New HTPC for grad student.
#1
Hey guys:

I am interested in building an HTPC for some gaming. Not necessarily the highest settings but enough to be comparable to my XBOX 360. I want to get rid of the XBOX 360 for some spare cash. I am currently a grad student so money is a little low, but I desperately need a server and an HTPC to keep me mildly entertained. I wanted to go for an A8 build that was Mini-ITX, but am afraid of heat and power issues. Here is what I have got so far.

AMD A8-3870K Unlocked Llano 3.0GHz Socket FM1 100W Quad-Core Desktop APU (CPU + GPU) with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD

LITE-ON Black Internal 12X Blu-ray Combo SATA Model ihes112-04 - OEM

Western Digital 2 TB WD Green SATA III Intellipower 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive

MI-008 Tower Black P4 Chassis with 250W Itx Psu+sata Power Supply

Corsair XMS3 4 GB 1333MHz PC3-10666 240-pin DDR3 Memory Kit for Intel Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD CMX4GX3M1A1333C9

If anyone could help get a cheaper or similar price build, I would greatly appreciate it.

I would say my budget is roughly 400-450. I am less interested in gaming really, but I do play occasionally. I would say that an XBOX 360 on Ebay would get me maybe 100-150 dollars. If it is cheaper to simply build a media machine for 100-150 cheaper and keep the XBOX 360 for gaming that would be acceptable also, but I am leaning towards the one machine style.
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#2
Any particular reason for A8-3870K?
A6's will do the job if you're on a tight budget.
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#3
New egg is offering a deal for 183 for the motherboard and A8 together.
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#4
(2012-08-21, 22:24)CrazyDesi Wrote: New egg is offering a deal for 183 for the motherboard and A8 together.

What Motherboard is it offering? or do you have a link to the deal?

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#5
You'll have heat issue with an A8-3870K in MI-008 case. You can opt for lower power Intel G640+AMD HD6450+ASRock B75M-ITX instead......it'll run cooler and use less power......
>Alienware X51- do it all HTPC
>Simplify XBMC configurations
>HOW-TO Bitstreaming using XBMC
I refused to watch movie without bitstreaming HD audio!
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#6
(2012-08-21, 21:46)CrazyDesi Wrote: If anyone could help get a cheaper or similar price build, I would greatly appreciate it.

That CPU is going to be a problem in that case.

Take a look at my hardware guide. I have some better and cheaper options.

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New HTPC for grad student.0