Home theater pc

[radmanhs]

i was maybe going to build a home theater pc but im not sure whats good for this kind of pc...i would like a cheap build which still works great... with maybe an i3 and of course, a ssd... i would like a list of parts i could use for this kind of pc... and the cheaper the better as long as it performs great.

Thanks

 

[nekulturny]

Well, for an HTPC in the truest sense, you really don't need a CPU as strong as an i3. You could get away with a Pentium, although ideally, my opinion is an AMD Llano is the way to go. It has stronger onboard graphics than any Intel CPU (even expensive Ivy Bridge i7s). Although the CPU side is not as strong as an i3, but it is a quad, but its basically the equivalent of an Athlon II x4, which is all the power you need. Although, it might even be worth a wait for a couple months for AMD Trinity (the successor to the AMD Llano), Tom Benched it and its looking like with both an improvement on the graphics side of it, the CPU side of Trinity is more on par with Intel i3s in the CPU side of things.

I would start with this foundation if I myself were doing one:

Llano 3870K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819106001

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130641

Memory:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

Power:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026

Cool HTPC Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811204039

 

[jmsellars1]

You don't need that kind of performance, I'd grab an A6. The A6-3500 is 65W instead of 100W so it stays cooler and quieter. Also a lot cheaper and more than enough performance for HTPC tasks and even some basic gaming.

 

[radmanhs]

Best answer selected by radmanhs.