Building a Gaming HTPC for $1000

[alphinctom]

I am trying to build my first HTPC. I would like to use it for 1080p Gaming (CoD: Ghosts, Battlefield 4, Assassins Creed IV, NFS Rivals, PES etc) & Watch Bluray Movies & TV Shows (XBMC).

I will run this system on Windows 8.1 Pro x64 & XBMC 12.3 with Aeon Nox 4.1.9.

This is my current build option (rates from Newegg.com)

1. CPU - AMD A10-7850K Kaveri - $184.99
2. MB - ASRock FM2A88X-ITX+ - $99.99
3. RAM - ADATA XPG V2 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3-2400 - $139.99
4. GPU - Sapphire Dual-X Radeon R9 270 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5 - $199.99
5. SSD - Samsung 840 Evo 120GB - $91.99
6. HDD - Seagate ST4000DM000 4TB SATA 6.0Gb/s - $154.99
7. Case - BitFenix Prodigy Arctic White - $79.99
8. PSU - Corsair CX Series CX600 600W ATX12V v2.3 80 Plus Bronze Certified - $69.99
9. BDRW - LG Black 14X BD-R - $67.99

Total ---- $1089.91/-

I already own a Samsung Series 6 Smart 3D LED TV 40" FullHD, Logitech Wireless Combo Keyboard & Mice, Onkyo 5.1 Home Theater with DTS HD MA & Dolby TruHD (AV Receiver+Speakers)

How is my build? Is there any suggestions to improve the build for better performance or lesser price?

Should go for any additional cooling? I believe the stock cooling of Kaveri is pretty good.

 

[Rammy]

At the current prices, I don't see why you would chose Kaveri over an i5, unless you need IGP performance.
Your current build - the one linked, can be actually be reduced in price when switching to an i5.

General thoughts-
As a gaming machine, you don't need 16Gb of memory
As a gaming machine not using the internal graphics, high speed memory is unnecessary.
For a $1000+ gaming focused machine, it's very weak for gaming.
As a HTPC case, the Prodigy is probably a bad choice. It's great for fitting large volumes of HDDs, or if you need a 240mm radiator. Otherwise it's very big and kinda an awkward shape to fit into somewhere like an entertainment centre.
A 4TB HDD is entirely unnecessary for a gaming machine. I've also heard subjective murmurs on forums like these that the higher capacity drives fail more often, so if you are using a larger case you might be better off using 2-3 smaller drives.
The Corsair CX series is medicore at best. Great on a super-budget build, but at $1000+ you really want something with more quality. In the Prodigy, modular PSUs aren't a must-have due to the space and the PSU compartment, though if you do change the case then a modular PSU wouldn't be a terrible investment.

 

[alphinctom]

Thanks Rammy for the detailed response.

I might still want to stick with Prodigy, since (as you said its good for more drives) I will be using this rig as my media storage also. Another point is that I needed a bigger case to put a full size GPU. And I think it will go with my subwoofer. I am still exploring cases, might change too.

Based on your comment I am thinking of shifting to Intel, since I can have AMD Graphics capability and Intel's CPU power. Can you suggest the best combo (Intel CPU, ASRock Mini-ITX MB, AMD/Nvidia GPU,RAM) for my budget?

But to be on budget, I think AMD dual graphics is a cheaper option. R7 250 with 1GB GDDR5 is only $89.99. And I can go for a smaller case. AMD APUs are better for watching Bluray movies and 1080p gaming. I will keep the DDR3-2400 16GB RAM since AMD APUs can make use of RAM for graphics.


Regarding HDD, I found this option more reliable and faster --- SSHD - Seagate Hybrid Drive ST2000DX001 2TB - $129.99. (But I do have an Evo SSD as an OS drive, so i think I can go for a couple of 2TB HDDs ie 2 x $87.99) What do you suggest?

How is this PSU - Seasonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W Modular PSU? ($85.99) or any other suggestion?

