[Ghelf]

Hiyo.
I'm planning on building a new PC that will serve as my standard desktop and HTPC.
I'm assuming (possibly wrongly) that most people build a HTPC for the dedicated (or at least signficantly prime) purpose of home cinema, whereas mine might need to be a bit more general-purpose. I'm not too worried if this necessitates a tower rather than a nice compact box, or if it might be a little noisier than a proper HTPC (though obviously still aiming for a quiet machine).

- I have a budget of around £350.
- Its primary usage will be surfing web, xbmc, MS Office stuff, iTunes. Various other general PC stuff, but little to no gaming.
- Intend on connecting it to the main TV, of which I'll also be getting a new one soon, so hopefully I won't need a seperate monitor.

The only things I have at present are an ext HD (WD Elements 2TB) for movies, which I used to plug directly into my old Samsung TV, and latterly (& much betterly) into a Raspberry Pi. Plus I have an internal HD (500GB SATA) containing my iTunes library, which I installed into an external case and USB'ed to, cos my last PC couldn't deal with it internally...

Having looked at the likes of Ebuyer, Overclockers, JW Enterprise's Ebay listings, AVForums, Tom's Hardware etc etc, I'm a bit overwhelmed by the array of available components (it's been a few years since I built a PC).

I'm thinking my new machine should consist of:
- A 2TB HD or better. It may also be wise for me to install the 500GB SATA internally as a secondary drive.
- 8Gb RAM
- All the usual connectivity, but certainly HDMI out, perhaps a couple of USB 3 as well as the USB 2s
- Graphics card that can happily handle 1080p
- (Quad-core ?) AMD processor
- Appropriate motherboard & PSU
- Wireless keyboard & mouse
- Nice quiet case - doesn't have to be compact
- Win7 Home Prem 64bit


To get me started, please can anyone suggest some components? What would you say is the essential starting point?

Thanks!

[elusien]

See the website below (in my signature).

[Ghelf]

Ok, I'll try and be more specific...

Based on the checklists on elusien's site:

•What is your budget? - £350
•How do you intend to use your HTPC? - As main PC, web browsing, MS Office stuff, iTunes, other bits and bobs, and of course XBMC.
•How much storage will you need? - 3TB would be nice, but 2TB is ok if necessary to keep price down.
•How should it look like? - Not bothered, particularly.
•How large case do you want? - I don't mind. As long as it's big enough to house 2 SATA HDs, BD drive, graphics card, mobo, cpu, psu, 8GB memory, fans and any other bits I might need in there...
•Which front-end software you should choose? - Win7 Home Premium 64-bit and XBMC

•How can you future proof your system? - Get a decent mobo & processor, and upgrade HDs, memory, PSU when necessary...

General requirements for home theater computer are:
•Stylish case - Not important
•Very quiet operation - Would be nice, but as I'll be using SATAs rather than SSDs, I accept that it ain't gonna be silent.
•Power efficient to save the energy bill - Would be nice, but I won't have it on 24-7, so not top priority.
•Very quick boot time - Again, would be nice, but really not important.

•Blu-ray and HD video capabilities - It must play 1080p, so HDMI output. Most of my video viewing will be from a USB HD.. A BD player is preferable to a DVDRW, but is not essential (I have PS3 for that).

•Web browsing capabilities - Yes. From Windows is fine.

•Remote controlling possibility - I'll need wireless mouse and keyboard for Windows stuff, so would be nice, but not essential.
•Support for online video services such as Hulu, Netflix and more - Not currently bothered. I have Netflix via TV box / PS3 if I need it.

•Support for multiple media formats with hardware acceleration - Yes
•Has a stylish front-end such as XBMC - Yes

•A NAS server is preferred for the media files - No, not presently.

