Small living room HTPC

[motamedn]

Approximate Purchase Date: this week

Budget Range: (e.g.: 300-400) 600 dollars after rebate

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Watching movies i.e. HTPC, playing games, surfing net.

Are you buying a monitor: No

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I’m comfortable with anything legit. I typically use newegg / amazon. Have Amazon Prime

Location: Portland, OR

Parts Preferences: I want to build a small HTPC for the living room. Was looking at this: Intel Next Unit of Computing Kit with HDMI, Thunderbolt, Core i3-3217UDC3217BY http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Next-Co..._2?ie=UTF8&qid=1358999817&sr=8-2&keywords=NUC

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: At least 1080p

Additional Comments: I am trying to put together a HTPC for the living room that is small/unobtrusive but can still pack a punch. I’m not overly concerned about sound but obviously it would be nice if it wasn’t roaring during movies.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: I just have a classic PC.

 

[bodeen2012]

this is my system which works really well

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/IF6m
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/IF6m/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/IF6m/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD A6-5400K 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($73.24 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($66.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($47.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($72.04 @ Outlet PC)
Case: Silverstone ML03B HTPC Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $371.22
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-09 21:15 EST-0500)

 

[motamedn]

I like silverstone cases but that is 2ft wide, right? This is the size of the NUC from Intel

http://hothardware.com/articleimages/Item1955/small_nuc_top2.jpg

 

[bodeen2012]

the thing i dont like about the intel nuc is it's a barebone system . you still need to add memory a hardrive a ac power cord and i believe wifi to get it running plus an operating system . so the 300 dollar system can quickly become a 700 dollar system . and you are stuck with the processor it comes with cause its soldered down .

 

[bodeen2012]

after doing some research and reading reviews on the nuc . I would go with this zbox by zotac it offer a lot more ports for connectivity including

1- e-sata
2- usb 3.0
4- usb 2.0
1- rj45 Ethernet
1- display port
1-hdmi port
7 in 1 card reader
headphone jack
it also has a 2gb sodimm card installed and is up-gradable to 8gb
a 320 gb 2.5" harddrive
wireless is built in and also has bluetooth
plus has a mce remote with ir receiver
the only thing it does not have is thunderbolt and an operating system

price 299.99 plus shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856173046