 

[Rammy]

Dual graphics is certainly an interesting development area, but I think it still has too many issues to make it a common solution. IGP limited to DDR3 means that pairing it with a GDDR5 graphics card probably won't get you the kind of results you'd hope for. There are also scaling issues with multiple graphics chips, widely varying performance dependant on the game, and slightly limiting expansion options too. Once Kaveri drops in price, it might be a bit more tempting generally.

An awful lot of ITX motherboards are limited to 4 SATA ports due to size constraints. If you use an optical drive, and an SSD, this means you are limited to two HDDs.
In this scenario, there are a huge amount of compact ITX cases which can support this storage profile and accommodate a full length graphics card.
I'm not trying to dissuade you from the Prodigy as such (I have had three of them) but to be aware of it's weaknesses. It's relatively big, wider than most conventional towers, and a bit wobbly due to the handles.

The Seasonic G-series is awesome, though not terribly cheap. It's also right on the limit (160mm) in terms of PSU length. It'll fit, but you'll probably have a few headaches installing it - you need to wire everything together and route all the cables before pushing the PSU into the compartment.

Solely sticking to your parts preferences is a tiny bit limiting (I like ASRock, my main motherboard is a Z77E-ITX, but shopping around is good). Also, it wasn't specified but you have Wifi on your original build which implies you want it on this one, but there isn't really a suitable ASRock board for this purpose. Adding Wifi costs $15-30.
I've kept 4TB of storage, it's kinda up to you whether or not you want to go with that, I included it as two 2TB drives.
There isn't really a good AMD graphics card at the price point required to take you up to ~$1000 so I went with Nvidia. It's $1150 before you can squeeze in an R9 280X.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($184.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock B85M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($81.97 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($87.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($86.47 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($239.99 @ Newegg)
Case: BitFenix Prodigy (White) Mini ITX Tower Case ($69.99 @ TigerDirect)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($59.99 @ B&H)
Total: $1012.35
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-02 02:23 EST-0500)

@ the budget alternatives. I still don't think Kaveri is likely to come out on top, due to its current pricing. If you need solely IGP, it's the best on the market and so it's totally worth it, but in any case with expansion slots you have a load of other options. Even on the same(ish) platform, you can go for an AMD Athlon II X4 760K/750K for half the price of the Kaveri processor, then double your graphics card budget. While the Athlon II X4 isn't an amazing gaming processor, at that price it's hard to beat, and that would give you enough money to pair it with say an R9 270 or possibly an R9 270X (not to mention the various HD7850/HD7870s that are being sold off right now).

 

[alphinctom]

Took your advice on RAM, and went a bit overboard on CPU but managed the budget. I reduced on items i can upgrade later. I am still stuck on choosing a case. At a higher price comes a HAF Stacker 915R - Cooler Master. Seems like these have a better thermal design.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87E-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($76.50 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($87.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($239.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($44.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($59.99 @ Microcenter)
Total: $1087.42
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-03 02:54 EST-0500)

 

[Rammy]

The HAF Stacker isn't really an ITX case, it's sort of an extension module for an ATX case. You can use either of them (915R/915F) as a conventional ITX case, but their footprint is enormous.
If you are going to overclock, you need a cooler too, so you need to consider A) which cooler(s) you might want to use and B) how well cases can support them.
The 915R and the Elite 130 are both relatively limited in this aspect due to having the PSU directly above the motherboard, so it's mainly low profile air coolers or closed loop liquid coolers.

Your build as it is works fine, though there isn't much point to 2400Mhz memory (actually can be slower in some tasks) or an i7 for a gaming machine. You'd be far better spending the extra $100 on a GTX770 for example.

 

[alphinctom]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87E-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($80.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.99 @ Microcenter)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($86.47 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($334.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($44.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($59.99 @ Microcenter)
Total: $1087.38
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-03 05:41 EST-0500)