htpc build help please
#1
Hi everyone.... thank you for taking the time to read my post. So long story short my son recently had a stroke and as a result is having some seizures Sad
Good news is he is getting better! and should make a full recovery.
But the wife and I will be home for quite some time with him and I would like to have a nice HTPC for us to watch some movies/shows on. We live in San Diego
Currently I have a ATV-1200 little android box with XBMC that we use. (http://m.aliexpress.com/item/709770328.h...sitedetail) it glitches a lot and doesn't play 1080 movies that well and over all just isn't very stable. It has served its purpose well but we would like to upgrade since we use it so much.

This would be my first build an I am hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

My HTPC goal:
My TV is a 55" Panasonic plasma
Budget: $250-300
Would like the case to be somewhat compact, energy efficient, and quiet

We will be using it primarily to stream 1080 movies and shows off xbmc as well as use it as a DVD/blueray, 3Dmovie player and light web browsing, I have a TON of DVD's I would like to eventually put on a external hard drive and play the movies off of it as well.
If possible I would like it to be WiFi capable as well as LAN.
I also would like it for TV (someday when I can break away from cox.) But maybe I could do that in a future build once I learn some more.


If someone could tell me what to buy I can build it. I am not vary computer savvy but am good at building things and could definitely figure it out. There is just soooooo much info out there it is a little overwhelming especially when I don't have a tone of time for the research.

This is a ground up build and I really appreciate all your help on it.
I know time is valuable so thank you
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#2
So sorry about your son,......I wish you and your family well as you go through this together.

Seems to me,...you might have your hands full at the moment.
Rather than build something from scratch and run into some unforeseen and frustrating build problem,...why not buy pre-built.
Plus, the things you describe will cost more than the ~$300 price range you describe.
MOBO
RAM
BD-ROM drive
3-D capability
CPU
Misc Cables (hdmi, and such)
OS (if windows)
Hard Drives

These can add up pretty quickly.
Plus it sounds like you may want to build a server in the future to store you media.

You could buy a Intel NUC Kit for $145? Sure, you have to add 1-2 other things,...but they'd still bring this under your budget. Just be careful that you don't try to "upscale" the NUC and get a higher priced model,..otherwise, you'll be buying the NUC at your budget price, and still need to add the extras.
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#3
Please see the mymediaexperience website in my signature below if you want advice on building an HTPC yourself. It contains lots of useful information including some reference builds.
DEBUG log: http://kodi.wiki/view/Log_file/Easy
HTPC advice: http://mymediaexperience.com , http://lifehacker.com/5828747/how-to-bui...lete-guide
My HTPC: an Acer Revo RL80 Nettop PC:
Windows 10
Intel Core-i3-2377M @ 1.5GHz, 4GB DDR3 @ 665MHz, Intel HD3000
465GB SATA disk, DVD-RW, 1.8TB Seagate USB disk


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#4
(2014-02-26, 15:46)GortWillSaveUs Wrote: So sorry about your son,......I wish you and your family well as you go through this together.

Seems to me,...you might have your hands full at the moment.
Rather than build something from scratch and run into some unforeseen and frustrating build problem,...why not buy pre-built.
Plus, the things you describe will cost more than the ~$300 price range you describe.
MOBO
RAM
BD-ROM drive
3-D capability
CPU
Misc Cables (hdmi, and such)
OS (if windows)
Hard Drives

These can add up pretty quickly.
Plus it sounds like you may want to build a server in the future to store you media.

You could buy a Intel NUC Kit for $145? Sure, you have to add 1-2 other things,...but they'd still bring this under your budget. Just be careful that you don't try to "upscale" the NUC and get a higher priced model,..otherwise, you'll be buying the NUC at your budget price, and still need to add the extras.


Thank you for the reply and the kind words!! He is on medication that make him sleep a lot...so i definitely have some time.
What 1 or 2 thing should I add if I go with that device? Do you think it is any better than the atv1200 that I have currently?
What if I changed the budget to 350-400 could I build something decent for that?
I also already have windows 7 OS
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#5
PCPartPicker part list:http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2FOAv

CPU: AMD A4-5300 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($47.00 @ Amazon) 

CPU Cooler: Gelid Solutions CC-Siberian-01 51.9 CFM CPU Cooler ($9.98 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: MSI FM2-A75MA-E35 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($59.98 @ Amazon) 

Memory: Corsair 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($45.91 @ NCIX US) 

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.67 @ Amazon) 

Case: Silverstone PS08B (Black) MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ Newegg) 

Total: $277.52 (after rebates)


how would this compare to the NUC?
I would need to be able to surf the web
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#6
Well the cpu will play 1080p / bluray smoothly. But 1080p 3d does not run well as far as I read. And compared to the NUC the case is huge lol.
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