Budget htpc/media player


#1

so after ridding myself of 2 off the shelf media players/pvrs im considering the route of building one.

But i dont want the cost to exceed $450.

Ill post an example, now would something like this work?


By buzuki84 at 2012-01-14

Would a system like this work? Is there a cheaper way? i3 overkill? It needs to perform fairly quick as it will be sifting through TB’s for movies/music etc as well as recording tv.

Cheers blokes :shades:


#2

System looks solid I,m not up to date with capture cards etc nip big on media player…


#3

HTPCs always seem like overkill, until you get it home and fill it with 100TB P0RN.:wink2::yes:


#4

Put a low profile cooler on it and you’re golden.

Scythe Shuriken or similar


#5

Yes, that will be fine. I wouldn’t be able to live without a HTPC after having one.

Here are a few things that sprung to mind looking at your build:

Without relying on a stand alone GPU I’d personally opt for an AMD FX processor due to having a fairly beefy integrated GPU onboard but I don’t see any M-ITX cases that take an AM3+ CPU on PCCG, so that’s out. The integrated HD 2000 in the i3 2100 is meant to be adequate for HD playback so you should be good.

Just note that the case and motherboard only has 1 expansion slot which leaves you with no option to place a standalone graphics card in it or another DTV tuner later on down the track.

The tuner you have selected has a single analogue tuner and a single digital one. The analogue ones are useless… That’s what the “H” stands for in the name, Hybrid. The DTV2000DS is a dual digital tuner but it needs a PCI slot, not PCI-E which is a bummer as it’s a good card and cheaper. One of these will get you dual digital tuners. I haven’t had a chance to use that particular card yet but I’m sure it would be ok. Considering you won’t be able to add another tuner later on, a dual tuner card is a must, IMO!

Also you won’t need the PSU as it comes with a 200W unit built in which should be plenty. So there’s a $45 saving, you can put it towards a wirelss KB which you will want for surfing youtube etc… The best I’ve come across for the money is the logitech K400 but PCCG don’t seem to stock them any more.

Edit: 150W PSU, still be ok as you’ll be lucky to be drawing 100W out of the wall with that system with a few HDDs. Full load should still be sub 150W. I’m talking Prime95 type load though, far more stress than a HTPC will ever see.


#6

What about an external tuner to help the expansion slot shortage issue?

Also, AMD FM1 socket should be pretty good for your needs


Id go the 3870 as linked for the gpu grunt. I did one a while back for a work mate and was really impressed with its overall oomph


#7

Crap, that’s what I meant, FM1 not FX. Brain wasn’t working last night.

External tuners would be fine as long as they use BDA drivers, that gives them the best chance of being compatible on most systems using different media centre style software. I’ve not used one myself but like a usb wifi dongle, I’d be surprised if they didn’t work adequately.


#8

Yeah made a boo boo with the tuner. Didnt read properly, I want a dual digital tuner as minimum.

Also i havent alot to do with AMD boards/cpus. If they are a better option im all ears.

Also nip only reason i added the power supply was the i3 cpu suggested 300w minimum. But if your confident its not going to pull that sort of power im happy to use the one which comes with the case.

Is that AMD board saying it has HD65xx graphics on board? O.o

What sort of case would i need for that? I have some room to play with, it will be on its side though. 44w x 18h x 40d


#9

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Better? Is there a better case for similar money elsewhere? Again dont want to blow the budget.


#10

Just looked up that keyboard. Thats pretty good :smiley:


#11

Is that AMD board saying it has HD65xx graphics on board? O.o

What sort of case would i need for that? I have some room to play with, it will be on its side though. 44w x 18h x 40d

GPU is onboard ( same as intels … but its just alot more powerful - thats why I suggested it as it performs supreme in the onboard department) so it wont take any extra room :slight_smile: … and leaves the pcie slot free


#12

Well you can get a quad core AMD with the integrated HD6550D (it’s built into the CPU, not the motherboard) for the same money as dual core i3. The 2100 would pip the 3870 is some benchmarks but the integrated GPU that is in the 3870 would flog Intel’s solution which makes it better for HTPCs imo. Also in some apps, 4 real cores may still have an edge over a dual core with hyperthreading. So the real value is in the GPU, AMD’s integrated solution is more than you’ll ever need for a HTPC, it will probably even handle some games with reduced settings. The i3 2100 is technically the better CPU on it’s own but the AMD is easily better as a CPU/GPU solution.

edit: Az beat me too it again, lol.

A HTPC with an A8-3870 will draw around 40W at idle, that will climb with extra HDDs but it will be bugger all, full load will be struggling to top 120W. My HTPC with a Q6600 and the old 9600GT (now use a 5450) drew no more than 183W from the socket and that is far more inefficient than today’s CPUs. So I’d honestly get away with a ~200W PSU under full load conditions, even easier under regular use (most of the stuff you’ll do on a HTPC like playing music/movies/pictures will barely use more power than it does idling). Doesn’t hurt to have extra headroom but in the spirit of saving money, the bundled PSU should be adequate. Worst case scenario is that you buy another PSU IF the standard one struggles which I doubt it will.

We ran the AMD A8 3870K APU both with and without a dedicated graphics card. Without one (using the internal IGP) the PC idles at only 39 Watts, very respectable. When we place load on the CPU and we see the power draw rise the system now consumes roughly 110~120 Watts. This is with merely an SSD and 8GB memory installed. Your average PC will draw a little more power if you add optical drives, HDDs, soundcards etc.

That case you have already chosen will work with the AMD motherboard as it is also the M-ITX form factor.

That case looks ok to me. The one priced below it also looks ok, comes with a slightly larger PSU too funnily enough. Ordinarily I wouldn’t want to use a “freebie” PSU but considering the nature of a HTPC which basically spend the better part of their time idling, I’ve never had an issue.

If you wanted to spend a bit more, this would be my pick.

Yeah, it has good range. I’ve tried 3 different types of wireless KB/mouse combos and the other two I bought first would struggle to register every keystroke from roughly 4 metres away from the PC. The logitech still works flawlessly if I stand in another room. It was fairly cheap for the quality, no dearer than what I originally paid for my shintaro HTPC keyboard which looks nice (moulded to sit on your lap) but the range was doing my head in.


#13

cheers for the help guys.