Spec me budget HTPC

utajoker · 15 Sep 2009 at 09:34

thinking of getting a HTPC for xmas.

looked at this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-000-AK&groupid=43&catid=1446&subcat=

but was wondering is it cheaper to build one myself?

only going to use it to play video from my main pc so dont need a dvd drive, just need it to be as cheap as possible and fit in this case at a later date and be wireless.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-108-AN

ive not been i touch with pc parts for a while so i dont no were to start

thanks.

5abr3 · 15 Sep 2009 at 10:47

Gigabyte GA-GC330UD Intel Atom 330 Mini-ITX DDR2 Motherboard £65.99
(£57.38)
Antec ISK 300-65 mITX Case - Black (with PSU) £59.00
(£51.30)
Western Digital Scorpio Blue 320GB 5400RPM SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (WD3200BEVT) £40.99
(£35.64)
OcUK 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel £39.99
(£34.77)
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 Sound Card - OEM (30SB057000000) £25.99
(£22.60)

Sub Total : £201.69
Inc VAT: £222.94

That doesn't include shipping and I skimpped on the RAM, you can get better RAM but you will have to split a dual channel pack regardless and I aren't sure how easy it would be to sell on a single 2GB DDR2 stick! This is also lacking the silent hard disk as their isn't one proclaiming to be silent in the OcUK range. Also lacking from this spec is the HDMI port but you would need to add another £50 to the build to get that and I haven't accounted for selling on the extra RAM stick. You will also need to get a USB wifi card, give me a few minutes and I might have a better spec

Edit #2:
Asus AT3N7A-I Ion Intel Atom N330 Mini ITX DDR2 Motherboard £112.99
(£98.25) £112.99
(£98.25)
Antec ISK 300-65 mITX Case - Black (with PSU) £59.00
(£51.30) £59.00
(£51.30)
Western Digital Scorpio Blue 320GB 5400RPM SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (WD3200BEVT) £40.99
(£35.64) £40.99
(£35.64)
OcUK 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel £39.99
(£34.77) £39.99
(£34.77)
Sub Total : £219.96
Inc. VAT : £252.96

This has 4GB RAM in it (no need to sell the extra stick) and has the sound card on board leaving you able to stick a PCI wireless card or a TV card in the PCI slot. Alternatively you could get 2x1GB sticks and still run 2GB which drops the price by about £10

utajoker · 15 Sep 2009 at 11:01

thx for this, is your spec better than the prebuilt one in the link?

5abr3 · 15 Sep 2009 at 11:06

The second one is (especially if you leave 4GB of RAM in it), the first one about matches it but doesn't have the ability to have another PCI card. You could also drop the price more if you need to by reducing the size of the hard drive or using slower RAM but I made sure the specs were identical on both aspects.

I would have remmended you getting the Zotac motherboard that is £1 more and get the wireless on the motherboard but it doesnt appear to have a CPU and Heatsink included and trades the PCI slot for a graphics card slot.

Edit: I can't be sure on the second motherboard if it is a dual or single core Atom by the way, the numbers match the dual core in the Gigabyte but who knows if that guarantees anything!

utajoker · 15 Sep 2009 at 11:14

not sure if i need 2gb ram, ive got a bluray player so it wont be playing anything hd, just needs to play dvd quality stuff.

i think i would end up putting win7 on it so maybe 4gb would be better than 2?

5abr3 · 15 Sep 2009 at 11:18

Personally I would stick the 4GB in unless someone can give you a compelling reason to go for the 2GB instead of the 4GB, if you already have the capacity in from the start then you wont be buying more RAM later on to expand it for any reason later.