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HTPC for general use and PC exclusives.

tmlhalo
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Basics

  • US Dollar.
  • Preferably Amazon or Newegg. Willing to order from other places if those two don't have it.
  • Don't include MIR in total. 
  • Budget unknown but assume less than $1,000. See About for more information.

Needs

  1. Small form factor. Micro ATX or ITX.
  2. HDMI.
  3. Wifi.
  4. Good air flow. The build will be in an entertainment cabinet. 
  5. Plays Star Citizen. 
  6. H87, H97, Z87, or Z97 depending on solution to number 6 in Wants.

Wants

  1. Decent settings. Medium or better.
  2. Bluetooth.
  3. Quiet.
  4. Maybe a DVD drive.
  5. A case that would blend in with other devices you'll have in a living room.
  6. SSD boot or SSD acceleration.
  7. Matching color scheme.
  8. Xbox 360 controller.

About

 

So I'm helping a family friend with a computer build. He has an old gaming PC from 2005 which is mainly just for browsing the internet now a days. He is interested in getting a new PC because his machine is slow and he wants some PC exclusives. The main one being Star Citizen. Since this build will be for a small amount of games he isn't looking to sink a lot of money into it but he doesn't want to buy another computer soon either. He isn't picky about settings so don't worry about maxing graphics. His wife also plays some very old games that I would like to add VSR/DSR to make look better. He plans to hook it up to a TV so he can get rid of his desk. For now let's assume the TV is 1080p 60 Hz. He mostly plays on consoles so addition of a controller will probably be a good idea. It is also unspoken but complicated workarounds for technical mods he could do is a no go. I will also see if I can salvage anything from his previous build in order to reduce cost but I have a few things laying around my place that I can use. 

 

My Salvage

  • I7 930 in some Alienware motherboard (possible proprietary 24 pin).
  • 875w Alienware power supply (possible proprietary 24 pin).
  • 120mm Alienware AIO H2O cpu cooler with proprietary 6 pin connector to said motherboard.
  • AMD Phenom II 1045T in some HP motherboard.
  • 300w HP power supply (would rather not use this, looks pretty junk).
  • Geforce 260.
  • AMD 5870.
  • Antec Formula 7.
  • SATA cables.

Addition notes, things not needed, or things I won't consider.

  • No overclocking.
  • Don't worry about including every bullet under Wants.
  • Don't worry about OS and peripherals beyond the Xbox 360 controller for Windows. 
  • No 4 GBs of RAM.
  • No R9 280(x), R9 270(x), R7 260(x), or lower. Sorry, I know they are good cards but they don't support AMD's VSR. The workaround won't happen either. If you wanted to use the 280(x) just replace it with the R9 285 because below.
  • Don't worry about 2GBs of vram on cards. Lowering settings is an ok solution. Max settings are not an expectation.
  • I'll need an H or Z series board if I am to setup SSD caching. Caching has a limit of 64GB SSD size. Just include a 64GB or smaller SSD and I'll assume it is becoming a cache. 120GB or bigger I will assume it is a boot drive.
  • I have built about 10 machines. I have experience putting them together. The main reason I am making this topic is because I have very little experience with small form factor cases. So if you know of good ITX or Micro ATX cases chime in, please! I also have no idea on what people have managed to play Star Citizen on. There is a lot of conflicting accounts on Google since it is still under development on what you need and what you want. I don't expect you to predict the future for Star Citizen's requirements post launch, just any info if you have played it. If you have played it decently on an I3 and a 750 Ti then great, I would love to lower the build cost to that. 

Build ideas

  1. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/LRwMrH
  2. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FRHVgs
  3. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PkqYqs

Thank you everyone for your input!

