Specced a small PC, look ok? Could do better?

LostPhil

LostPhil

LostPhil

Associate
Joined
6 Feb 2007
Posts
530
Location
Norwich, Norfolk
Hey guys/gals.

I've set my heart on building a small, quiet PC to use with a 720p LCD. I'd like it to have a small footprint, able to handle Blu-Ray and 1080p HD content, use a small amount of power and stay quiet (in comparison with an xbox 360 - it's too noisy to enjoy music/dvd's). Gaming isn't a factor and the only other things I'd be doing is ripping/encoding music, surfing the web and maybe the odd transcoding of video. Ideally I'd like it to be under £500, OS and wireless keyboard included but I realise this isn't the easiest thing to do.

The spec I've come up with is:
Lian Li case
WD Caviar Green HDD 1TB

Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H AMD 780G Micro-ATX (Socket AM2)
Corsair VX 450W ATX Power Supply
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 7750+ Black Edition 2.70GHz (Socket AM2+) - Retail

Keysonic ACK-612RF Black Wireless Keyboard with TouchPad
Kingston HyperX 2GB (2 X 1GB) DDR2 6400C4 800MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX6400D2LLk2/2G)
Belkin F5D7001UK 125Mbps Wireless Desktop PCI Network Adapter
Samsung SH-S223F/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM

Vista Home Premium 32 bit OEM

That pretty little lot comes to £558.22 inc. VAT as it stands.

I've left the Blu-Ray drive off for now due to budget constraints and also I need to be able to burn CD's/DVD's so that's the cheapest drive out of the question but I'll add a BD reader at a later date.

Has anyone got a better idea of a spec that would suit me?

I'm under the impression that the onboard graphics and the processor would be sufficient for decoding 1080p HD content, is this true?

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: Thinking I'll probably pick the 64bit Vista up instead to be honest.
 
Last edited:
Hi Phil. I've been looking at getting a similar sort of HTPC, but have gone for a smaller form factor (mini ITX, has only 1 expansion slot) as my desk space is very limited. If you do not need the additional slots, then something similar to the spec in my thread might be worth considering. I bought the parts today and minus the TV card, the total came to £544.64 including VAT and shipping. No wireless keyboard, but the Blu-ray drive is there. FYI, that price also includes the CPU cooler that I mention in the 4th post, as well as an additional 80mm case fan to replace the included one (which I am told is rather noisy).

If you prefer your current spec, then I would say it looks pretty good. Personally, I would not change anything.

LostPhil said:
I'm under the impression that the onboard graphics and the processor would be sufficient for decoding 1080p HD content, is this true?
Click to expand...
Most of the recent integrated graphics chipsets are capable of playing full HD with relatively little CPU power. The 780G is still one of the best, although the reviews that I have read suggest that the nVidia 9x00 offers slightly improved performance and better picture quailty.
 
might look at a AMD 4850e instead of that X2 black edition as you don't need unlimited multiplier if you aren't going to overclock and the 4850e is less power consuming. maybe a 5050e?
Other thing would be does your Wireless router support 125mb/s? otherwise you're wasting money and might as well get the 54mb version. saves a few quid.

Also you could save some money on the PSU. (Don't get me wrong its a nice one, but you don't need to spend that much money for what you are doing with it)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-009-SS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=
or
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-022-AK&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=

But really you've got yourself a nice setup there. Good luck
 
Total-Game, I'm going to stick with micro-ATX I think, I'm not an experienced builder and would probably need the extra room to get it together more easily! Also, thanks for the reassurance about the integrated graphics, I may add a discrete card at a later date if the quality isn't so hot.

Taking on board Guardsmon's advice, I'm changing the case to an Antec NSK 3480, which includes a PSU which should be sufficient (also, I realised width is a problem so will need a mini-tower type thing rather than a standard HTPC case). Also dropped the wireless card to the lower one.

Before changing the CPU, the cost is £474.65 which is nice! I'm going to pick up one of those energy saving CPU's I think but the price is pretty similar.
 
My final spec, now on order, ended up as:

Silverstone Temjin TJ08S
AMD Athlon X2 5050e 2.6ghz
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM
Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM
Akasa Ultra Quiet 400W Paxpower Active PFC ATX2.2 Power Supply
Belkin F5D7001UK 125Mbps Wireless Desktop PCI Network Adapter
OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2
Samsung SH-S223F/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM
Akasa AK-191-BL Blue Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3 Pin
Acousti AcoustiFeet ACF3007-20C Soft Anti-Vibration Feet - Clear
Akasa Fan Filter - 120mm

Couldn't get hold of a black TJ08, sold out just before I ordered! Oh well. I'll post up a pic when I'm sorted!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom