HTPC Virgin Under $600

[Dobie]

Looking at building my first HTPC. Budget is around $600

Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: this month

Budget Range: (e.g.: 300-400) $600 +/-

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Streaming stored Movies to multiple Apple TV's quickly, Storing Movies, , Downloading Movies, steaming movies.

Are you buying a monitor: No



Parts to Upgrade:
Do you need to buy OS: Yes Win 7
Please note that if you're using an OEM license of Windows, you will need a new one when buying a new motherboard.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: No preference

Location: City, State/Region, Country - New Orleans, Louisiana

Parts Preferences:No Preference

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution:

Additional Comments: Just looking for a parts list recommendation to get an idea on where to begin.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Trying to run everything from an HP Laptop to a wireless 2TB WD HD then to multiple Apple TV's is way too slow. Looking to combine all of my media efforts to one machine to download store and stream.

 

[TheBigTroll]

here you go. not too sure how well it would stream but it will serve nicely as a media center pc. it will also game as well if you plan to do so. it wont play it extremely well but will play it at a level higher than consoles

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kPfk

 

[Dobie]

Thanks for the reply. Looks good. Just curious, why amd not intel? Would ths work in a smaller case like Thermaltake Black SECC Japanese steel LANBOX Lite VF6000BWS Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133044&name=HTPC-Media-Center-Cases

 

[TheBigTroll]

AMD because they can get you a decent system for cheap. for intel, you do get better CPu performance but if you are doing a media center build, that isnt too useful. plus, the APUs have at least 50% more graphics power than a intel intergrated, which is useful for budget gaming and media rigs

you could but i dont like crappy cases. id suggest this if you can blow the money. this is what i would say the best matx case for me. there is a silent equivalent (with lots of sound deadening foam. called the define mini)
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=67628&vpn=FD-CA-ARC-Mini-BL&manufacture=Fractal%20Design&promoid=1295

 

[guerrero]

here you go. not too sure how well it would stream but it will serve nicely as a media center pc. it will also game as well if you plan to do so. it wont play it extremely well but will play it at a level higher than consoles

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kPfk

overkill psu breh

 

[TheBigTroll]

just incase he wants to add a graphics card. would have put the 450w instead

 

[Dobie]

Thanks Troll.

 

[cjcj11]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1018162&cm_mmc=SNC-YouTube-_-na-_-na-_-na i saw this on neweggtv not to long ago, it is miniITX which i do not have much experience in, but if you were interested this would serve a great HTPC i concluded that it would probably be beneficial to takes matters into your own hands and drop the gpu, change the hdd to a samsung spinpoint, but if you buy the combo you will be getting more for the money, unless you really need to lower the price.

heres the youtube overview and installation video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wuCPBa-TWg so you will not be alone when you are building this

 

[cjcj11]

oh shoot, i just realized there is no copy of windows

 

[domain2host]

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We provide services of Domain Registration India and Register Domain Name In Chennai. http://www.domain2host.in http://www.domain2host.info

 

[cjcj11]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kREd ok this includes windows and all and comes down to 510 dollars and then add another 70 bucks for the parts i could not find on the part picker which are the following
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103177
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812186155
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151242
the main differences is the hard drive, it has windows, and hit doesnt have a graphics card, as if you are using it as a HTPC the IGPU in the a8 will serve you fine.
total price is about 580, with tax your looking at around 620 (depending on where you live)

 

[Dobie]

i actually have a copy of Win 7. Don't factor it into the price. If its over 6 its OK as long as its not way over.

 

[cjcj11]

okay so you are looking at around 500 for a good miniITX HTPC with 1 tb of data 8 gigs of ram plenty of horsepower for your needs. the only downside is that it is a mini ITX and its going to be a lot different when it comes to building it

 

[cjcj11]

brb while i make a microATX a8 build, (it will have a standard atx case)

 

[cjcj11]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kRUI here is an A10 build, will be even more powerful and is a little bit cheaper then the miniITX build it is just going to be a lot bigger and heavier

 

[TheBigTroll]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kRUI here is an A10 build, will be even more powerful and is a little bit cheaper then the miniITX build it is just going to be a lot bigger and heavier

why is the ram so dam expensive? he needs high speed ram not low latency (although having both is nice). high speed ram really helps with APU performance

300w is a bit on the low side. has no room for upgrades

 

[Dobie]

okay so you are looking at around 500 for a good miniITX HTPC with 1 tb of data 8 gigs of ram plenty of horsepower for your needs. the only downside is that it is a mini ITX and its going to be a lot different when it comes to building it

$600 or so is still my budget not including the W7.

 

[TheBigTroll]

you should be pretty good with my build that i provided

 

[Dobie]

Would you recommend changing these items in your build? Or is it over kill?

CPU AMD A10-5700 3.4GHz Quad-Core
Storage Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM $89.99
Case Silverstone ML03B HTPC
Optical Drive Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer

 

[TheBigTroll]

not the a10 5700 since its priced more than the a10 5800k which is superior. i selected the a8 since you didnt need that much performance. it would still be a upgrade but its up to you if you want to spend the extra money

go ahead with the hard drive

if you want to build in that case, ok but i generally dont know too much on how easy it would be.

go ahead with the blu-ray drive. but keep in mind optical media is dying out

 

[Wolfshadw]

Just a quick note to remember that unless you're going with a retail blu-ray drive, most OEM drives do not come with blu-ray playing software which generally costs an additional $80. Something you may want to keep in mind if/when you decide to go that route.

-Wolf sends

 

[cjcj11]

why is the ram so dam expensive? he needs high speed ram not low latency (although having both is nice). high speed ram really helps with APU performance

300w is a bit on the low side. has no room for upgrades

well i chose 300 watts because he stated it as a home theater pc and im sure the a10 will be plenty to handle his needs even if he does some light gaming it should be fine. also i would choose 1866 ram its just when i was going through the pc part picker list, i couldnt find the ram i was looking for, i was lookign for g.skill sniper siries 1866 ram, which can be bought for 55 bucks

 

[cjcj11]

Just a quick note to remember that unless you're going with a retail blu-ray drive, most OEM drives do not come with blu-ray playing software which generally costs an additional $80. Something you may want to keep in mind if/when you decide to go that route.

-Wolf sends

im suprised you cant find free software these days, like is it the same as when you upgraded from a cd to a dvd drive and you needed a codec? or is it just a standalone program?

 

[Wolfshadw]

You need a codec (or two), but as far as I know, due to DRM, they are only available from programs like PowerDVD and TotalMedia Theater.

-Wolf sends

 

[J3TW4V3]

This is my HTPC specs if it helps you any... i built something similar but my price point was $400...

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kYRE

maybe you just wanna save a little money... this set up is awesome for me


-Jeff