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CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($169.61 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: ASRock B85M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($67.98 @ Newegg) 


Storage: Corsair Force LS 60GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($45.98 @ Newegg) 


Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card  ($319.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Case: Cooler Master Elite 110 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.88 @ OutletPC) 

Other: Xbox 360 Controller ($42.00)

Total: $835.31

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-23 18:11 EST-0500

My Deus Ex Review : http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/358415-zappian-plays-old-games-episode-1-deus-ex/#entry4862793

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CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($169.61 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: ASRock B85M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($67.98 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Corsair Force LS 60GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($45.98 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card  ($319.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Cooler Master Elite 110 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.88 @ OutletPC) 
Other: Xbox 360 Controller ($42.00)
Total: $835.31
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-23 18:11 EST-0500

 

Looks nice and oh yea sorry for shitposting last thread.

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[PCPartPicker part list]http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nxNJGX) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nxNJGX/by_merchant/)(

 

Type|Item|Price

:----|:----|:----

**CPU** | [intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54440) | $175.99 @ SuperBiiz 

**CPU Cooler** | [Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2) | $29.99 @ SuperBiiz 

**Motherboard** | [Gigabyte GA-Z97N-Gaming 5 Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz97ngaming5) | $150.49 @ SuperBiiz 

**Memory** | [G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f312800cl9d8gbxl) | $69.89 @ OutletPC 

**Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex) | $52.20 @ Directron 

**Video Card** | [MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-gtx970gaming4g) | $347.99 @ Amazon 

**Case** | [Cooler Master HAF Stacker 915F Mini ITX Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-case-haf915fkkn1) | $64.99 @ Newegg 

**Power Supply** | [Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx500) | $57.50 @ Amazon 

**Optical Drive** | [LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/lg-optical-drive-uh12ns30) | $42.99 @ Directron 

**Operating System** | [Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-gfc02050) | $93.99 @ NCIX US 

 | *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |

 | **Total** | **$1086.02**

 | Generated by [PCPartPicker](http://pcpartpicker.com) 2015-0


 

Maybe?

 

A bit over budget but Z97. B85 might be better because you won't OC.

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  • Author

-snip-

Can't do anything with a 60 GB SSD and the B85 chipset. Only (120GB+ SSD for boot and any mobo) or (64GB- SSD for cache with H97, H87, Z87, Z97 mobo). If that changes anything for your build. Also I've seen you around the forums. Have you played Star Citizen and can give any description on how it runs on a I3 and R9 270? Thank you.

 

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-snip-

Thank you. Which one of the 3 I included did you like? I'm skimming over your posted build now.

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Can't do anything with a 60 GB SSD and the B85 chipset. Only (120GB+ SSD for boot and any mobo) or (64GB- SSD for cache with H97, H87, Z87, Z97 mobo). If that changes anything for your build. Also I've seen you around the forums. Have you played Star Citizen and can give any description on how it runs on a I3 and R9 270? Thank you.

 

 
CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($169.61 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: ASRock B85M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($67.98 @ Newegg) 
Storage: OCZ ARC 100 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($59.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card  ($319.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Cooler Master Elite 110 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.88 @ OutletPC) 
Other: Xbox 360 Controller ($42.00)
Total: $849.32
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-23 18:21 EST-0500
 
Whats your problem with b85 O.o

My Deus Ex Review : http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/358415-zappian-plays-old-games-episode-1-deus-ex/#entry4862793

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The first and second build probably.

 

Thank you. Which one of the 3 I included did you like? I'm skimming over your posted build now.

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-snip-

If I make a SSD cache out of a 64GB- drive the software is only free on the H and Z series boards. Otherwise it is an extra 40 bucks for caching software. So B85 is good for the boot SSD route but can't do it with the caching route.

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If I make a SSD cache out of a 64GB- drive the software is only free on the H and Z series boards. Otherwise it is an extra 40 bucks for caching software. So B85 is good for the boot SSD route but can't do it with the caching route.

 
CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($169.61 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($79.99 @ Micro Center) 
Storage: OCZ ARC 100 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($59.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card  ($319.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Cooler Master Elite 110 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.88 @ OutletPC) 
Other: Xbox 360 Controller ($42.00)
Total: $861.33
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-23 18:32 EST-0500

My Deus Ex Review : http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/358415-zappian-plays-old-games-episode-1-deus-ex/#entry4862793

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