HTPC / Media box spec £400 please

becrazed

becrazed

becrazed

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6 Aug 2005
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Hi all,

Happy new year everyone, I've been having a looking at various HTPC options and thought I'd try my luck with the wealth of knowledge that resides here:

I'd like a spec for a HTPC or media pc primarily used for media playback / 3D content and standard 1080p. As i intend on playing rather large video files (20GB +) I'd like it to be able handle stutter free playback. I really dont know what to look for I've seen some options for pre built systems on OC but I wanted to get an idea on the sort individual components on offer and the options available to put one together myself for £400.

Any help or build ideas would be greatly appreciated

Thanks
 
What components do you currently have?

How small do you want it? Does it need to be in a low profile case?

Do you need an OS, wireless keyboard and mouse etc? SSD or large HDD?

Most find an old 775 system with a decent £20-£30 passive graphics card is more than capable of 1080p video. My own is an old E8500 on an Asus MicroATX with 4GB of memory and a silent HD5750 GPU, Samsung BluRay drive and 450w Corsair PSU within a Silverstone Grandia GD02 HTPC case.

If I was replacing it I would consider going for on board graphics these days, with an SSD and movies on a NAS or such maybe.

Here is a basic throw together of components to give you a rough idea of an HTPC. (may have to double check on 3D capability)

YOUR BASKET
1 x LG BH16NS40 16x SATA Internal BDRW - Retail £79.99
1 x MSI A75IA-E53 AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £69.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02733) £67.99
1 x Toshiba 2TB 5700RPM SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ABA200) HDD £59.99
1 x Thermaltake Element Q mini-ITX HTPC Case - 220W Power Supply £56.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED34GM1600HC11DC01) £32.99
1 x AMD A4-4000 3.00GHz (Socket FM2) APU Richland Dual Core Processor (AD4000OKHLBOX) £31.99
1 x Alpenföhn Panorama CPU Cooler £19.99
Total : £429.48 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
Sorry I should've clarifed, I do not need the following components:

I'd like it small enough to not look out of place under a telly in the living room amongst other home entertainment devices.
- Windows Licence
- Hard drive (i currently have an Samsung 840 SSD)
- keyboard and mouse or any peripherals
-disk drive (im not looking to run any cd / dvd media from this at all)

I dont know if this changes the spec at all?

Thanks

Becrazed
 
Last edited:
Come up with the below, used a wireless keyboard / mouse combined.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Silverstone SST-ML04B Milo HTPC Case - Black £69.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02733) £67.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £63.95
1 x Gigabyte F2A88XM-HD3 AMD A88X (Socket FM2+) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £52.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED34GM1600HC11DC01) £32.99
1 x AMD A4-4000 3.00GHz (Socket FM2) APU Richland Dual Core Processor (AD4000OKHLBOX) £29.99
1 x Xebec HTPC/Console Handheld Keyboard £29.99
1 x SuperFlower Amazon 300W "80 Plus Bronze" Power Supply £29.99
1 x Cooler Master GeminII M4 Low Profile CPU Cooler £22.99
Total : £414.36 (includes shipping : £11.25).

 
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