HTPC uses? spec's?

FatFishMonster

FatFishMonster

FatFishMonster

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hey guys
so im looking at building a htpc for when i move out. but im not exactly clued in on what they can actually do, so could someone explain what i could do with one?

i like the idea of watching my moives/tv shows that i have on my main pc.
im looking to use the bitfenix prodigy as the case, as i love it!

but what sort of specs are good for htpc's?
i dont wanna spend loads.
maybe 300ish?

thanks :)
 
You can stream from the web, watch films from DVD/Blu-Ray, browse the net, it's like a normal PC but built for TV & films

Do you need an entire build? (case, PSU, OS, mouse & kb)

Something like this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £95.99
1 x LG BH10LS38 10x BluRay-RW / 16 x DVD±RW Lightscribe Drive - Black (OEM) £74.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Midnight Black £64.99
1 x OCZ Vertex 3 60GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (VTX3-25SAT3-60G) £61.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £59.99
1 x MSI A55M-E33 AMD A55 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £40.99
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 400W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £40
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TXD38G2133HC11DC01) £39.95
Total : £492.98 (includes shipping : £11.75).

 
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sounds like it could up my street then! ive heard of people using them as servers aswell.
yeah i need everything minus an OS.
but depending on what sort of specs i need ill most probably try and get some bits off the MM :)
also there isnt really a lot of things in my current pc i could use.
i need to upgrade my mobo in cpu in my main rig but i dont think what i have currently would be very good for htpc, also i need to upgrade the ram, so i could use the ram and possibly my psu if i upgraded that :)
 
kegz665 said:
sounds like it could up my street then! ive heard of people using them as servers aswell.
yeah i need everything minus an OS.
but depending on what sort of specs i need ill most probably try and get some bits off the MM :)
also there isnt really a lot of things in my current pc i could use.
i need to upgrade my mobo in cpu in my main rig but i dont think what i have currently would be very good for htpc, also i need to upgrade the ram, so i could use the ram and possibly my psu if i upgraded that :)
Click to expand...

The above gives you a good idea of what you could get. You don't need a GPU as the CPU has an integrated graphics unit (APU). Used with the fast RAM, you'll get decent performance if any games are played.
 
would i reall need harddrive that size? would i be able to get away with just using an ssd? for streaming etc....ive already got a 1tb, 500gb and 250gb, all are in my main rig but i could probably spare the 500gb once i get an ssd for it and i sort out all of my installations
 
kegz665 said:
would i reall need harddrive that size? would i be able to get away with just using an ssd? for streaming etc....ive already got a 1tb, 500gb and 250gb, all are in my main rig but i could probably spare the 500gb once i get an ssd for it and i sort out all of my installations
Click to expand...

That would certainly reduce the price. I included it for storage, but take it out to save £50.
 
snips86x said:
That would certainly reduce the price. I included it for storage, but take it out to save £50.
Click to expand...
also i could get a Blu ray drive for about 30 quid second hand.
so that would save me 80, 410 doesnt sound to bad to be honest!

yeah just noticed the mobo

are the i3's just as good as the trinity chips for htpc uses?
 
snips86x said:
haha, doing 2 things at once.

Great start :(
Click to expand...

;)


OP -
YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £95.99
1 x ASRock FM2A75M-ITX AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £68.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Midnight Black £64.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5 SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT064M4SSD2) £59.99
1 x Adata XPG Xtreme v1.0 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C10 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (AX3U2133XC4G10-2X) £47.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020058-UK) £38.99
1 x Liteon IHOS104-06 4x BD-ROM (Black) - OEM £29.99
Total : £421.02 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Costs could be lowered, by possibly dropping the SSD - or dropping the A10 to a A8/A6. The A10 is perfectly capable for gaming, so if you wanted to play the odd game on it then it will run fine :)
 
LukieBoy007 said:
;)

