HTPC Budget Build

[Blarg44]

Hi just wondering if you guys could help me out with a cheap HTPC build. I already have a case, but need pretty much everything else. Budget is definatley no more than £300. Also if any one could idrect me to somewhere that you can get small (dimension wise as well as voltage) PSU's that would be great.

Sites: Would prefer you to stick with the big UK ones, like Scan.co.uk, Ebuyer.com and dabs.com

I look forward to your suggestions.

 

[Blarg44]

Bump

 

[chulex67]

An E 350 is good for playing 1080p and its really Cheap. Good Luck

 

[chulex67]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4134/the-brazos-review-amds-e350-supplants-ion-for-miniitx/7

Power consumption of the E350 And I will post Below a Buy Link.

Damn u lucky bastard u can get the Sapphire in Uk.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/sapphire-ipc-e350m1-amd-hudson-m1-amd-e-350-dual-core-pci-e-20-ddr3-1066-sata-6gb-s-mini-itx.

About Psu, I was thinking about a Pico Psu.

http://www.itx-warehouse.co.uk/Product.aspx?ProductID=801

110w its more than enough.


I dont know why the link wont redirect you to the e 350 go to Scan.co.uk, click on motherboards amd, then Mini itx Integrated CPu, there should be 2 Options the Zotac and the Sapphire Bot are good brands, you should Search wich one have the best Support in Uk and Choose.


Good Luck and Have fun =)

 

[Blarg44]

Hey, thanks for the feed back. I was possibly thinking of going for a full size processor, maybe like a pentium g620.

 

[diellur]

Have a look at this:

CPU: Pentium G620 (£45.14)
Motherboard: Asus P8H61-I (£65.53)
GPU: Asus 1GB HD 6450 Silent (£29.74)
RAM: 2x2GB Corsair XMS3 (£23.28)
HDD: ???
PSU: 350W Be Quiet! BN134 (£44.36)
Optical: Sony BC-5550H-01 Bluray (slim) (£46.78)

TOTAL: £264.42 (Scan.co.uk)

The cost of a motherboard with integrated E-350 is about the same as the G620 and separate motherboard above, so no advantage with one over the other. You've not told us what your case is...I've picked a mini ITX board and PSU on that basis, assuming it's SFF. Also, not 100% sure on your storage methodology...home server? Drives in the HTPC? If it's the former, you only need a small OS drive...the latter, then what size HDDs can your chassis take (2.5", 3.5")? Same for the Bluray drive (presuming you want HD playback)...does your case take full-size optical drives or need the slim ones? Doesn't make much difference in price for a Bluray drive, mind you.

So...we need a bit more info. However, you may struggle to get everything you want in the budget you have...I've also not included an OS, so you'll need to consider that.

 

[Blarg44]

Have a look at this:

CPU: Pentium G620 (£45.14)
Motherboard: Asus P8H61-I (£65.53)
GPU: Asus 1GB HD 6450 Silent (£29.74)
RAM: 2x2GB Corsair XMS3 (£23.28)
HDD: ???
PSU: 350W Be Quiet! BN134 (£44.36)
Optical: Sony BC-5550H-01 Bluray (slim) (£46.78)

TOTAL: £264.42 (Scan.co.uk)

The cost of a motherboard with integrated E-350 is about the same as the G620 and separate motherboard above, so no advantage with one over the other. You've not told us what your case is...I've picked a mini ITX board and PSU on that basis, assuming it's SFF. Also, not 100% sure on your storage methodology...home server? Drives in the HTPC? If it's the former, you only need a small OS drive...the latter, then what size HDDs can your chassis take (2.5", 3.5")? Same for the Bluray drive (presuming you want HD playback)...does your case take full-size optical drives or need the slim ones? Doesn't make much difference in price for a Bluray drive, mind you.

So...we need a bit more info. However, you may struggle to get everything you want in the budget you have...I've also not included an OS, so you'll need to consider that.

Thanks for the reply. And yeah sorry about the lack of info. The case is going to be an old xbox original case that i will mod. It would just about fit a mATX motherboard, but wouldnt leave a lot of room for the psu. I am planning on a hard drive inside the machine, but i will mainly be using it for internet browsing for the time rather than storage so may use a hard drvie from an odl laptop (will have to check connections though) Or will buy a cheap drive for now. I also have a slim laptop drive that i could us for now and then upgrade. OS i will be going for linux, so no need for a budget there.

I am going to try and get a CAD program so i can try and see how thing will fit into the case.

 

[diellur]

Right! I'd have a Google about, wouldn't be surprised if someone else has done it. You'll want to be pretty slick on your thermal management. Also a point to note, small PSUs are well and good, but they come with small fans...it might be a distracting noise when you're watching TV.

 

[Blarg44]

Right! I'd have a Google about, wouldn't be surprised if someone else has done it. You'll want to be pretty slick on your thermal management. Also a point to note, small PSUs are well and good, but they come with small fans...it might be a distracting noise when you're watching TV.

Good point, hadnt thought about that. There are a couple of people that have done mods, however they generally have better resources than me. As long as the components i buy dont get busted up, im not to bothered if it doesnt work out (case wise) more just a project to keep me busy.

 

[diellur]

Good point, hadnt thought about that. There are a couple of people that have done mods, however they generally have better resources than me. As long as the components i buy dont get busted up, im not to bothered if it doesnt work out (case wise) more just a project to keep me busy.

Yup. The case is dispensible but you don't want to write-off good components! If you decide to take a more mainstream approach, there are plenty of good HTPC cases out there.

 

[Blarg44]

Yup. The case is dispensible but you don't want to write-off good components! If you decide to take a more mainstream approach, there are plenty of good HTPC cases out there.

Yeah, just love the idea of some one coming in and commenting 'Oh i see you still have the xbox original out' And replying with 'yep' then turnning it on and its a computer. Or even possibly running an emulator on it. Haha, i probably shouldnt get a head of my self tohugh.