HTPC build

R.C.Anderson

R.C.Anderson

R.C.Anderson

Associate
Joined
20 Feb 2009
Posts
2,156
Location
Rugby
I'm wanting to build myself an HTPC, that will also act as a NAS.

I already have a case, PSU, HDD, OS, so all I need is a mobo, cpu & RAM.

I've got together a couple of builds below.

YOUR BASKET
1 x ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £59.99
1 x AMD A6-5400K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Dual Core Processor (AD540KOKHJBOX) £50.39
2 x TeamGroup Elite 2GB (1x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Single Channel Module (TED32GM1333C901) £8.99 (£17.98)
Total : £128.35 (includes shipping : FREE).





YOUR BASKET
1 x ASRock B75 Pro3-M Intel B75 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £55.99
1 x Intel Pentium G620 2.60GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £47.99
2 x TeamGroup Elite 2GB (1x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Single Channel Module (TED32GM1333C901) £8.99 (£17.98)
Total : £121.96 (includes shipping : FREE).



From what I've researched, the trinity build would be far better in terms of graphical performance, so that's the way I'm leaning, is there any reason why I shouldn't choose this path?

The reasons I chose what I have, is I want 6gb/s SATA (I plan to move my SSD from my main PC over to the HTPC as the boot drive), and I want HDMI output from the boards to go to my TV.

I will be playing upto 1080p mkv videos on it, but I don't plan on gaming (at all) on it as I have my main PC for that.

Oh, and I also will be adding an aftermarket cooler to it (hopefully a passive one), but I need to research which will be good a bit more first (but nearly all are cross platform, so shouldn't cause an issue)

Is there an alternative I should also consider?
 
i would go with the amd build. the pentium may be slightly better on the cpu side but the igp on the amd is much better.

Obviously, the amd will need more power and produce more heat but it will give better performance.

i would also reccomend spending a bit extra on the ram. You can get a 4gb 1600mhz corsair kit for £23.99. The igp will perform better with this ram aswell.
 
Meant to change the RAM before I posted on here, but I forgot :p

The EVO Leggera RAM is actually a decent price for the speed, I'm just not sure it's really worth the extra £12 from these. (although I might use the opportunity to bump my main PC upto 16GB, and transfer the 8GB I have in that over to this.

Any real reason you chose the Gigabyte board instead? Seems to be much the same as the ASRock, but more expensive, and without an eSATA port (which I forgot to mention would be handy)
 
Looking at the reviews,in many cases the AMD Trinity CPUs have idle power consumption as good as the Intel equivalents,if not better. Combined with a decent IGP,they look a good choice for an HTPC.
 
If we were using a 1155 intel socket mobo I would agree on the RAM. For trinity (FM2) the best IGP performance comes from having fast RAM, the GEIL EVO kit is a great price if you check the rival modules.

I used the GB mobo as they have a good UK based 3 year warranty. The mobo also has dual BIOS chips so updating the BIOS is no longer the nail biting experience of old ;) I can see why you lie the look of the GEIL dragon RAM and the Asrock mobo but with my sensible trousers on I would buy what I spec'd earlier
 
With regards to the warranty, I've posted in the CS section to find out what actual warranty the ASRock has, as it's not mentioned on the main product page, so that'll make a difference. If it's 2 years with OCUK, for example, I wouldn't have an issue, but if it's only 1 year with ASRock, then I would be more dubious.

The BIOS update doesn't really bother me, as I don't think I've ever actually updated a BIOS, because I don't find there's any need unless it's not working properly, and then it's an RMA issue anyway.

As for the performance increase with faster RAM, I'm not going to be playing any games, and it'll handle HD playback fine, so I don't really see the need to spend the extra on the RAM, as I'll never actually see a performance increase in what I use it for?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom