Replace my PC

[Peerzy]

Right my current PC is as follows;

Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge)
Asus P8P67 DELUXE Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
OCZ Vertex 3 240GB
2TB Samsung HD204UI
Silverstone Fortress FT02B-W Windowed Gaming Case
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 480 "Special Edition" 1536MB
Corsair TX 950W ATX SLI Compliant Power Supply
Corsair Hydro H50-1 High-Performance CPU Watercooler
Samsung SH-B123L/BSBP 12x BluRay ROM DVDRW DL & RAM Lightscribe SATAII
G.Skill RipJawsX 8GB (4x2GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C9 2133MHz

Clearly a very good system and it doesn't disappoint, but the case is massive (takes up far far too much room) and I'm sure it's a pretty big power drain to keep on 24/7. It's also loud and noisy with the massive case fans.

The PC has always been hooked up to my TV via HDMI and used as a 50% HTPC where it played BluRays, downloads, music, HD video etc.... and the other half time used for game playing and your standard browsing, email, MS Office etc....

I want to replace this PC with 2, a laptop which I already have sorted and a much smaller, much quieter PC to stay connected to the TV. I'm not sure how much power you can pack into a small case due to heat and component size but ideally I'd like to not take too much of a step down in performance. I would for example, like to be able to play Max Payne 3, and encode movies quickly to transfer to my iPad and phone.

The type of PC I'm looking for should be/able to do the following really;

Small as possible
Able to play BluRays, write DVDs and play HD video without issue
Play current games
Have at least 240GB of space (pref SSD)
8GB RAM, 16GB if possible.
USB3 (maybe?)
Wireless (lounge isn't cabled)
HDMI output
Record Sky (Is this possible? The PC will be right next to our Sky box and TV)
Stable (will be on 24/7)
Be able to use some sort of remote with it to pause, play and stop video/music (is this possible?)

What would people suggest? Please assume that I'll need all parts replacing, no OS, keyboard, mouse, monitor or speakers are required. I listen to music but onboard sound is perfectly fine. I would like to reuse none of the parts from my current PC as I'll probably find another use for it within the family.

I'd like to build myself so that I can have a play with it and get stuff how I like, initially no budget set as I'm not sure what needs to be spent to get what I require.

 

[Peerzy]

You could spend a lot, on something like this, but it would be perfect fo your needs.

The problem i have is the stock cooler can be loud and i don't know what SFF cooler will fit this case.


YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 Power Edition Twin Frozr IV OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £219.95
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £181.99
1 x OCZ Agility 3 240GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (AGT3-25SAT3-240G) £139.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX16GX3M2A1600C11) £95.99
1 x Asus P8H77-I Intel H77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 MiniITX Motherboard £82.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) £66.98
1 x LG CH10LS28 BD-ROM 10x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (Retail) £62.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Midnight Black £59.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £47.99
Total : £972.36 (includes shipping : £11.25).




Other options would be cheaper on price and cut down on the GPU, maybe using an a8 and a smaller PSU. This would be a lot cheaper but not able to play new games on Max settings.

That looks very good, it's not wireless though? Would I be able to add a wireless PCI card, I'd rather not use a USB dongle?

I assume that PC compares equally/better than my current one? Could it do the following or would I need extra things, if so what?

Wireless (lounge isn't cabled)
Record Sky (Is this possible? The PC will be right next to our Sky box and TV)
Stable (will be on 24/7)
Be able to use some sort of remote with it to pause, play and stop video/music (is this possible?)

Amazed you can build an i5, 16GB Ram, decent graphics card into something small like that - I assume heat and things fitting won't be an issue?

 

[Peerzy]

Looking at that motherboard it's only got 1 PCIe slot which the graphcis card will use.

I'm guessing this means I'll have to use a USB wireless dongle, which is fine as I already have one, I would have just preferred it to be all internal.

So that leaves me with the final questions;

Record Sky (Is this possible? The PC will be right next to our Sky box and TV)
I assume this isn't viable due to no room for some sort of TV card?

Stable (will be on 24/7)
This is a key one, will the graphics card, CPU, HDD and Ram fit in that case without issue and will everything get too hot?

Be able to use some sort of remote with it to pause, play and stop video/music (is this possible?)
Assume this is just sorted by getting a remote with a USB receiver or something?

 

[Peerzy]

i know you said you don't really have a budget in mind but what do you think is the maximum you'd consider as it will give people a better idea of how far they can go .

when you say as small as possible what sort of size would you consider, if you can have a look at the cases, would give everyone an idea of what they can get away with.

I would say £900-£1000 is my top end. If that's what it takes to get the components that meet my need then that is what I'll pay.

Ideally I'll want to use this as a HTPC for many years, but as a main Windows PC for the next 18 months or so.

The case linked above is ideal, too small rules out the possibility of some decent graphics cards and heat as an issue. So the case that mini-ITX case looked a perfect size.

 

[Peerzy]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asrock Z77E-ITX Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £119.99
Total : £129.89 (includes shipping : £8.25).




As an alternative has built in n band WIFI, there are other options with the same feature if you don't like the look of it.

Thanks that looks good unless it's going to cause issues with any of my other components? I notice it's got what looks like 2 Antenna Ports - can these be used to record say Sky? or what use do they have?

 

[Peerzy]

They will be for the 2 x WIFI antenna.

Why I didn't put 2 and 2 together I'll never know

Anybody comment on my other questions;

Record Sky (Is this possible? The PC will be right next to our Sky box and TV)
I assume this isn't viable due to no room for some sort of TV card?

Stable (will be on 24/7)
This is a key one, will the graphics card, CPU, HDD and Ram fit in that case without issue and will everything get too hot?

Be able to use some sort of remote with it to pause, play and stop video/music (is this possible?)
Assume this is just sorted by getting a remote with a USB receiver or something?

Or have anything else to add?

 

[Peerzy]

don't think you can record sky to pc, but might be worth asking in the home cinema forum.

long as the airflow in the case is ok it shouldn't overheat unless its next to a radiator or something daft, any overclocks etc will add to the chance of instability.

set on a remote or would a wireless mouse be ok ?, again something worth checking in the home cinema forum.

Already got a wireless keyboard and mouse, a remote would be nice but not essential.

Won't be overclocked but worth getting the K chip as I might use the CPU in a different build later on it's life.

No worries about recording Sky, I suppose I don't actually have any use as the Sky box does that itself.