OP -
YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £95.99
1 x ASRock FM2A75M-ITX AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £68.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Midnight Black £64.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5 SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT064M4SSD2) £59.99
1 x Adata XPG Xtreme v1.0 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C10 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (AX3U2133XC4G10-2X) £47.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020058-UK) £38.99
1 x Liteon IHOS104-06 4x BD-ROM (Black) - OEM £29.99
Total : £421.02 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Costs could be lowered, by possibly dropping the SSD - or dropping the A10 to a A8/A6. The A10 is perfectly capable for gaming, so if you wanted to play the odd game on it then it will run fine :)
Click to expand...

me like!
but how do i3's compare to the trinity chips for htpc?
 
kegz665 said:
hey guys
so im looking at building a htpc for when i move out. but im not exactly clued in on what they can actually do, so could someone explain what i could do with one?

i like the idea of watching my moives/tv shows that i have on my main pc.
im looking to use the bitfenix prodigy as the case, as i love it!

but what sort of specs are good for htpc's?
i dont wanna spend loads.
maybe 300ish?

thanks :)
Click to expand...

I love my HTPC but I'm going to be upgrading it to a gaming system shortly, most people want their HTPC to be low powered and quiet. I'm running an IBi7k, on an Asus MVG + 16GB Samsung Green. No graphic card at the moment, I think I'm going to stick a nice card in and replace the mechanical drives with SSD's, you have no idea how annoying HDD's can sound in a quiet room.
 
LukieBoy007 said:
In terms of raw processing power, the i3 wins. However, the IGP in the A10 is significantly better and will therefore playback videos better.
Click to expand...

ok so a10 it is.

im thinking about taking out the 1tb drive out of my main rig as theres no programmes on there and then using the htpc as a file server aswell

then when i run out of room on the 1tb ill take it out and chuck a 4tb in there, this will reduce the inital cost :)
 
kegz665 said:
ok so a10 it is.

im thinking about taking out the 1tb drive out of my main rig as theres no programmes on there and then using the htpc as a file server aswell

then when i run out of room on the 1tb ill take it out and chuck a 4tb in there, this will reduce the inital cost :)
Click to expand...

You've also got B grade items, the HDD's are most likely missing the cables, but if you already have them, the cost is still sufficiently less compared to a new one.
 
If its purely for watching movies you could use a dual core AMD Trinity CPU, still plenty for decoding 3D Blu Ray but if you encoding and ripping DVD/BD's you'll be better off with one of the quad cores. Remember if you not gaming or planning on overclocking the A10-5700 has a TDP of 65W as oppose to 100W on the A10-5800K but just has a slightly lower clocked cpu and igpu (although actual idle power consumption of the two are very similar, and better than an i3).

Edit

I'd wait for some more itx fm2 boards personally. Lots of problems reported with the ASRock board, some even catching fire!
 
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shadow_boxer said:
If its purely for watching movies you could use a dual core AMD Trinity CPU, still plenty for decoding 3D Blu Ray but if you encoding and ripping DVD/BD's you'll be better off with one of the quad cores. Remember if you not gaming or planning on overclocking the A10-5700 has a TDP of 65W as oppose to 100W on the A10-5800K but just has a slightly lower clocked cpu and igpu (although actual idle power consumption of the two are very similar, and better than an i3).

Edit

I'd wait for some more itx fm2 boards personally. Lots of problems reported with the ASRock board, some even catching fire!
Click to expand...

i dont know wether i will overclock it or not, ill have to see how i get one with it. is it worth the extra 4quid for the 5800k?

any eta on new mobos?

not planning on buy straight away ill probably either save or get it in 2 months, half each month :)
 
If you plan on a bit of casual gaming then grab the 5800K. Adding fast RAM and overclocking the igpu will yield decent returns but for just movie playback and streaming it really isnt needed. Also the Prodigy case will have some reasonable airflow so cooling is less of an issue as your not looking at a small AV style itx case. Not sure on exact eta of new mobos but Gigabyte was rumoured to be releasing one in Feb. Have a read of some threads over at xbmc and AVSforums, lots of actual hands on feedback with Trinity APU's.
 
nah i wont be gaming it, well i wont be, someone else might, but i have my main rig and xbox for gaming.
sounds like ill give the 5800k a skip, and just go for the 5700
yeah, the prodigy will keep it pretty cool, at some point i might end up watercooling it and turning it into somewhat of a conversation piece aswell :)
 
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