HTPC/Gaming System build advise on a budget

[gingerbenn]

Current Budget I have is roughly £350 - £400 (For case, mobo, processor, 8gb ram, graphics card & powersupply)
Can purchase ASAP.

Am looking at building HTPC/Gaming system, I stress the gaming won't be its main purpose.
I want to go with an Antec ISK 600 Mini-ITX case down to size reason basically, but
am unfamilar with my options on motherboard, processor and a good slient power supply plus a half decent graphics card that will fit in the Antec case ok.

I'm only going to be running x1 SDD and x1 sata HD, which I already have.

Basically I just want the new system to be as slient running as possible, understand when
gaming I may have to turn fans/cooling up. But for HTPC use am really keen for the system
to be slient running.

Any options/advice would be greatful, I'm every willing to consider different options on case.

 

[gingerbenn]

bump, bump, anyone help me?

 

[shortstuff_mt]

The reason you're not getting much help is because you haven't given us a whole lot of information to go off of. Please edit your post to include all the information in the *How to Ask for New Build or Upgrade Advice* sticky at the top of the forum. It's very hard to make recommendations without all that information.

 

[gingerbenn]

thanks shortstuff_mt have updated my post

 

[shortstuff_mt]

You didn't list RAM as included in the budget. Is that a mistake, or do you already have the RAM?

 

[gingerbenn]

thanks shortstuff_mt

 

[gingerbenn]

added ram to list aswell

 

[shortstuff_mt]

You're asking a lot out of a small budget. Here's about the best I could do.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor (£81.56 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus H81I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (£49.99 @ Novatech)
Memory: Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory (£52.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 750 1GB Video Card (£106.45 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Antec ISK600 Mini ITX Tower Case (£53.14 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£36.73 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Samsung SN-208FB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£14.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Other: StarTech 6 Pin Slimline SATA Female to SATA Male Adapter (£6.98)
Total: £402.82
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-06 21:03 GMT+0000)

 

[gingerbenn]

Ok thanks shortstuff_mt
The Corsair CX 430W 80+ power supply do they run fairly slient?
If I can tweak the budget slightly for an i5 processor, would it be worth it? eg maybe other £50
My experience of i3 processors has't been that good.

I can save money slightly on the fact i don't need an optical drive.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Yes, the CX430M runs pretty quiet. This review says it maxes out around 29dBA under 100% load.

http://www.legitreviews.com/corsair-cx430m-modular-power-supply-review-what-25-can-buy_2169/7

"The low capacity of the power supply, combined with the good efficiency, allows it to generate very little amounts of heat. As little amounts of heat need to be dissipated, the cooling fan does not have to spin too fast, even if the heatsinks sport little surface area. This combination allows the CX430M to remain virtually silent across its entire capacity range, reaching audible figures only after running at >80% load."

Here's an idea of what the build will run with a 3.1GHz i5.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£128.38 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Asus H81I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (£49.99 @ Novatech)
Memory: Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory (£52.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 750 1GB Video Card (£106.45 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Antec ISK600 Mini ITX Tower Case (£53.14 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£36.73 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £427.68
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-06 21:31 GMT+0000)

 

[gingerbenn]

Ok think you have it with the i5 and parts, i actually have 4gb of DDR3-1333 ram so can save some money for the time being.
Would 4gb be ok, I'll be running win 7 64bit

 

[shortstuff_mt]

I guess you could go with your 4GB for now. It should work for HTPC use, but you will probably run into paging issues and slowdowns when gaming with only 4GB of RAM.

 

[gingerbenn]

Ok thanks for your help

 

[sora]

Ok thanks shortstuff_mt
The Corsair CX 430W 80+ power supply do they run fairly slient?
If I can tweak the budget slightly for an i5 processor, would it be worth it? eg maybe other £50
My experience of i3 processors has't been that good.

I can save money slightly on the fact i don't need an optical drive.

Ok think you have it with the i5 and parts, i actually have 4gb of DDR3-1333 ram so can save some money for the time being.
Would 4gb be ok, I'll be running win 7 64bit

4GB would be okay but it would impact gaming performance but up to a certain point; not by much.