Building new HTPC

[nukem]

hey guys! long time youtube watcher, first time forum poster.

So im planning to build my parents a HTPC for their living room.

 

What i want the machine to be able to do:

• Store and playback my media locally on the machine (mainly avi XviD's and x264 MKV's) using XBMC on WIN7
• be able to record free to air tv onto the internal hdd.
• easily play DVD's and Bluray disks
• overall give my parents a nice interface for their media experience

 

Just wondering what you guys think? there is no real "set" budget but they don't wanna spend too much, first of all here is my parts list so far.

 

CASE:Fractal Design Node 605 $199.00
CPU:Intel Core i3 3240 $145.00
MOBO:ASRock B75M-R2 $63.00
PSU:Corsair VS450 Builder Series ATX PSU $48.00
HDD:Western Digital WD Green 2TB WD20EZRX $99.00
DVD:Lite-On IHES312 12X Blu-Ray DVD Combo Drive $55.00
RAM:Corsair CMX8GX3M2A1600C9 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 $69.00
TUNER:Leadtek WinFast DTV2000DS Plus Dual HD Tuner $55.00

 

TOTAL $733 AUD

 

I would like to stick with Intel for the cpu, i know AMD is more bang for buck but that does not worry me too much.

Also the reason i am not using an SSD drive for the Boot is because most mATX boards i have seen only have 3x sata connections and i will be wanting to add another 3.5" hard drive in the future and also the Blu-ray drive needs to be connected via sata so that would leave no free sata ports to connect an ssd to.

 

Some things im not too sure about:

 

• Are the Integrated Intel Graphics good enough to smoothly play 1920x1080 files? or should i think about a passivly cooled dedicated graphics cardso i can take advantage of DXVA?
• should i go with an aftermarket cpu cooler and case fans for a more quiet experience?

otherwise just let me know your opinion on this build!!

 

on a side note, yeah i know my grammar/spelling sux! xD

 

[joelthezombie15]

looks cool, i would think the integrated graphics would be good because i have a old athlon cpu that can play movies on my 40" tv, i would try and get a aftermarket cooler just because they are usually quite

[nukem]

looks cool, i would think the integrated graphics would be good because i have a old athlon cpu that can play movies on my 40" tv, i would try and get a aftermarket cooler just because they are usually quite

 

thanks for your input!

 

can anybody recommend a fair priced ($30-$75 ish) low profile cpu cooler? and im guessing noctua fans would be the ones to go for?

[joelthezombie15]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103177

 

coolermaster makes pretty decent heatsinks

[nukem]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103177

 

coolermaster makes pretty decent heatsinks

cool thanks i will look into it!

[bradscoolio]

2x the storage and a 60gb SSD for the boot drive. No hating on AMD without good reason, because there is no good reason to hate on AMD.

Their apu's are brilliant in this exact use case.

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=wish_lists&wlcId=165091&action=wish_lists

Also dropping $200 on a case for your parents? Nahh man, cooler master.

[nukem]

2x the storage and a 60gb SSD for the boot drive. No hating on AMD without good reason, because there is no good reason to hate on AMD.

Their apu's are brilliant in this exact use case.

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=wish_lists&wlcId=165091&action=wish_lists

Also dropping $200 on a case for your parents? Nahh man, cooler master.

 

lol i plan to add an extra 3.5" drive later on, i cant add an ssd because the mobo only has 3x sata connections and the blu ray drive will be using one of them (1 will be free to add the extra 3.5" later)

EDIT: unless i add a sata expansion card

im not hating on AMD at all its just personal preference for me to go with intel

 

as for the case i know it is pricey but they are paying for it and they want something that looks nice imho best looking media pc case

[nukem]

so after more research i have totally revised my hardware choices, what do you guys think?

 

CASE:Silverstone GD05 Black HTPC Case with USB 3.0 $105.00
PSU:Corsair VS350 ATX Power Supply $39.00
MOBO:ASRock FM2A75-PRO4-M Motherboard $82.01
CPU:AMD A6 5400K 2-Core Processor $72.00
COOLER:Scythe Shuriken Low Profile Cooler Rev B $45.00
RAM:Corsair Vengeance CML8GX3M2A1600C9 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 $72.00
SSD:Kingston V300 60GB SSD $63
HDD:Western Digital WD Green 2TB WD20EZRX $93
DVD:Lite-On IHES312 12X Blu-Ray DVD Combo Drive $55.00
TUNER:Leadtek WinFast DTV2000DS Plus Dual HD Tuner $55.00

TOTAL $681

[Fonil]

Dont use WD greens, I picked up a seagate 2tb last week for 90$ US with a 10$ rebate last week, if you want to go WD go at least blue or if you want for the warrenty alone go blacks.