HTPC for £200-£300

scwilson

scwilson

scwilson

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Joined
18 Oct 2010
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193
Location
South Coast UK
All,

Trying to spec up a HTPC but I'm having doubts about the E350 approach.

I basically have an Antec ISK300-150 case. I'm not going to add a CD/DVD drive to it because I'll install Windows 7 64-bit via USB stick. The less power it uses the better :)

So all I want to do with it is;

- Media Player (mkv, avi, DVD-iso and Blu-Ray-iso) probably using XBMC
- Web browsing

My plan is to add an SSD;

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-075-OC&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=910

Add some memory (4GB);

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-257-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1516

I realize the memory is dependent on motherboard but I think DDR3 1333MHz Dual-Channel is a safe bet.

The problem I have is motherboard. I can't seem to decide on an E350 or whether to go separate mobo and processor, which works out more expensive and I can't actually find many mini-itx mobos without processors.

I do like the idea of combined GPU to reduce heat but again, I'm unsure if this will limit me at all.

Any advice?
 
Is there a reason that you don't want to go for the E350? I've got one in my server and its fantastic. Using the Asus board myself (albeit the Micro ATX version)
 
You could go for a llano build route but overclockers don't stock any mini-itx FM1 boards for some reason and it will work out more expensive but should be more powerful.

Also I believe it would use more power than the E350 would.
 
Until very recently I ran the following system, it was pretty quiet and the draw peaked at 110w:

Zotac 9300-I-E ITX WiFi OC
E8400 w/stock cooler
2 x 2GB DDR2 Corsair XMS2
320GB 7200 HDD

The onboard GPU is more than capable of dealing with any media you throw at it.
There is a newer edition of the 9300 itx which runs DDR3 instead of DDR2 as well if you'd prefer. You could probably pick up the components 2nd hand for sub-£150 if you could find them.
It's a shame you're not yet qualified for the Members Market, as there's been a couple of those motherboards on there recently.
 
I'd go with what Hyburnate said but remove the 500W psu. That's just not needed, get yourself a picopsu instead, it will be more efficient and silent. Plus I'd go for a mini-itx board so you can put it all into a small case.
 
Marvt74 said:
Is there a reason that you don't want to go for the E350? I've got one in my server and its fantastic. Using the Asus board myself (albeit the Micro ATX version)
Click to expand...

Not really, I just hear on various forums that the E350 struggles but then I guess they may be referring to gaming. I'm not interested in that and if the E350 can handle 1080P alongside the built in GPU on the mobo than that is good for me.
 
The new E-450 with AMD Radeon™ HD 6320 Graphics have started turning up with a little more juice than the E350 but still around the same price range.

Personally I went the Llano + asrock A75M (but they do do a M-itx as well) route and very happy with it so far.
 
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Wondering whether to go Gigabyte, Asus or Zotac. I've only ever owned Asus boards, just because they have always been reliable for me, including my current reliable Crosshair III.
 
scwilson said:
Wondering whether to go Gigabyte, Asus or Zotac. I've only ever owned Asus boards, just because they have always been reliable for me, including my current reliable Crosshair III.
Click to expand...

Would seriously look as some of the ASrock line up get quite a bit of board for the cash involved and I will definatelly look at using more of their boards in future builds considering all my other machines have been ASUS.
 
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