Ultra Cheap HTPC

pepp77 · 15 Aug 2010 at 22:22

So Ive decided to build my mum an HTPC and have set myself a budget to try and hit of £150 - obviously this will mean using some bits I already have which are:-

Maxtor 250GB HDD
Pioneer 215-DBK DVDRW
XP Home or Vista Ultimate (Im edging towards Ultimate for WMC)

I have so far purchased

Antec Micro Fusion 350 HTPC Case with Remote - Black/Silver (350W PSU Included) - £56.40

GA-MA78GM-S2H - £36

So now I just need to get an efficient CPU and 2GB of Ram for under £58 so am probably going to have to go second user.

Any thoughts on the CPU to look for?

Jae-So · 16 Aug 2010 at 00:11

if ur looking second hand can I suggest the Athlon II x2 range, I got a 255 off of ebay for £30

Baboonanza · 16 Aug 2010 at 09:34

The Athlon II range would be perfect. If you want to save money you can get a normal power one (without the 'e') and just undervolt it to get a similar power profile.

pcoltrane · 16 Aug 2010 at 09:59

Second hand Athlon II X2 and 785G motherboard (780G also ok)

Go with vista ultimate (although windows 7 media center is another step better)

Baboonanza · 16 Aug 2010 at 11:45

And mkae sure the board takes DDR2 RAM. It will be much easier and cheaper to find second hand DDR2 than DDR3.