Budget build for a buddy.

[JBDan]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. He watches tons of netflix on his 56inch LCD screen. More or less a "quasi-htpc" here. He's insistent on 1080P as smooth as possible. Quickbooks, youtube, browsing, pandora.

2. What YOUR budget is. < $700

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from. USA newegg

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. Nada

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are. Nada

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads. Yup

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds. Default

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with. No gaming, but he runs 1920 x 1080 on his 1080P Vizio 56" LCD.

WHEN do you plan to build it? Next week

This is what I have come up with so far. Please advise and thanks. Totals: $646.93

Case & PSU
CPU
RAM
Mobo
HDD
OS
DVD/CD

 

[fffblackmage]

Save yourself $6:
$20 - LITE-ON DVD Burner
OR
$20 - Sony DVD Burner

Are you sure he needs a quad core? We can cut $100 by going with the i3-2100. What would you lose? Two cores that wouldn't do much anyways if the most he's doing is Quickbooks and 1080p video.

 

[JBDan]

Save yourself $6:
$20 - LITE-ON DVD Burner
OR
$20 - Sony DVD Burner

Are you sure he needs a quad core? We can cut $100 by going with the i3-2100. What would you lose? Two cores that wouldn't do much anyways if the most he's doing is Quickbooks and 1080p video.

Thx for the dvd link.

I talked to him today and he said he wanted the fastest CPU on his budget so I immediately thought 2500K as I just built my personal system with one aka bang for buck. I thought about the i3 seriously until I did a little investigating and found that only the "k" series have the HD3000 gfx. From what I see the HD3000 is quite a bump up from the HD2000 and since he's going integrated gfx this seemed to be better suited for 1080P video. I'm not well versed on integrated gfx as I've always had a dedicated gpu.

I'm all over the i3 if you think it will run his netflix/youtube/hulu 1080p stuff without a hitch. What say you?

Thx for the advice

BTW he's presently on a 5 year old HP machine pentium D dual core 2 gb ram and a nvidia 6200 gfx card. His 1080P stuff is about as jerky as beef!

 

[mvbighead]

I'm assuming your buddy wants this in a tower, and not an HTPC type case?

Nothing wrong with building them that way, (doing it myself just in case I do not jive with the HTPC concept), just wanted to verify. It might be more pleasing to the eye if it fits in an entertainment center much like a DVR or other device.

Also, looks like it should be fine for 1080P viewing as far as I can tell. I might change the harddrive to something larger, and throw in a tuner for some recording if you were so inclined, but that's just me.

 

[JBDan]

I'm assuming your buddy wants this in a tower, and not an HTPC type case?

Nothing wrong with building them that way, (doing it myself just in case I do not jive with the HTPC concept), just wanted to verify. It might be more pleasing to the eye if it fits in an entertainment center much like a DVR or other device.

Also, looks like it should be fine for 1080P viewing as far as I can tell. I might change the harddrive to something larger, and throw in a tuner for some recording if you were so inclined, but that's just me.

Yeah he wants a tower I thought about an htpc case, but no go. I agree with you however and know it would look nicer.

I've got another HDD that is mine that I am giving him so we are covered for space. Thanks!

So do you think the i3 is going to power this build just fine for his 1080p uses?

 

[mvbighead]

Yeah he wants a tower I thought about an htpc case, but no go. I agree with you however and know it would look nicer.

I've got another HDD that is mine that I am giving him so we are covered for space. Thanks!

So do you think the i3 is going to power this build just fine for his 1080p uses?

I believe the I3 would, but I can't speak from experience.

Given the difference in GPU that is built into the 2500k, and that it fits the budget... I'd probably stick with it. While it is certainly more expensive than the i3, you're basically getting better processing power AND a better GPU. And if you'r actually using the GPU, you're getting your money's worth, I'd imagine. Granted, you might be better off with an i3 and a ATI5450 or something similar, and still be under the pricepoint of the i5, but for the extra 30 or so bucks for the i5... again, I'd still stick with it.

Edit, as to the harddrive, I was more so speaking toward value for the dollar. It seems the Samsung F4 are very highly recommended, and 1TB disks are going quite cheap. And, given that this rig will be mainly an HTPC, it should be just fine even if it is a few ticks slower than a WD Black. If anything else, use your other disk for storage, and buy an SSD by Intel or Crucial for the performance OS disk.

 

[JBDan]

I believe the I3 would, but I can't speak from experience.

Given the difference in GPU that is built into the 2500k, and that it fits the budget... I'd probably stick with it. While it is certainly more expensive than the i3, you're basically getting better processing power AND a better GPU. And if you'r actually using the GPU, you're getting your money's worth, I'd imagine. Granted, you might be better off with an i3 and a ATI5450 or something similar, and still be under the pricepoint of the i5, but for the extra 30 or so bucks for the i5... again, I'd still stick with it.

Awesome thanks for the reply

 

[fffblackmage]

Well, even if the HD2000 cannot handle 1080p video, does it really matter? The i3 alone is more than fast enough to handle HD playback anyways. Anything modern should be able to handle HD content. I had an Athlon II X2 250 that handled all my HTPC duties. It's not like you need an expensive/powerful CPU to play 1080p video.

