[EndersShadow]

So I am sure you guys here this all the time. I am trying to figure out what parts to get and am stuck on the standard Intel Sandy Bridge v AMD Llano kick.

I have a Wesena Mini ITX-6 case currently for my build and am debating getting the HTPC-FC8-OD-Black or the HTPC-FC8-Black in the future (like December).

My main purpose of this setup is to be connected to a USB DAC and headphone amp for use at work as a music playback device. I plan to control this setup totally without a monitor for most of the time (hopefully). I have the XBMC remote installed on my iPhone to browse everything and control playback. I might someday connect this to my AVR to play blurays via a internal blu ray drive I dont plan on purchasing at the present time but in the future.

I am probably going to install Windows 7 on this computer and then run XBMC on that platform. I am not against running XBMC by itself provided I will have the proper driver support for my Audio GD NFB-5 headphone amp.

I am looking at the following builds:

Llano:

AMD A4-3400
Gigabyte GA-A75N-USB3
CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
GELID Solutions CC-Ssilence-APLUS 65mm Ball CPU Cooler
Noctua NF-R8-1800 80mm Case Fan

Total cost: ~210

Sandy Bridge:

JetWay JI61G-ITX LGA
Intel Celeron G530
Kingston Value 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066
GELID Solutions Slim Silence i-Plus (CC-SSilence-iplus) 75mm Ball Bearing CPU Cooler
Noctua NF-R8-1800 80mm Case Fan

Total cost: ~190

Thoughts?

[EndersShadow]

I should mention I have a 150 watt Pico PSU only so adding a dedicated GPU later on isnt really an option given power draw. I also want to keep heat consumption down which going with onboard graphics will

[EndersShadow]

I bought my components earlier this morning and they are on their way. I think I did good.

I went with the following:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-A75N-USB3 (good review here)

I went with this motherboard as it uses good parts from a trusted brand. I read LOTS of reviews of ASRock boards (both H67, H61, H77, FM1) and while some are positive there were some constant issues with them and some trusted sources said they were iffy at times. I was more familiar with ASUS but that board wouldnt work given its 24 pin connectors location. Given I dont want to mess around I decided this board was a better choice and its got just about everything I wanted.

As a side bonus it also will work with the Streamcom FC8 case I in all likelyhood may move this system into sometime soon so I can go totally passive. It will depend on how this system sounds noise wise but I really like the Streamcom case. Its not worth returning my current case at the present time for the Streamcom as I dont have the cash for it.

CPU: AMD A4-Series A4-3400

In looking at this CPU v the Pentium G530 in this link the A4-3400 bests it in just about all the tests they ran, especially the FLAC test. Given that and that Windows 7 goes back to more single core usage I decided to go with this CPU. It also should allow me to use a blu-ray player and playback video with no issues on my TV (if I decided to do that later on) as well as Netflix and Youtube.

Memory: Kingston HyperX LoVo 4GB(2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600MHz

This memory is more than likely overkill for this particular setup but since it wasnt too expensive and is also low voltage I thought it would be worth it. I checked to ensure it is listed as compatible on Gigabytes website. It is also 30mm tall so I shouldnt have any issues with it running into the 3.5 HDD installed in my case.

I am going to hope the stock heatsink will be under 40mm tall but we will see. If not I was planning on buying the SILVERSTONE NT07-AM2 as it will more than fit. I also plan to replace the stock 80mm fcase fan with a Noctua 80mm fan.

Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated.

[Scotty]

Thoughts on the FC8 (I have the EVO):

1. EVO compatibility isn't the same as vanilla FC8. One of the lower heatpipes will conflict with your pico-psu on that board, so either get ready to do some bending or, if you don't care about front port USB3, go with the vanilla FC8 and save yourself some cash.
2. If you don't need black, get the silver. Shows scratches and marks less.
3. It is expensive, yes, but BLISSFUL to hear nothing from the HTPC. WAF went through the roof the day I moved it into the living room replacing an older Revo. However, if you or SO are not highly sensitive to fan noise, I honestly wouldn't worry about it, most of my family would be happy with a stock cooler on low.
4. FC8 cooling solution isn't much better, it isn't direct touch (despite Streacom's marketing claims).
5. Why get one without an optical slot? It removes future options, and (particularly for the black model), you barely notice the slot once assembled.

[EndersShadow]

Thoughts on the FC8 (I have the EVO):

1. EVO compatibility isn't the same as vanilla FC8. One of the lower heatpipes will conflict with your pico-psu on that board, so either get ready to do some bending or, if you don't care about front port USB3, go with the vanilla FC8 and save yourself some cash.
2. If you don't need black, get the silver. Shows scratches and marks less.
3. It is expensive, yes, but BLISSFUL to hear nothing from the HTPC. WAF went through the roof the day I moved it into the living room replacing an older Revo. However, if you or SO are not highly sensitive to fan noise, I honestly wouldn't worry about it, most of my family would be happy with a stock cooler on low.
4. FC8 cooling solution isn't much better, it isn't direct touch (despite Streacom's marketing claims).
5. Why get one without an optical slot? It removes future options, and (particularly for the black model), you barely notice the slot once assembled.

I appreciate the thoughts. My first vendor was out of the board I listed so I cancelled that order. As a result I ended up deciding to go with the A6-3500 processor instead of the A4-3400. I am hoping that change results in some dividends. I need the case to be black to go with the other gear. I am not very sensitive to fan noise and am hoping with my cooler and fan choices plus some putzing around in the bios and with resistors on the fan to keep noise to a point where its not an issue at all. I wouldnt need the USB 3.0 front slots as the board doesnt have USB 3.0 headers which is fine by me.

The optical drive is something I want for sure for future proofing it as well, its why I went with the ITX-6 over the ITX-4.

Whats the EVO?