Additional considerations include:
•Do you plan to play full HD 1080p content? - Yes
•Do you plan to play modern games? - No
•Do you plan to record TV shows? - No

To sum up, you can use your HTPC for the following tasks:
•Watching and recording live TV - Not necessary
•Watching streamed HD Internet content (Hulu, Netflix, YouTube, etc.) - Streamed TV, as was available via OpenELEC on my RPi, would be nice but is not essential

•Playing media files (photos, music, videos) stored locally - Yes
•Watching Blu-ray and DVD movies - Yes, though less important as I have other means
•Playing modern 3D games - No
•Browsing the Internet - Yes


My original plan went only as far as ordering a fairly quiet pre-built PC with 1080p HDMI out / TV card and a new LCD TV with good pic quality and decent refresh rate. The PC I was thinking of is no longer on sale, and when I try to find similar spec, they seem to be £100 higher in price, so I figured building was the way to go.

My main issue with planning a build is that I don't quite know where I ought to start with particular components. There's such a wealth of graphics cards, cpus and mobos available, and I'm out of touch with newer component tech. I suppose one thing leads to another due to socket types etc, so the field quickly narrows once you have a start point.

So, let's assume I'll be getting a mid-range 47" LCD TV with a good pic quality and Refresh Rate (maybe with 3D capability, but don't need "Smart" functions). This obviously has its own budget!

Let's also assume I'll likely be going down the tower and wireless mouse & keyboard route, rather than a compact HTPC case and remote.
I could then select a decent hd - maybe a Seagate 3TB SATA3 ? Can get one for £80-odd, or a 2TB for £65.
Experience leads me towards an AMD CPU, though which one, who knows... I'm guessing a more recent one, so possibly an FM2 socket?? Do duo-cores generally make for quieter machines than quad? Think I read that somewhere...
And some manner of appropriate & quiet cooling.

If I went with that, then obviously would need an AMD FM2 socket mobo, and most of those seem to use DDR3 memory. I'm guessing 8Gb is sufficient for my purposes.
Then a PSU and a case, keyboard and mouse, plus Win7...

I noted some sample prices down along the way as I went through the above, and came up with circa £450+! Oops.
So.................. what I really need help with is a good starting point for, say, a CPU and Mobo, and I'll try and go from there.

[tboggie]

Case - Silverstone ML03B - £54
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/silversto...std-atx%29
CPU - AMD A6 6400K - £42 *Supports 3D Bluray*
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/amd-a6-64...65w-retail
Motherboard - MSI FM2-A75IA-E53 - £62
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-fm2-a...i-mini-itx
PSU - Corsair Builder Series CX 430W - £38
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/430w-cors...ps-12v-atx
4GB (2 x 2GB) RAM - £37
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMX4GX3M...+X+2GB+RAM
MCE Remote - £11
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Emprex-3009ARF-W...roduct_top
Logitech K400 Wireless Touch Keyboard - £30
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-K400-Wi...words=K400
2TB Sata - £65
http://www.amazon.co.uk/6Gbps-SATA-Hard-...ywords=2TB


Total - £339

[Ghelf]

Thanks dude, that looks pretty decent.

Were I to go with something along those lines, would I need a CPU fan / heatsink?
Did you put down 4GB RAM to keep the price down, or do you think 8GB is overkill
And the case says it can take up to 3 HDs, so presumably I could install 2 plus an optical drive?

[tboggie]

I have a similar build with an A4 chip & Asus Board. It runs very well, cool and video playback is smooth.
You don't need 8GB in an HTPC. 4GB is more than enough.

In regards to the cooler, the CPU comes with a cooler. Once you complete your build, check the temp and if you think it is running hot, you can install a low profile cooler like this

Yes, you should be able to install two hdds, one ssd and a bluray drive

[Ghelf]

What do you reckon to this pre-built machine in comparison?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AMD-FM2-3-60GH...25848681c2

- It costs a fiver more than the components tboggie suggested.
- Doesn't come with a wireless keyboard.
- But does come with an optical drive.
- 3yr warranty
- The CPU is an AMD 8 5600K, as opposed to the AMD 6 6400K.

---

Same machine with a BD player instead of DVD/RW for £355:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AMD-FM2-3-60GH...20da4df2cc