Cheap htpc?

Armadillo

Armadillo

Armadillo

Soldato
Joined
29 Feb 2004
Posts
3,993
So I want to build a htpc just for media playback. Not interested in any of the arm based android boxes.

I've got a load of old parts lying around, consisting of an

Athlon 2 x3 450. 4th core is fine and can unlock
MSI Am3 board
4GB of DDR3.

So I was thinking of grabbing

SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB
Asus GeForce GT 610 SILENT Low Profile 1024MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card

and sticking it in a Silverstone Grandia GD09

That lot will run me around £170.

Size is not a concern, and being able to fit full atx means it can get my old parts as I upgrade. So just wondering if there is anything around that price that is a better option than using my older parts + a few new to build or if that build is going to cause me any issues.

From looking it seems most popular seem to be Arm based android boxes (don't want) or Intel Nuc (more expensive).

Needs to be able to play back 1080p 10bit h264, which a lot of the all in one boxes I looked at don't seem to have the power for.

Thanks.
 
Last edited:
500gb is fine if all the media is stored on a NAS.

If you wanted to you could use an SSD making boot times quicker, and not needing to leave it running all the time.
 
R088ieS86 said:
Pretty sure 10bit playback is CPU driven only at the moment so get a good cooler on your CPU because it could get hot!!
Click to expand...

It is cpu only at the moment. Going to stick a Zalman CNPS8900 Quiet Heatsink on it, as my spare hyper 212 is too big to fit (too tall). Seems to get decent enough reviews for just this purpose and on chips that are much more power hungry than an athlon 2 x4.

ZXSpectrum said:
I am pretty sure that the GD09 isn't ATX only MATX and MITX... http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=241 Also I would say that its a good idea to spend a little more and get a passive PSU for HTPC. Even the "Silent" ones can be heard a little and it can get annoying.
Click to expand...

All the passive ones seem to carry a big premium for being passive. They all seem to be £70+ :(.


So then, change of hdd and psu + heatsink, looking like this now

Asus GeForce GT 610 SILENT Low Profile
Zalman CNPS8900 Quiet Heatsink
Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB
BeQuiet Pure Power L8 400W (Not passive, but supposed to be quiet)
Silverstone Grandia GD09
Cheap MCE remote (I want to boot straight into xbmc).

That will push the whole lot to £190.

Still looking the best option for that sort of price? Anything essential I'm missing?

Thanks.
 
Grimley said:
Avoid the Zalman - I had one & the noise drove me mad.
Click to expand...


The quiet one? As I know there are two, extreme and quiet. Just making sure it was the quiet one.


Grimley said:
Alternatives:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Noctua NH-L9i CPU Cooler Low Profile - 92mm £34.99
Total : £38.90 (includes shipping : £3.26).




I own this one & its silent, It should fit in the GD09.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Noctua NH-U9B SE2 CPU Cooler £44.99
Total : £54.59 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Click to expand...

1st is intel only, no AMD mounting.

Second should fit, so I'll take a look at that.

GD09 has 138mm for maximum height.
 
Last edited:
125mm height for the NH-U9. It was the quiet Zalman I owned as well. Absolute pig to fit.

Noctua on the other hand, very easy & takes about 10 minuites.
 
Grimley said:
125mm height for the NH-U9. It was the quiet Zalman I owned as well. Absolute pig to fit.

Noctua on the other hand, very easy & takes about 10 minuites.
Click to expand...

I'll grab the NH-U9 then. It will fit, everywhere says it's quiet and does it job well enough for a mid sized tower.
 
I got the quiet Zalman in my HTPC (which sits directly under my TV in my living room) and it's totally silent at all times - the HDD's are the noisiest thing in there by far.

It was a bit of a pain to fit, but most HSFs are these days! Not difficult by any means, just a bit fiddly. You only have to do it once so doesn't really matter.

Temps are fantastic - before with the stock AMD HSF it would frequently turn off as it got too hot. Now it never goes over about 50ish and idles at 27-32 :)

EDIT: It's a AMD Llano A8-3850
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom