Z77 Sandy Bridge, I won't suggest a small rig.

For home office/home theatre:
Intel i3-2120 with stock HSF and paste
ASRock Z77 Extreme 4
2 sticks of DDR3 1600MHz 1.5v RAM (Kingston, Mushkin Enhanced, Corsair, G.Skill)
Mid tower case of your choice (with or without PSU, you won't be needing much oomph)
PSU (if not included with the case): ~300-400w Antec/XFX/Rosewill/Seasonic/Corsair 80+/Bronze/Silver/Gold/Platinum efficiency
SATA III SSD, >128GB (Intel 520, OCZ Vertex 3/Vertex 4, Mushkin Enhanced Chronos/Chronos Deluxe, Crucial M4)
Storage HDD (Western Digital Caviar Blue or Seagate Barracuda)

Should come down to less than 800$, but I didn't check the prices :p
 

simonb530

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Sep 2, 2011
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This was my recent build for an HTPC. Main usage was streaming video from another computer and playing some emulators. The MB has optic audio for surround sound systems and hdmi for video. This is connected up to a 42" Vizio and plays wonderfully.

Case SilverStone Aluminum/Steel HTPC Case ML03B 59.99
PSU Corsair Builder Series CX V2 430-Watt 36.99 (a modular psu will make build easier small case ~ $100)
MB ASUS P8H61-M 79.99
HD Toshiba 7200rpm 120GB 50
CPU Intel Core i5-2400 3.10 GHz 189.99 (could go with a dual core)
Ram Corsair XMS3 8 GB (2 X 4GB) 1333 MHz 47.99 (faster ram)

Additional Accessories

MCE PC Remote $14



Total $479

You could add a gpu but I haven't seen any need for it
 

Tavo_Nova

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Dec 31, 2011
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Intel i7 2600K
Corsair H100
ASUS Maximus something mobo
x2 ASUS GTX680
corsair 800D
Corsair force gt 240gb or something higher. 10 pieces. like what that linus guy did but using 8 piece.

ok just kidding my heineken is getting to me.

If your dead set on intel

intel pentium dual core or those core 2 duo e6600 or something
775/1155 mobo socket, cheapest you can get but try to get your hands on those with vga slots.
or if not grab a gt 210 or any 10-30$ gpu.
smallest corsair case you can find
cheapest corsair mobo and mouse and head set and speaker you can find
a 500gb seagate barracuda or samsung spinpoint 1tb or western digital caviar blue/black 1tb or 500gb or 320gb or 300gb shoud do you well.
corsair ram 2x2gb or 2x4gb or a single 4gb stick.
if you didn't get a psu together with a case
grab those cheapest 300W psu that you can find or 500w generic but if you really want go corsair cx430 430W it has a great deal on newegg
 

Cold_War

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Apr 6, 2012
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CPU: Intel i5-2500K 3.3GHz w/ Intel HD 3000 - $220
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

CPU Cooling: Intel Stock Cooling is fine

RAM: Corsair XMS3 8GB DDR3 1333MHz - $49
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145315

Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Extreme4 - $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293

Graphics Card: Because you aren't gaming, stick with Intel HD 3000, it's fanastic, great for your needs and supports 3D Playback. When you get an Ivy Bridge, with the Z77 motherboard you can use HD 4000.

PSU: Antec 550W 80Plus Certified Modular - $65
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016

HDD: Seagate Barracuda Green SATA 6GB/s 1.5TB HDD - $95
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148725

Optical Drive: LG Black 12X Blu-Ray 3D Drive - $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136241

Case: nMEDIAPC 6000B HTPC Case - $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811204037

The total comes to $720, but it will be a great HD Blu-Ray system.
 
Solution

Cold_War

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Apr 6, 2012
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For the Intel HD 3000, and plus he mentioned he may be overclocking so I got an unlocked processor. With that there will probably be no need to upgrade in the future as it is a great processor.
 

quicksand10

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Jan 23, 2012
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It's overkill and inefficient for a HTPC. Also, Intel HD 3000 (and HD 2000, they both run 1080p video equally as well) can't do 23.976Hz at 1080p so it'll jump a frame every so often cause it runs at 24Hz, that's annoying. Intel HD 3000 doesn't support DirectX 11, nor Direct X Video Acceleration which can be used by XBMC.

If ever he did need to upgrade his PC, the microATX motherboard won't really make it easy or worth it.

Even AMD A4 APUs (not to mention the A8) have better graphics than the Intel HD 3000. They run quieter and cooler. The point for a HTPC is to be quiet and cool and boot quickly. With a Llano centered PC, there would have been enough money left over for an SSD.

There aren't many situations in which AMD is more suited for the job than Intel. However, this is one of them. An AMD Llano can execute office applications such as MS Word, Access and Excel and even Intuit Quickbooks just as well, and will be able to game and output 1080p better (without a discrete GPU).

An AMD Llano paired with an SSD would have been my pick.
 

Cold_War

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First, off, the board is ATX so it is up gradable in the future. Second, he didn't want AMD because he wanted to upgrade in the future. I went for the 2500K for the OC'ing, but probably it would be best to go for an i3-2100 or i3-2120 then pick up a basic GT520 / GT430 / GT440.
 

Tavo_Nova

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actually it doesn't matter if he doesn't need it, he can go i7 3960x with quad gtx680 and 64gb ram if he wants for his HTPC with 20 240gb intel ssd in raid or something.

as long as he can afford it and it makes him sleep then go for it, but actually i'm rooting for the i5 2500k, who knows he might want to game or he got a chick or something that wants gaming or for whatever reasons he go with something sweet, oh and btw i5 2500k is L337
 

quicksand10

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Jan 23, 2012
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Actually, initially I was asking the OP why he decided to go with an intel-based build, but for the sake of discussion: :lol:

@Cold_War
Thanks for correcting me on the ATX board.
I misunderstood.



@Tavo_Nova and Cold_War
I partially agree with you Tavo_Nova, but if he wants a HTPC (a HTPC can also be used for office applications) it should be silent, small, and cheap.
If he wants an office PC that can stream and output 1080p, your build, Cold_War, is great (except for that 24Hz annoyance). It doesn't have to be silent

i5-2500k FTW r0xx0rz, AMD 4 n00bz :p :lol: