I'm trying to put together an HTPC/general-use-pc to a budget of about ₤350.
Prerequisites:
Mother board has to be mini-atx (17x17cm) 1155, have one HDMI out and one PCIE slot. Intel i3, 4gb ram, 128gb ssd (samsung830).
I'll be looking for as small a case i possibly can, but the one that can fit an optical drive and later a better graphics card along and comes with PSU.
At the moment i'm googling the proverbial brown out of the internet for components, but i'd really appreciate some input to narrow down bits and pieces.
What i'm trying to achieve ? Trying to squeeze out more power than Zotac AD04 box has to offer for the same money. I'm digging it but i dont think i like E450's lack of cpu power and expansion options. Zotac AD04 + 8gb ram + 128gb Sammy 830 ssd = ₤345 at the moment. I'm trying to top that in terms of power and some increase in size (but not to standard ATX pc)...
Also need advice on small graphics cards that would top E450's capabilities, i understand power requirements will increase. That is for future update, just exploring my options here. Not as much for 3d games as for MAME and emu's. Graphics card does not factor into ₤350 budget...
@Moderators: please don't move this to small form factor, i'm throwing this out as a general question, will amend if requested. Thanks...
#Edit1# Now that i think of it it may even be AMD. Its not top performance pc so could be anything as long as it performs better than E450...
Prerequisites:
Mother board has to be mini-atx (17x17cm) 1155, have one HDMI out and one PCIE slot. Intel i3, 4gb ram, 128gb ssd (samsung830).
I'll be looking for as small a case i possibly can, but the one that can fit an optical drive and later a better graphics card along and comes with PSU.
At the moment i'm googling the proverbial brown out of the internet for components, but i'd really appreciate some input to narrow down bits and pieces.
What i'm trying to achieve ? Trying to squeeze out more power than Zotac AD04 box has to offer for the same money. I'm digging it but i dont think i like E450's lack of cpu power and expansion options. Zotac AD04 + 8gb ram + 128gb Sammy 830 ssd = ₤345 at the moment. I'm trying to top that in terms of power and some increase in size (but not to standard ATX pc)...
Also need advice on small graphics cards that would top E450's capabilities, i understand power requirements will increase. That is for future update, just exploring my options here. Not as much for 3d games as for MAME and emu's. Graphics card does not factor into ₤350 budget...
@Moderators: please don't move this to small form factor, i'm throwing this out as a general question, will amend if requested. Thanks...
#Edit1# Now that i think of it it may even be AMD. Its not top performance pc so could be anything as long as it performs better than E450...
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