[alexhendershott]

Hi all.

I put together my first HTPC build with a friend of mine. I was hoping to get some feedback to see what you guys think before I went ahead and pruchased everything. My primary concern is:

• HTPC should play or stream all 1080p content
  
• HTPC should play all large .MKV files (10 GBs)
  

APEX MI-008 Black Steel Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 250W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6811154091

ASRock A75M-ITX FM1 AMD A75 (Hudson D3) HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813157273

Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory with heatshield Model PSD38G1600KH
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6820220570

AMD A6-3500 Llano 2.1GHz (2.4GHz Max Turbo) Socket FM1 65W Triple-Core Desktop APU with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 6530D AD3500OJGXBOX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6819103951

Rosewill RNX-N250PCe (RNWD-11005) Wireless Adapter IEEE 802.11b/g/n PCI Express 150/300Mbps 2T2R 64-bit/128-bit WEP, TKIP, and AES WPA, WPA2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6833166073

SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM SATA Model SH-222BB/BEBE - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6827151244

BYTECC 18" Serial ATA-150/300 Cable w/Locking Latch Model SATA-118C
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6812270093

OKGEAR 8" molex 4pin male to 15pin SATA power cable Model GC8ATAL - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6812123137

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6832116986

Ocz Technology - Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-60G 60 GB Internal Solid State Drive - Black
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Ocz+Technolo...&cp=1&lp=3

Lenovo Multimedia Remote with Keyboard
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/contr...#learnMore

I am not great with building computers, thus why I needed my friend's help. How does all of this look? Will this be a capable HTPC for my living room running XBMC? Is there anything else I should consider?

Thanks guys!

[eskro]

AMD A6-3500 is perfect for your needs.
it'll just do it ALL.

[alexhendershott]

Awesome!

I noticed the remote I chose is USB and not IR:

Lenovo Multimedia Remote with Keyboard
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/c...6029#learnMore

Will I be able to put the HTPC to sleep and then wake up it with this remote from my couch?

[TeKo]

Should be able to wake it if you enable wake from USB Remote/Mouse in BIOS.

Heard only bad stuff about OCZ ssd maybe check out the Patriot Torqx2 not as fast but I dont think there is a big difference in Boot time and stuff.

If you can get it cheaper go for 4gb Ram 4gb is enough even for a gaming rig.

Why do you need the Sata cable and the molex adapter?
The board comes with 2 Sata cables and the PSU should have 2-3 Sata connectors.

[alexhendershott]

Awesome, good to hear about the remote.

Could you possibly link me to a compatible Patriot Torqx2 from bestbuy.com? I am not smart enough to know exactly what will work.
*Edit* I am sorry, I forgot to mention. The SSD I am buying from bestbuy because I have a $100 gift card. Thus, why I was requesting the Patriot link for bestbuy.com.

What about this crucial drive? Would this be a better option than the OCZ?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Crucial+-+CT...&cp=1&lp=3

As far as the ram and the cables go, thanks! I did not know that.

[eskro]

crucial rocks!
hence why i listed it in my HTPC guide!
go for it!

[eskro]

Awesome!

I noticed the remote I chose is USB and not IR:

Lenovo Multimedia Remote with Keyboard
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/c...6029#learnMore

Will I be able to put the HTPC to sleep and then wake up it with this remote from my couch?

i say yes, for SLEEP and Wake from SLEEP

[alexhendershott]

Awesome eskro! Thanks so much for the help and enthusiasm!

[eskro]

ftw!!!!!!!!

[bluray]

What about this crucial drive? Would this be a better option than the OCZ?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Crucial+-+CT...&cp=1&lp=3

Or this super fast "Patriot Pyro PP60GS25SSDR 2.5" 60GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)" for $80.

You'll enjoy your A6-3500 HTPC!

[sickpuppies]

Similar build to mine, although I went for a full ATX board.

I have an Asrock board, with the AMD A6-3500 processor, and I have yet to find anything it can't handle!

I have a Kingston SSD as I heard that OCZ ones were a bit dodgy.

8Gb RAM does seem to be overkill, unless you have other plans down the track and wanted to get matching RAM?

I have Win7 Home Premium 64bit, too, and I have XBMC in the start-up folder so it starts automatically when my PC does (although, I have noticed this doesn't happen when I am 'waking' my PC from sleep..).

Nice build all round - should definitely do what you want!

Cheers,

francis