[AliG]

Hello All,
I’m getting ready to pull the trigger on building my HTPC, and thanks to eskro’s previous posts and others here, this is what I’ve come up with. I’m installing Win7 X64, with XBMC, and primarily using it for Movies & Music, and the occasional web browsing. All my media is stored on a central server. If you guys could review it and improve it with your suggestions and experience, I would appreciate it.

Case:
[font=&quot]LIAN LI Black Aluminum PC-C37B Micro ATX [/font]$169.99
[font=&quot]Or[/font]
[font=&quot]Antec Black Aluminum / Steel Fusion Remote Black Micro [/font]$149.95


I would like suggestions between these two cases, I’m pretty much flipping between these two.

PSU:
[font=&quot]Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply[/font][font=&quot]$64.99[/font]
[font=&quot]MotherBoard:
[/font][font=&quot]GIGABYTE GA-MA78LMT-S2 AM3 AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard[/font] $59.99
GPU:
[font=&quot]ASUS ENGT430/DI/1GD3(LP) GeForce GT 430 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready Video ...[/font] $69.99
CPU:
[font=&quot]AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX640WFGMBOX[/font] $99.99
HD:
[font=&quot]OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)[/font] $124.99
RAM:
[font=&quot]G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH[/font] 54.99

Thanks everyone.
AliG

[eskro]

Both of your cases are really good! pick your favorite!

LIAN LI: slimmer and uses low profile cards
ANTEC: Bulkier, has LCD Display, can use full height cards (i believe)

PSU: i always recommend ANTEC EarthWatts 380w or CORSAIR Builder Series 430w

MOBO: great! i have it, its flawless!

GPU: great for slim case, if it can use Full Height cards, ZOTAC Fanless GT430 is sweet!

CPU: Very strong, do u need it that strong?
if you wont do hardcore gaming and hardcore bluray ripping,
Athlon X2 is Perfect for an HTPC!

SSD: windows needs no more than a 30G SSD...
i have a 32GB SSD and i still have 18GB of free space after installing
all my apps + XBMC... Again, if you wont do hardcore gaming,
you dont need a 60GB SSD...
but if you want higher read&write speeds then me with my Corsair Nova 32GB,
you can grab the Corsair F40GB http://ow.ly/1sxDUM

RAM: 2GB is enough for an HTPC.... nothing wrong with 4GB but,
again, if you want do hardcore gaming, 2GB is great!


hope this helps

[AliG]

Thanks Eskro,
I'm having a hard time trying to figure out which Case I like to be honest, I like them both, so wanted to hear from the group if anyone gotten either case.
No gaming for me, just purely movies, so I'll get the smaller SSD, Which X2 would you recommend? I was going to use the one you bought, but NewEgg has deactivated it, so I figure for a few extra bucks I'd get the Quad core, but if I can save an extra 20 bucks or so, I'll defiantly get the X2 instead.

Thanks for the PSU recommendation, I wasn't sure which one to get, I figured I'd get a Modular one since the cases would be pretty tight.

Thanks!

[eskro]

its really more about case size

Slimmer or Bulkier?

i mean, many vouch for the LIAN LI's!!

and many vouch for the ANTEC'S!!

i cant decide for you... but as i said,

you prefer a slimmer design and no LCD screen and a low profile GPU with active cooling? (fan)

or you prefer a Bulkier design with an LCD screen and a full height passive cooling GPU (no fan) card?

Again, either are great cases! thats for sure!

now the ATHLON X2 250 $62 is perfect!!
http://ow.ly/1sxFek

Same for RAM, 2GB is enough
http://ow.ly/1s0jjU $29
or
http://ow.ly/1sxFxT $30

oh and i forgot,
if you dont have a 3D-HDTV and dont have a Compatible HD-Audio/Video Receiver,
you dont need a GT430... this was my case, and i got the GT210 instead...

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-430CX $34.99 after mail-in rebate card

[SpectreX]

If all you do is watch movies and browser the web, why are you going with an exensive CPU and a microATX case when a mini-ITX sistem based on Atom/Zacate/Intel Core i3 (in the order of the performance) can do it just fine with a much smaller footprint and lower porwer consumption?

[Nasa]

Just for curiosity can you link to the mini-itx Intel Core i3?

[AliG]

Luckily for me I have the space for either, so at this point its more aesthetics and the coolness factor to be honest I like the Antec because of the built-in remote, so I can program my Harmony for it, and also the LCD Display, since you have the other version of the Antec, how do you like the LCD Display? Do you find it useful? Can you use it to display useful information? Like the Name of the movie or Song, or even the time? Or is it just more of a useless novelty? So the reviews I've read say the Antec has more vents to allow air flow but the Lian Li, doesn't and 70mm fans are difficult to find. So again it kinda pushes me to the Antec again
I don't have a 3D tv, personally I think it's more of a silly gimmick than anything, but I do have HD Audio/Video Receiver, and it would be cool to be able to eventually bit stream HD Audio from it.

So the only difference between the Zotac GT430 and the Asus is really the heatsink, which I guess would be a plus to reduce the amount of fan noise. Is that the only difference? Since I really couldn't tell otherwise.

And SpectreX, I looked at the Mini-ITX systems, and to be honest I just wasn't pleased about how they look, I wanted a system that looks decent in my media rack, also I didn't want to be limited by the system, in case there is something I'd like to do I would have the power to do it in my custom build. Heh I guess you can say the IT Geek in me is pretty particular But going on Eskro's recommendation I'm going with the X2, I just wanted to future proof my system, but he's right no need for the extra juice if I'm not really going to use it.

Thanks all,

BTW, any one have either Case? Anyone care to mention what they like/Don't like about it?

[eskro]

LCD Screen: its cool, when in XBMC,
it displays the movie thats playing and you can see a progress bar
and a cool spinning disc....
see a video i made --> http://s1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff50...0_1299.mp4
Same for a Song,
title will be displayed and when navigating through XBMC's menu
you'll see the items displayed on the Screen like
SETTINGS / MUSIC / MOVIES / and more...
now when not in XBMC, well, you see the TIME & DATE...
to me, its still cooL and nice... dont count on controlling XBMC with the remote tho,,,
if its the same small one i have, its not great,,, and range is poor...
but i still use it to POWER ON and OFF my PC, its great for that!

GPU: both cards are the same...
one is low profile with a FAN and the other is a full size card with no fans....

-hope this helps-

[T800]

I got that Lian-Li case on Thursday for my first build.

Not very high but it is quite deep.

Instructions are poor imo but I'm very happy with the case. I like the way you can't see the front of the optical drive fitted.

It doesn't get hot with the fitted fans and I don't find it noisy in my set up.

[xecutionx]

Just for curiosity can you link to the mini-itx Intel Core i3?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLis...rchInDesc=

[AliG]

Thanks all, looks like I'll go with the Antec case then. Once I purchase it, I'll put up pictures of my build if anyone is interested.


Thanks

[eskro]

Thanks all, looks like I'll go with the Antec case then. Once I purchase it, I'll put up pictures of my build if anyone is interested.


Thanks

+1