New basic HTPC

[FAHEYGF87]

Budget (including currency): $600

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: HTPC/very light gaming

 

I currently live in a location where traditional landline internet is not available, so my internet is sadly just a hotspot from my phone(~10mbps on a good day). So this computer will be used for offline videos from my collection on my current HTPC which i build about a thousand years ago(I5-2300, 8gb, Nvidia 430, 2tb HDD, 3tb HDD). 

 

Most of my media is 720 or 1080p, but I do have a couple of 4k files floating around.

 

Parts list:

Ryzen 3 3200g

Noctua NH-U14S

Gigabyte B450m DS3H

Crucial DDR4 3200 16gb

Crucial P1 500gb(boot drive)

2 and 3TB HDD's from old HTPC(media drives)

500W PSU(undecided make/model)

200mm intake fan

200mm exhaust fan

Case - none, see below

Foam mat/sound insulation sheets

External power/reset button mounted to the cabinet

 

The Plan:

I'm going to be building this into a cabinet under my TV. The motherboard/drives/psu will sit on the "floor" of the cabinet at the back, directly in front of the intake fan that will be sucking in from the side of the cabinet, about 6 inches above the floor on the outside of the cabinet. Since this cabinet will have one side up against the wall, i will not be able to have cross flow ventilation. The exhaust fan will sit directly above the intake fan, at the top of the cabinet. I'm going overkill on cooling(considering the modest hardware) to keep the noise down.

 

 I/O:

Power will be supplied through the back of the cabinet, through the back wall, into my attic where there is a power strip that also powers my wall mounted TV. 

 

HDMI will also pass though the attic to a wall plate directly behind my receiver.

 

Keyboard/mouse will be bluetooth(Carry over from old HTPC)

 

Upgrade Path:

1. Replace aging mechanical HDDs with SSDs - 1-2 years from now
2. Real GPU(RX 5XX should be plenty sufficient) - 2-3 years from now
3. Ryzen 5 3xxx or higher - TBD

 

 

 

 

 

Thats my plan, i'll try to remember to keep posting.

 

[You_found_dom]

23 hours ago, FAHEYGF87 said:

• Replace aging mechanical HDDs with SSDs - 1-2 years from now
• Real GPU(RX 5XX should be plenty sufficient) - 2-3 years from now
• Ryzen 5 3xxx or higher - TBD

Good luck!

[FAHEYGF87]

So far we are up and running. 

 

The computer is built into the top shelf of the cabinet on the right, xbox and switch will live under that. All 3 will pass thier hdmi through the wall plate on the side of the cabinet.

 

I'm currently working on building the counter top out of some sugar pine slabs I had. There will also be a shelf in between the two cabinets about 2/3 of the way up, for the center speaker, receiver, and cable box to sit on.

[FAHEYGF87]

On 6/30/2020 at 10:25 AM, FAHEYGF87 said:

Budget (including currency): $600

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: HTPC/very light gaming

 

I currently live in a location where traditional landline internet is not available, so my internet is sadly just a hotspot from my phone(~10mbps on a good day). So this computer will be used for offline videos from my collection on my current HTPC which i build about a thousand years ago(I5-2300, 8gb, Nvidia 430, 2tb HDD, 3tb HDD). 

 

Most of my media is 720 or 1080p, but I do have a couple of 4k files floating around.

 

Parts list:

Ryzen 3 3200g

Noctua NH-U14S

Gigabyte B450m DS3H

Crucial DDR4 3200 16gb

Crucial P1 500gb(boot drive)

2 and 3TB HDD's from old HTPC(media drives)

500W PSU(undecided make/model)

200mm intake fan

200mm exhaust fan

Case - none, see below

Foam mat/sound insulation sheets

External power/reset button mounted to the cabinet

 

The Plan:

I'm going to be building this into a cabinet under my TV. The motherboard/drives/psu will sit on the "floor" of the cabinet at the back, directly in front of the intake fan that will be sucking in from the side of the cabinet, about 6 inches above the floor on the outside of the cabinet. Since this cabinet will have one side up against the wall, i will not be able to have cross flow ventilation. The exhaust fan will sit directly above the intake fan, at the top of the cabinet. I'm going overkill on cooling(considering the modest hardware) to keep the noise down.

 

 I/O:

Power will be supplied through the back of the cabinet, through the back wall, into my attic where there is a power strip that also powers my wall mounted TV. 

 

HDMI will also pass though the attic to a wall plate directly behind my receiver.

 

Keyboard/mouse will be bluetooth(Carry over from old HTPC)

 

Upgrade Path:

1. Replace aging mechanical HDDs with SSDs - 1-2 years from now
2. Real GPU(RX 5XX should be plenty sufficient) - 2-3 years from now
3. Ryzen 5 3xxx or higher - TBD

 

 

 

 

 

Thats my plan, i'll try to remember to keep posting.

 

Plan has changed slightly.

 

I ended up going with a R5 3400G and an MSI B550M PRO-VDH WiFi. I also opted for a samsung 970 Evo plus rather then the Crucial just based off of reviews.

 

I also ended up with 2 140mm fans rather then the single 200mm because i couldn't find a dust filter or hole saw to fit. These fans will be intake only and will exhaust through the gaps at the door and drawer of the cabinet.

 

I also added a wireless power button, which is something that i had not played with before. Since the computer will be fairly inaccessible and I didn't want to have to drill any more holes then i had to, this was kind of a necessity.