Spec me an i5/7 Plex/Squeezebox HTPC

[Midnight63]

Can anyone help me spec up a system that will happily serve and transcode 1080p Plex media.

What I want is a quiet system that can be used near the TV but that can also hold multiple HDD's.

I want to be able to stream over the net to both another PC and also to a smartphone whilst also be able at the same time to serve over the LAN at home.

According to the Plex minimum system standards this will need at least an i5 cpu.

Finally I'd like to use the system to also act as a Plex client so I guess I'd need a graphics card.

Budget is around £500 give or take.

 

[Midnight63]

Ok, thinking about this little lot.

Any suggestions, do I need anything else.

1st build for me...

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £173.99
(£144.99) £173.99
(£144.99)
Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST3000DM001) Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST3000DM001) £119.99
(£99.99) £119.99
(£99.99)
Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Desktop Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC128D/EU) Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Desktop Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC128D/EU) £81.98
(£68.32) £81.98
(£68.32)
Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
(£66.66) £79.99
(£66.66)
BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Arctic White BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Arctic White £64.99
(£54.16) £64.99
(£54.16)
OCZ ZT 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply OCZ ZT 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply £63.98
(£53.32) £63.98
(£53.32)
Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1156/1155/775/AM3/AM2+/AM2) Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1156/1155/775/AM3/AM2+/AM2) £32.99
(£27.49) £32.99
(£27.49)
Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £29.99
(£24.99) £29.99
(£24.99)
Sub Total : £539.92
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.75
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £110.33
Total : £662.00

 

[Pohly]

never heard of plex befor but did a quick google search and found this and this (not sure if its the right thing) but a c2d 2.4ghz is miles behind an i5 so a cheaper i3 will do the job just as well
YOUR BASKET
1 x Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST3000DM001) £119.99
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £99.95
1 x Gigabyte Z77N-WIFI Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £98.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £79.99
1 x MSI HD 7770 GHz Edition 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £79.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Midnight Black £64.99
1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £43.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £28
Total : £629.99 (includes shipping : £11.75).



doubt you will even need the gpu

or amd with apu (very decent onboard graphics chip)
YOUR BASKET
1 x Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST3000DM001) £119.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £79.99
1 x AMD A8-5600K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD560KWOHJBOX) £79.99
1 x ASRock FM2A75M-ITX AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £73.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Midnight Black £64.99
1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £43.99
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB2133C11DC) £39.95
1 x Cooler Master Hyper TX3 Evo CPU Cooler (Socket Intel Socket LGA1366/1156/1155/775 / AMD Socket FM1/AM3+/AM3/AM2) £19.99
Total : £536.99 (includes shipping : £11.75).



review of a8 5600k here