Looking to build an HTPC/Medium Gaming PC (2 PC's?)

kerim

Honorable
Sep 23, 2012
5
0
10,510
Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: End of the Year

Budget Range: (e.g.: 300-400) $500-$700

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Plex Media Server Transcoding, Light/Medium gaming.

Are you buying a monitor: No, using my TV.

Parts to Upgrade: (e.g.: CPU, mobo, RAM) None

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon or Newegg.

Location: City, State/Region, Country - Florida

Parts Preferences: Intel

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Not sure what this is.

Your Monitor Resolution: TV

Additional Comments: I may need to build 2 different PC's for this. I'd like a low-power, quiet htpc like machine for plex media transcoding for remote use. I can use xbmc when I'm on my local LAN, but I don't have an easy solution for an xbmc-like interface remote access of my media. I'd also like something to play some games on occasion. I'm not sure what yet since I don't game on PC currently, but I may start looking around on Steam for some games.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: No current means of transcoding/no current gaming pc

I created this based on part suggestions from this forum: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ijFX. Does this look okay to game on? It's definitely not appropriate for a 24/7 HTPC machine. If I end up making 2 PC's I'll probably switch out the SSD for a 1tb drive.

I'm not sure what to use for plex media server. This one needs to be quiet and definitely low-powered since it will likely be on 24/7. For those not familiar, minimum requirements for running a Plex media server are:

Intel Core2Duo processor 2.4 GHz or better
NVidia 9400M, GT320/330M graphic chipsets for hardware x264 decoding
At least 2GB of RAM, 4GB recommended.

Suggestions for either machine are appreciated!
 

mesab66

Distinguished
Aug 5, 2009
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19,160
Unless you really are running close to 24/7 it might be a better idea to combine this into one pc covering occasional gaming and HTPC duties. Small format mobo's do offer great flexibility and expandability. Add in a few power efficient, quiet, modern components an you should have all bases covered.
 

kerim

Honorable
Sep 23, 2012
5
0
10,510
Do you have any part suggestions to tweak what I created earlier?

Good point, I imagine I'll only be running it 24/7 if I'm away for an extended period, which happens maybe a week or two straight out of the year plus a few days here and there. The rest of the time, I'll turn it on from around 6pm-11pm. I just want it to be efficient, and the ability to be left on without wreaking havoc on my electric bill.
 
For you intended use, I'm thinking an i3 would do. With Intel's latest i3's, their power consumption is amazingly low, so it will definitely help with the power consumption/energy bill. Just as a comparison, the i5 2500k uses 95w of power max, while the i3 3XXX uses around 50w.

I'll come back with a parts list :)
 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220T 2.8GHz Dual-Core Processor ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($37.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($96.30 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($77.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7770 1GB Video Card ($105.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: nMEDIAPC HTPC 6000B HTPC Case ($104.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($90.63 @ Amazon)
Total: $788.84
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-09-23 18:03 EDT-0400)

i3-3220T uses only 35w of power while maintaining extremely good performance :)

You chose a very weak GPU for a "medium" gaming rig, the HD7770 will outperform it by a VERY LARGE margin :)

If you have any questions, feel free to ask :)

**EDIT**

I just noticed your budget was around $700, I made this rig based on your parts list, so I went with a $750 budget. If you need some things changed, feel free to let me know and I'll be more than happy to swap out a few components.
 
Solution

kerim

Honorable
Sep 23, 2012
5
0
10,510


Thanks! That looks like a good build. I probably won't purchase anything until later in the year, but now I have some parts to look at and save up for. I'll let you know if I want to change something later on. Btw, sorry it took me so long to respond, I stopped receiving reply notifications, so I didn't know you had responded.
 

You're very welcome, glad to be of assistance :)