budget htpc? min basic specs?

munz · 2 Apr 2011 at 17:40

So im after a htpc so that i can access internet, playback hd content from youtube and watch blu ray movies.

Im looking at stuff like core 2 duo/ and other older/cheaper tech would this stuff all be able to do what i want?

i have copy of win 7, and I have 1 tb Hard drive

could anyone spec me a really budget basic htpc?

mikeyholt · 5 Apr 2011 at 09:24

Here you go:

1 x Gigabyte GA-E350N-USB3 Zacate with HD6310 iGPU - AMD Fusion (ITX) £129.98
1 x Lian Li PC-Q11B Aluminium Mini-ITX Cube Case - Black £81.70
1 x Samsung SH-B123L/BSBP 12x BluRay ROM DVDRW DL & RAM Lightscribe SATAII Optical Drive - OEM Black £54.98
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W ATX Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUK) £35.99
1 x Corsair Value 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Low Voltage Dual-Channel Kit £35.98
Total : £351.23 (includes shipping : £10.50).

You could sacrifice the Blu Ray drive for a DVD drive if you do not need to play Blu-rays. Also, if you can find an Antec Earthwatts 380W, I'd recommend that over the corsair (there aren't any on OCUK)

Participant · 5 Apr 2011 at 13:21

You can do it much cheaper than that. The guy is clearly after bargain basement, hence that case is overkill for a start. I'd go for something like the almost unbelievably cheap CIT MTX001B, which goes for less than £30 brand new delivered and includes a 300W PSU.

Then buy a second hand E2140, say £20.
Zotax S775 board such as the Zotac G41ITX-A-E £70.
2GB of DDR2, £20 max.
Cheap Blu-ray drive, such as LiteOn IHOS104-37 £40.

Total £180, insane value as long as you don't want to play games.

However for your usage I'd consider a second hand Acer Aspire Revo such as the R3610, which you should be able to get for under £200.

Martynt74 · 5 Apr 2011 at 14:59

When i did something similar i went for the atom board which used the D510m intel board which was about £50, it works pretty well for me but doesnt include HDMI onboard

The other thing i would highly recommend is to get a Pico PSU, they aren't too cheap but they are absolutely silent and have made my server fantastic for the back room whereas before there was quite an audible hum

munz · 13 Apr 2011 at 09:54

thanks for replies

still thinking it over, between going amd fusion route or going for a 2nd dual core + cheap gpu, i really like the look of the SG0 cases the white ones,

yeah i wanna try keep it as quiet as possible so will look into the pico psu