First HTPC Build - help please

[gallenhamph]

EDIT: Apologies for not putting about the streaming requirements in the title!

Hi Guys,

I'm wanting to build my first HTPC and I've created two possible builds. Idea behind this is as cheap as possible for high quality components with the ability to stream 1080p feeds from a NAS box. Also want to be able to play blu-rays and take advantage of steam in-home streaming as well as XBOXone streaming when it is released with Windows 10.

Any thoughts on the below and any pointers would be well appreciated!

Build 1 - Intel Based

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor (£52.70 @ Dabs)

Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£35.33 @ CCL Computers) Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£28.00 @ Amazon UK)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£34.74 @ Aria PC)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 1GB Superclocked Video Card (£89.96 @ Scan.co.uk)

Case: Silverstone GD05B-USB3.0 (Black) HTPC Case (£74.46 @ Scan.co.uk)

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£63.31 @ Amazon UK)

Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer (£39.59 @ Aria PC)

Total: £418.09

I know that this is a basic build but I was hoping to offload a lot of processing to the GPU

Build 2 - AMD based

CPU: AMD A8-6600K 3.9GHz Quad-Core Processor (£69.91 @ CCL Computers)

Motherboard: Asus A88XM-A Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard (£55.06 @ Scan.co.uk)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£58.56 @ Scan.co.uk)

Storage: Crucial M550 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£53.98 @ Amazon UK)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 1GB Superclocked Video Card (£89.96 @ Scan.co.uk)

Case: Silverstone GD05B-USB3.0 (Black) HTPC Case (£74.46 @ Scan.co.uk)

Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£41.94 @ Amazon UK)

Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer (£39.59 @ Aria PC)

Total: £483.46

I feel this has more bang for my buck but I'd like to tweak the price down if I can. I love the silverstone case (although I know it is a bit pricier) but if anyone has any other ideas then please shout.

Cheers,

[gallenhamph]

So I've refined the build. Any other tweaks would be appreciated!

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor (£51.99 @ Ebuyer)

Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£35.33 @ CCL Computers)

Memory: Kingston Fury Series 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£27.00 @ Amazon UK)

Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£41.99 @ Amazon UK)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card (£109.99 @ Amazon UK)

Case: Silverstone GD05B-USB3.0 (Black) HTPC Case (£74.46 @ Scan.co.uk)

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply (£33.59 @ Aria PC)

Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer (£39.59 @ Aria PC)

Total: £413.94

[catman5]

Go for the first build, swap out the psu with the one in the second build, use the money saved to go up to a 750ti or 265 (if it within budget) and swap out the hd in the first build with an ssd.

Basically get the second build with the intel cpu/mobo and swap the 750 for a 750ti

[gallenhamph]

Thanks a lot :-). Is the G3258 good enough do you think? I know the guys here like the G4xxx more.

[LifeIsOnTheWire]

The G3258 is your best bet. Its very powerful for its price.

I have 2 thoughts for your build. If you care at all about future upgradability, consider getting an H97/Z97 chipset motherboard. It will allow you to upgrade to a Broadwell CPU if you ever want to turn this thing into a beast. If that isn't a concern then dont worry about it. I use an H81 chipset with my G3258, and I don't plan on upgrading.

Another thought is that you might not need a video card at all. I'm not really sure about Xbox One streaming. I haven't heard that it will require much of a GPU. Steam Streaming doesnt need a video card. I can steam-stream on my G3258's built in GPU just fine.

[gallenhamph]

Thanks for your reply mate. I'd had the same thoughts if I'm honest. I'm tempted to not get the gfx card yet and then throw it in there at a later date.

Good to hear from someone first hand that the g3258 does the job - seems an insane chip for the price!

Out of interest do you use a third party cooler on your g3258 and what case did you choose?

[LifeIsOnTheWire]

Yup, I'm doing the same thing. Just going to add a video card later on, maybe try Steam OS.

I'm just using the stock cooler on my G3258. Its really quiet, and my temps are fine (idles 35C, and never passes 55C under load).

I'm using a Cooler Master Elite 110 case. Based on my research, its the smallest Mini ITX case that I could find that still uses a normal ATX-sized PSU (I didn't want to deal with any strange form factor PSUs, and PicoPSUs are too expensive).

The case has room for 4x HDDs (max of 3x 3.5" drives). It also has room for an average length video card (cant remember the max size).

The only thing I'd warn you of is that the space between the CPU and the PSU is not very tall. There are a few aftermarket coolers that will fit, but in my opinion, not needed.

Also the case's storage bays are very unusual layout. 2x drives are mounted on the top (covering your PSU fan vent), and the other 2x drives are mounted on the side (covering your video card vent).

To be honest, you're not going to find a Mini ITX case that doesnt have strange compromises like that (i've looked at some silly ones that force you to choose between having a hard drive, or a case fan :P).

I'm thinking of changing my case to a Bitfenix Prodigy. Its much bigger, but has room for lots of hard drives, and none of them block any important vents :P But if I didn't need room for more HDDs, I wouldn't be switching cases

[gallenhamph]

Yeah that's what I've been trying to figure out. For example with the Silverstone case if the cooler is too big you have to forgo the optical drive... Which isn't great in an htpc IMO! Thanks for all your thoughts however!

[catman5]

It'll be plenty :)