Budget HTPC Build

Nutkin · 21 Jul 2013 at 21:46

Intel Pentium G2120
Asus P8H77-I Mini ITX LGA1155
4Gb Memory
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM
Cooler Master Elite 120
Corsair Builder 430W

Can anyone suggest any modifications to either make this cheaper, or anything I could adapt to make it better for watching HD on my TV.

I used to use one of those all in one Atom330 boards but it has fried itself beyond repair. I'm guessing anything is better than the slow performance of that machine.

Nutkin · 21 Jul 2013 at 22:03

Sorry, I guess indirectly its competition lol. Didn't think.

Nutkin · 21 Jul 2013 at 22:04

Also I am wondering if it would be cheaper to move to an AMD processor instead but I am also aware heat is an issue with small form factor pcs.

Nutkin · 22 Jul 2013 at 00:02

What fan have you got teppic.

I think thats solved it AMD will be cheaper. Not got a need for the DVD drive as I have a Blu Ray drive already on my desktop upstairs which I just dont need.

Gaming is going to be an option, so i will start with 1 4gb stick and internal graphics but with a view to upgrade later on when say GTA 5 is out.

Nutkin · 22 Jul 2013 at 00:14

i think that would be the plan, the cpu compare says the A6-5300k is underpowered compared to the G2020 but It also says when overclocked it is unstoppable. Considering most games barely support 2 cores. A nicely overclocked amd processor looks like it could be great.

If i wanted to game though i would definitely double up the ram and install a graphics card.

Nutkin · 22 Jul 2013 at 17:44

Marine-RX179 said:
Am I the only one who's thinking...if one have to spend £125 on a A-10 6800K and pay a £20-£30 premium for high speed DDR3 memory, people would be better off just getting a G2020/G2120 (faster than the overclocked A10, with only exception to games that utilize all 4 cores fully- in which case both would become more or less on par with each other) and get a 7750 which already got GDDR5 memory onboard (G2020£45 or G2120 £60 + 7750 £70= £105 or £130).

Also with the socket 1155, at least there's upgrade path for going from the G2020/G2120 to a i5 in the future (which can easily increase the CPU performance by more than double)...whereas for the FM2 board there would be no hope for upgrade which would significantly improve on CPU performance side of things.

I like this thinking better and have gone with the 2020 chip seeing as it just has the better upgrade path. I will just wait for a nice discount on here for something half decent. Right now I am just focussed on getting my HTPC back up and running.