HTPC/Gaming Build

[87ninefiveone]

Right now my 600T, i7 2600K, SLI GTX 560 Ti build is sitting in the living room and my wife has vetoed it, so I'm looking to build a compact gamer that will fit in our TV stand with possible future use as an HTPC and retire the gaming machine to another room.

Approximate Purchase Date: End of April

Budget Range: $600-800

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Blueray, Web, DVR/cable box replacement if possible.

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, mouse, monitor, wi-fi,see comments.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Respectable. Newegg preferred, but others considered.

Country: US of Awesome

Parts Preferences: Intel preferred, but interested in AMD for price and power draw reasons. I know tons about Intel and little to nothing about AMD stuff.

Overclocking: Nope. but the ability to underclock and use big fat turbo settings interests me.

SLI or Crossfire: Not likely since this will be a compact build.

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Already have a Corsair TX750M PSU, 8GB Ballistix Sport Memory @ 1600MHz, a 750GB HDD and a couple smaller HDD's laying around, and I'll probably just load up 64-bit Windows 8 preview for now. Case size will be limited to 21W x 21L x 6H.

I would prefer good gaming performance at 1080p on ultra/high if possible without blowing the entire budget on a card.

Looking for suggestions on the following:

CPU
MB
SSD
Case
CPU Heatsink
BlueRay Drive

 

[o1die]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138352 (I use biostar in two systems)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115074 (Intel may release some new Ivy bridge cpus this sunday, if you care to wait; they should run fine on the biostar z77 board)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227725 (my personal ssd; no problems yet)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129054 (antec makes good quality products and has good service)
heatsink: use the stock Intel one; your case height may prevent you from using some models; the Intel heatsink is adequate since you won't be overclocking and the antec case has good airflow)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106451

 

[87ninefiveone]

Awesome. Smack in the middle of the bugget.

Love the case, I've searched newegg half a dozen times and never run across that one. All I was finding were Silverstone and nMediaPC stuff which looked like junk. The Antec is only slightly more and looks a billion times better.

I like the other suggestions too, but I'll probably go with an Intel or Samsung SSD. I've got an OCZ and the stupid thing has been RMA'd three times already in less than a year.

How do you like the BIOS on your Biostar? Is reliability good? I've never had any of they're stuff, but I read good things about most of it.

 

[o1die]

The bios is easy to use. A few folks have had problems with certain ram in their asus or asrock boards, which are also recommended. I've never had a ram issue with biostar; it works with any brand of non ecc ddr3 I use. You can check for a ram qvl listing on the board's webpage, listed under details at newegg in the right section of the page. You should also take a few minutes to download the board manual and check out the bios yourself before ordering.

 

[87ninefiveone]

Best answer selected by 87ninefiveone.