However, like mvbighead said, your buddy's got the budget. I wouldn't spend the extra $100, but maybe he does.

 

[JBDan]

Well, even if the HD2000 cannot handle 1080p video, does it really matter? The i3 alone is more than fast enough to handle HD playback anyways. Anything modern should be able to handle HD content. I had an Athlon II X2 250 that handled all my HTPC duties. It's not like you need an expensive/powerful CPU to play 1080p video.

However, like mvbighead said, your buddy's got the budget. I wouldn't spend the extra $100, but maybe he does.

I guess it doesn't. That's why I asked you pros

I've always had a beefy dedicated gpu so I didn't know what the new stuff was capable of with integrated gfx. He opted to spend the extra $100 and we changed his case to the Antec 2480 HTPC case. I've only built in towers so this ought to be fun!

Thanks for all the feedback I really appreciate the advice

 

[piasabird]

Blue Ray?

What if he one day wants to play a Blue Ray Disk?

Add an inexpensive Video Card maybe?

It is like adding extra RAM.

Wireless controller/Mini-keyboard.

 

[mvbighead]

I guess it doesn't. That's why I asked you pros

I've always had a beefy dedicated gpu so I didn't know what the new stuff was capable of with integrated gfx. He opted to spend the extra $100 and we changed his case to the Antec 2480 HTPC case. I've only built in towers so this ought to be fun!

Thanks for all the feedback I really appreciate the advice

Case looks nice... make sure you buy a different board though, as the HTPC case only takes Micro-ATX form factor boards.

 

[JBDan]

Case looks nice... make sure you buy a different board though, as the HTPC case only takes Micro-ATX form factor boards.

Check! Got a MSI micro board for $94. He's pumped I'll build it on June 6th can't wait!

 

[JBDan]

Blue Ray?

What if he one day wants to play a Blue Ray Disk?

Add an inexpensive Video Card maybe?

It is like adding extra RAM.

Wireless controller/Mini-keyboard.

The Antec htpc case has 2 slots for dvd drives so we are safe there for the future. If he ever decides to do some gaming or something that requires more gfx power the case will take smaller form factor gfx cards. He only goes wired with internet and he's already got a nice Logitech wireless keyboard/mouse setup. Thanks!

 

[mfenn]

Your build looks pretty good, but as others have said, you can easily go for the i3 2100 instead. That would allow you to go with an SSD like the Intel 320 120GB and give your buddy a really snappy system.

EDIT: Oh yeah, you might want to look into a mini-ITX setup like this Foxconn case and ASRock H67M-ITX. 150W is plenty of power for an i3 2100.

 

[lenjack]

not to discourage you, but you should be aware that you will likely be 24/7 tech support for him forever.

 

[mfenn]

not to discourage you, but you should be aware that you will likely be 24/7 tech support for him forever.

:thumbsup: Very important consideration!

 

[JBDan]

not to discourage you, but you should be aware that you will likely be 24/7 tech support for him forever.

I'm a very giving individual and I've been his among many others tech support for many years, but yeah a very important point!

 

[JBDan]

This build turned out fantastic I appreciate all the advice it really made the build that much more pleasurable, especially when we got it all fired up and he started watching his 1080P Netflix stuff....smooth as butter the PC flies! Also, this Antec HTPC case was a joy to build in it's really nice as old as it might be. Thank you all

 

[mfenn]

This build turned out fantastic I appreciate all the advice it really made the build that much more pleasurable, especially when we got it all fired up and he started watching his 1080P Netflix stuff....smooth as butter the PC flies! Also, this Antec HTPC case was a joy to build in it's really nice as old as it might be. Thank you all

Glad to be of service!

 

[VirtualLarry]

pics? (of build?)

 

[JBDan]

pics? (of build?)

I will get some soon and post them here

 

[Morg.]

Well, this is completely outrageous... spending 650 bucks on an htpc ... you could've built that for less than 300 using an e350 .. Sorry I didn't come back to the forums earlier man .... pointless wastage of resources and electricity .... :x

 

[VirtualLarry]

For once, I somewhat agree with Morg in this thread, you could have gotten by with an E-350 HTPC setup, for the stated purposes in the OP, no need for SB quad-core.

But when LCD screens get to 2Kx2K, or 4Kx4K, the SB CPU will hold up better than the e-350. Then again, when screens get higher res (probably won't happen for 10 years from now), there will again be some sort of integrated chipset+CPU like the E-350, probably for around $100 bucks again, that would allow playback of that content smoothly.

 

[Morg.]

a) I sure as hell hope we'll get 4x full HD within 5 years /. at least.
b) By then you will have zacate TDP with bulldozer trinity performance for 100 bucks - guess you can do it yes
c) Zacate is not close to "dying" when running 1080p, it might handle a bit more - although maybe not 2160p - but with gfx acceleration, decoding is a bliss in general.

 

[mfenn]

Well, this is completely outrageous... spending 650 bucks on an htpc ... you could've built that for less than 300 using an e350 .. Sorry I didn't come back to the forums earlier man .... pointless wastage of resources and electricity .... :x

Sorry, but you are dead wrong about this. The OP specifically mentioned 1080P Netflix streaming, which Zacate cannot handle.