Building HTPC

[octopus41092]

Been out of the PC building scene for a little bit and it's my first time building an HTPC. Trying to get something that is sufficiently powerful but won't break the bank.

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

HTPC with a TV tuner that can act as a DVR. Will be getting a set top box from Verizion FiOS so I'm not sure about the compatibility with that. Watch some HD/non-HD content locally and over the network. Maybe some light gaming and emulators. Have an XBOX controller receiver. Also have a HTPC remote.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

$600 or less but cheaper is better.

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

US - Newegg.com

4. IF you're buying parts OUTSIDE the US, please post a link to the vendor you'll be buying from.
We can't be expected to scour the internet on your behalf, chasing down deals in your specific country... Again, help us, help YOU.

N/A

5. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

Not really, planning on AMD since it seems like a better choice for a budget build.

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

Nope. All new build. Might have a 1.5TB or 1TB HD lying around, but it's kind of old and would rather not use it.

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

Nope. Clock speeds, trying to get low power, and quiet.

8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?

1080P TV. It'll be the VIZIO E500i-B1 50-Inch 1080p Smart LED HDTV

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Note that it is usually not cost or time effective to choose your build more than a month before you actually plan to be using it.

Within the next weeks. Not sure if there's anything new coming out that might warrant a price drop but if there is, I could wait maybe another month.

X. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?

Have a copy of Win 7 Ultimate, and was also considering doing a Linux based build if there's any benefits. I have no preference and am perfectly comfortable with dropping down to a command line to mess around with it and tweak settings. Worried about part compatibility though, so I might just stick with Windows.

My list of parts so far:
Case: SilverStone Sugo Series SG05BB-LITE Black SECC / Plastic Mini-ITX Desktop Computer Case with 2 x USB3.0 ports (Black)
Mobo: MSI A88XI AC FM2+ / FM2 AMD A88X (Bolton D4) HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX AMD Motherboard

• ITX Mobo, Figure I can use the onboard with an A8 CPU. Should be good enough for HD playback right? Maybe some light gaming if it's good enough. I"m talking maybe CS:GO or something like that at low/medium.
• Also setting up some things like NES, SNES, N64 emulators. Don't think that should be an issue though.
• The built in wi-fi is a plus. Not sure if it's any good though...

CPU: AMD A8-5600K Trinity Quad-Core 3.6GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) Socket FM2 100W Desktop APU (CPU + GPU) with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 7560D AD560KWOHJBOX

• Overkill? Could I go with something cheaper? Maybe a slower CPU and a dedicated card or just a cheaper CPU with integrated?

Hard Drive: Western Digital WD Green WD10EZRX 1TB IntelliPower SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive - OEM

• Basic hard drive. Some content will be stored on the network on my main computer and some will be stored locally. Figure I can always add more storage if needed.

Blu-Ray Drive: Pioneer Black 8X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 40X CD-ROM SATA Internal Internal Blu-ray Combo DVD & CD Drive Model BDC-207DBK - OEM
PSU: FSP Group FSP300-60LG-5K 300W Mini ITX / Flex ATX 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply with Intel Haswell Ready - OEM

• Not sure about the quality of this PSU. I usually go with Antec but they don't have any ITX form factor stuff.

TV Tuner: AVerMedia AVerTV HD DVR C027 PCI-Express x1 Interface

• Should work as a DVR with the basic FiOS box? Not sure what they use. If anyone knows more about that please let me know.

Webcam: Logitech 960-000694 C270 USB 2.0 HD Webcam

• Figured I'd get a webcam and put it above the TV so I can Skype w/ it.

So... subtotal right now is just about $600 without the TV. Any way to get it cheaper? I'm willing to do some sort of Micro ATX build instead of ITX if it can make it significantly cheaper. Might consider a small SSD for a boot drive since it would be nice to have a HTPC that loads up apps quickly and can boot up fast. Don't really ever plan on shutting it down though, so I don't know how much of a benefit this might be. Also, if there's any combo deals I missed out on that would be appreciated.

Also, could consider using Bitcoins to pay if there's some sort of discount... although they're kind of tanking right now... but it could be somethingto consider.

 

[Essence_of_War]

Here's a good reference:

http://techbuyersguru.com/HTPCarchive.php

Their most recent build is ~$900 w/ all options (OS license, discrete GPU if you're doing some gaming, SSD boot drive, optical drive, etc). If all you're doing is HTPC (no gaming) then you could certainly drop the discrete gpu, and if you've got a windows license you can drop that too. That gets you to around $700, and if you don't want an SSD boot drive, and a lower capacity hard drive, you're talking more like $600.

 

[octopus41092]

Here's a good reference:

http://techbuyersguru.com/HTPCarchive.php

Their most recent build is ~$900 w/ all options (OS license, discrete GPU if you're doing some gaming, SSD boot drive, optical drive, etc). If all you're doing is HTPC (no gaming) then you could certainly drop the discrete gpu, and if you've got a windows license you can drop that too. That gets you to around $700, and if you don't want an SSD boot drive, and a lower capacity hard drive, you're talking more like $600.

Yeah... Its about $600 right now. Just wondering do you think that A8 is overkill, maybe go for the A6 instead? I'm thinkng it will mostly just be emulators and such since I have a gaming desktop anyway.

 

[Essence_of_War]

For emulators, you might be better off going with the i3...usually they strongly favor single-thread performance, don't they?

i3 may also be a little cooler under load, and gives you access to QuickSync. Not sure if either of those are valuable to you, but I think HandBrake supports QuickSync now, so it could be pretty neat for fast, hi-quality, encode/decode.

 

[mfenn]

There's a few issues with that build, so I'll go down the list part by part:

- Case: Good
- Mobo: Good, but I'd probably pick up this Gigabyte GA-F2A88XN-WIFI because it's very similar and about $7 less expensive.
- APU: Good
- HDD : A WD Green drive as your only drive in the system is going to make the machine feel very slow, even in basic things like navigating the UI. If you're only going to be storing a small amount of data locally, I'd pick up a 128GB SSD like this Sandisk Ultra Plus for $66. If you need that terabyte, then grab a normal 7200RPM drive like this Seagate for $50 AP.
- ODD : Fine if you're strictly reading
- PSU: The unit you picked out is the wrong form factor. The SG05 takes an SFX PSU, not a Flex ATX one. Seasonic makes an inexpensive 300W SFX unit.
- Capture card: Even though Avermedia advertises that card as a "DVR" card, it's kind of a lie. It's just an HDMI input, it has no tuning capabilities whatsoever. Furthermore, it does not support HDCP content, which means that you won't be able to view the majority of the content coming out of your set top box. What you need is a tuner which supports CableCARD (a decryption card which you get from Verizon). This replaced your set top box entirely. There are two main options here, both of which probably blow your $600 budget. First is a tuner card like this Ceton for $280, it works basically like you expect, you plug your CableCARD and cable in, and then you get access to all your channels. The second is a virtual tuner like the HDHomeRun for $130. You plug your cable and CableCARD into the HDHomeRun, and then you can view the channels over DLNA, or install some software to make it appear as a virtual tuner in your media center software. The HDHomeRun is wired only, but you don't necessarily have to put it next to your TV, anywhere where it has access to both your cable TV coax and your wired network is fine.
- Webcam: Fine