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Gaming HTPC (Dat form factor doe)

lilshatespug217
By lilshatespug217
in New Builds and Planning
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So, while I have asked about  building a gaming desktop, I have REALLY comfy couch, and nice TV, making a gaming HTPC VERY attractive. Therefore, while OBVIOUSLY it would not have as much power as a desktop, I think it would be worth it.

 

Anyway with a sub $950, MAIL IN REBATES NOT BEING COUNTED, budget, how did I do? Could I have a better rig with the same or equivalent form factor/ peripherals?

 

Suggestions that will be blatently ignored:

  1. ANY DUAL CORE CPU RECCOMENDATION
  2. Using windows 10 tech preview. (There is a keylogger integrated into it, from what I have heard. While I may use Microsoft products, I sure as hell do not trust them.)
  3. Any larger form-factor/ blocky cases. I want a kind of short, console-esque form factor, not a block like a Cooler Master 110 elite.
  4. Having any less that 1tb storage and any less than 8gb ram.
  5. A radeon gpu. (Not that I think they are bad, as I am well aware that they can be fantastic. Shadowplay is just a important feature for me, and is nvidia only.)
  6. No disk drive. My movies are on DVDs, and I would like to be able to watch them on this box.

Here is my design:

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9GF9yc
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9GF9yc/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A88X-ITX+ Mini ITX FM2+ Motherboard  ($95.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card  ($153.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Inwin BP655.FH200B Mini ITX Desktop Case w/200W Power Supply  ($55.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 350W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular TFX Power Supply  ($56.00 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($99.98 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-R8 PWM 31.4 CFM 80mm  Fan  ($15.75 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Logitech K400 Wireless Slim Keyboard w/Touchpad  ($25.49 @ Amazon)
Headphones: Logitech G930 7.1 Channel Headset  ($105.99 @ Amazon)
Other: Wireless Gamepad ($50.00)
Total: $906.11
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-16 17:00 EST-0500

 

Could I have done better? Thanks in advance for the help!

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https://linustechtips.com/topic/251978-gaming-htpc-dat-form-factor-doe/
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Give me 15 20  30 minutes. 

 

But the pentium g3258 is pretty awesome. 

 

And an i3 will be just as fast if not faster than the Athlon 860k. 

 

You can do better. 

 

@lilshatespug217

 

This is just barely under $950 (before rebates), and is MUCH MUCH better than the one you provided. You also get around $100 worth of rebates, so that helps. 

 

 
CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($174.99 @ NCIX US) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($84.99 @ Micro Center) 
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270X 2GB Video Card  ($144.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Azza Z Mini ITX Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 
Optical Drive: Samsung SN-208FB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer  ($21.71 @ NCIX US) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($89.98 @ OutletPC) 
Keyboard: Logitech K400 Wireless Slim Keyboard w/Touchpad  ($25.49 @ Amazon) 
Headphones: Corsair Vengeance 2100 7.1 Channel Headset  ($89.60 @ Amazon) 
Other: Xbox 360 Controller for Windows ($44.67)
Total: $851.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-16 17:37 EST-0500

Aesthetics of rigs matter

42

If you're interested, participate in LTT Build Offs

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CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($179.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($84.99 @ Micro Center) 
Memory: Team Zeus Red 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($64.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB ITX Video Card  ($203.98 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Silverstone GD09B HTPC Case  ($87.98 @ Newegg) 
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  ($16.98 @ OutletPC) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($89.98 @ OutletPC) 
Keyboard: Logitech K400 Wireless Slim Keyboard w/Touchpad  ($25.49 @ Amazon) 
Headphones: Logitech G930 7.1 Channel Headset  ($105.99 @ Amazon) 
Other: Wireless Gamepad ($50.00)
Total: $995.34
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-16 17:24 EST-0500

Change the case and PSU to something the you like.

Computing enthusiast. 
I use to be able to input a cheat code now I've got to input a credit card - Total Biscuit
 

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I think I would go without before I would give ANY money to dell or it's sub corporations (such as alienware). Everything they make is underpowered for the price.

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And an i3 will be just as fast if not faster than the Athlon 860k. 

 

And it costs ~$30 more and has less cores, meaning that even with hyperthreading and faster cores, it STILL isn't better in multi-core optomised applications. It isn't necessarily better "'cuz intel" or whatever

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And it costs ~$30 more and has less cores, meaning that even with hyperthreading and faster cores, it STILL isn't better in multi-core optomised applications. It isn't necessarily better "'cuz intel" or whatever

 

it is faster because intel haswell cores are objectively faster than steamroller cores. And in ALL single threaded applications and lightly threaded applications, the i3 will trash the 860k. 

Aesthetics of rigs matter

42

If you're interested, participate in LTT Build Offs

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it is faster because intel haswell cores are objectively faster than steamroller cores. And in ALL single threaded applications and lightly threaded applications, the i3 will trash the 860k. 

Obviously. I said "in multi-core optimised applications" which is becoming more and more important than single-core performance, especially with the new consoles that feature an 8 core cpu making many games, such as watch_dogs, want as many cores as possible.

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