My HTPC spec for XBMC, bluray, iTunes

grumpybeard · 26 Aug 2011 at 20:46

Hey guys,

Been 2 years since I last built a system, getting the itch again! Looking to build a HTPC primarily for XBMC, streaming from NAS on gigabit LAN. Also for playing of blurays and iTunes client.

Although I have looked at many options (and all good in their ways) including ATV2, revo, ZBOX, I dont want to encounter any buffering issues or be limited to skin/theme choice due to hardware, so I guess want to slightly overspec with a self build rather than out the box.

Ideally super quiet. Considering the following components:

Silverstone GD06B Grandia Micro-ATX Case £78
Asus P8P67-M Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 MicroATX Motherboard £95
Intel Pentium G850 2.90GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor £70
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit £30
Scythe Shuriken BIG Quiet Low Profile CPU Cooler £32
Asus GeForce GT 440 SILENT 1024MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £70
Seasonic SS-460FL 460W Fanless Power Supply (PSU) £125
Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB £78
LG BH10LS30 10x BluRay-RW / 16 x DVD±RW Drive - Black £79

Total cost = £657

Probably £100 more than I wanted to spend, but will I be compromising on the system by lowering any of the above specs more?

Think the 460w supply should cover the above?

Grateful for any feedback fellas.

Cheers

munz · 26 Aug 2011 at 21:25

i'd go for g620, less power, more than enough oomph when paired with gt440.

any reason on choosing an overclcoking motheroard? save some money go for h67 board, or go down to h61 if you dont plan on using raid/sata 3 (i'd go for h67)

p67 no igp, h67 use integrated grpahics(igp) if for any reason gpu dies/needs RMA
g850 comes with low profile cpu cooler according to anandtech.com eview that came out on tuesday, should be fine since these processors produce so little heat and wont be overclocked, g620 does around 74W under full load.
dont go for g620T its got 35w rating but in real life only uses 3-4W under full load.

PSU i would take look at corsair 430w £35ish, i think on the this week only deal there is a modular psu for under £60.
also recommended is Antec earth watts green 380W (only has 2 sata cables 1 for bluray 1 for ssd, so if you need mroe dont go for this one)

i'd downgrade gt440 but are you going for it because of 3d content? afaik the gt430 can do 3d fine, definately worth looking into.

im planning a similar build for a friend g620 + hd6450 + silverstone sg02 mainly as web browsing/office pc with some media usage(movies/youtube), his build is coming to around £400-450 including win 7, but with no SSD,

G620 are very good bang for buck.

grumpybeard · 26 Aug 2011 at 22:12

Hi Munz,

Thanks for your input, must admit I've been out the hardware scene a while and not up to speed.

No need for overclocking, so I'll certainly consider the mother board choice. Will also look at the HD6450,I imagine with the case I've selected I will have to be careful about heatsink size so this card looks nice and lean.

Will probably stick with the PSU, less fans the better for my needs.

Thanks again.

hawker1986 · 27 Aug 2011 at 07:42

TBH if all you doing is HTPC stuff no gaming I would get a passive GT520/HD5450, save some more money, its totally fine for HD content. Personally I would favour the ATI card for 24p blu-ray. Also I would get this PSU:

380W PSU, Seasonic S12II-380

Much cheaper, fan never spins up in my case, and the GD06 will have plenty of room for you to tidy away the cables. You also wont be compromising going to a rubbish unit. Otherwise I would echo munz's thoughts on mobo and CPU.

Hawker

Stuff · 27 Aug 2011 at 08:21

I recently got an HD5450 to put in my Microserver and it handles 1080p just fine, and handles sound over HDMI too

munz · 27 Aug 2011 at 08:45

If you need 3D content stick with gt440/gt430 if its just blurray etc hd6450 will do the job at half the price.

If you are looking at low end motherboards for sandybridge i would avoid Asus, they seem to have had a lot of issues below the Asus Pro version of motherboards.

Give you better idea of cheaper build

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) £79.99

MSI H67MA-E35 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) **B3 REVISION**
£64.99

F4 EcoGreen 2TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD204UI) £57.98

Pentium G620 2.60GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £53.99

Samsung SH-B123L/BSBP 12x BluRay ROM / 16x DVD±RW Lightscribe SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (OEM) £49.99

Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £44.99

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6450 1024MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card (11190-02-20G) £38.39

Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 ATX '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUKV2) £31.99

Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £29.99

total £452
Bluray, 2tb hdd, ignore case wrong product but it is the right price £45.

you can swap hdd for ssd wont up total price by much.

Your build beats mine by:
Allowing 3d content
Quieter PSU
SSD
CPU cooler
you got better bluray drive