Cheap HTPC

[cc143]

I am going to be upgrading my PCs SSD to a 950 Pro and am entertaining the idea of upgrading my GPU to the GTX 1070. 

 

Since that is the case, I was thinking about making an HTPC, that is capable to game at 1080p with my old SSD, GPU and an old PSU I have lying around. (Underlined below). 

 

Looking through PCP this is what I have come up with till now: 

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/jj2xr7
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/jj2xr7/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£149.86 @ CCL Computers) 
Motherboard: MSI B150I GAMING PRO Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  (£67.41 @ Amazon UK) 
Memory: Kingston 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  (£25.20 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card  (Purchased For £0.00) 
Case: Silverstone Sugo SG13B Mini ITX Tower Case  (£35.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Power Supply: Zalman 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply 
Total: £278.46
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-10 20:47 BST+0100

 

is there a setup you guys can think of that allows for HTPC uses and 1080p 60hz gaming for fairly demanding titles at high settings? (This will replace an xbox 360 as well as act as an htpc.)

I prefer to have low TDP as well (therefore intel) , although if price is significantly lower, I wouldn't say no to an AMD system. 

 

Objective is to shave off as much money as possible, while keeping 8GB RAM and quad core. 

 

Please also notew, shopping for this as well as PC upgrades will be done in September, not immidiately. 

 

 

[Energycore]

10 minutes ago, cc143 said:

 

Hi! Your HTPC setup should be able to game at 1080p although the power supply is a bit suspect. Also consider these comments:

 

- Add an aftermarket CPU cooler. Last thing you want is the fan firing up while you're immersed in a movie.

- Switch to the i5-6500, 3GBP more on pcpartpicker and a whopping 500MHz faster. The 6400 is pretty much only valuable to non-K overclockers.

 

If the SSD is 240GB you'll be able to fit a moderate amount of stuff in it. If it's 120-128, i'd get a new SSD.

 

Buncha links:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/xwhj4D/intel-cpu-bx80662i56500

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/xxphP6/noctua-cpu-cooler-nhl9i

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/gf98TW/a-data-internal-hard-drive-asp550ss3240gmc

[flibberdipper]

IMO I would swap out the PSU for at least a Corsair CSM (if they still make those), or an EVGA G2 (overkill) or GS.

 

The EVGA 550GS would be my pick, as it is a very solid unit (JohnnyGuru gave a good review), and it will power everything fine.

[Shahnewaz]

12 minutes ago, cc143 said:

Please also notew, shopping for this as well as PC upgrades will be done in September, not immidiately. 

Ask us in September. The market offerings will change by then. The later you ask, the more upto-date and accurate information you get.

[cc143]

 

5 minutes ago, Energycore said:

Hi! Your HTPC setup should be able to game at 1080p although the power supply is a bit suspect. Also consider these comments:

 

- Add an aftermarket CPU cooler. Last thing you want is the fan firing up while you're immersed in a movie.

- Switch to the i5-6500, 3GBP more on pcpartpicker and a whopping 500MHz faster. The 6400 is pretty much only valuable to non-K overclockers.

 

If the SSD is 240GB you'll be able to fit a moderate amount of stuff in it. If it's 120-128, i'd get a new SSD.

 

Buncha links:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/xwhj4D/intel-cpu-bx80662i56500

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/xxphP6/noctua-cpu-cooler-nhl9i

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/gf98TW/a-data-internal-hard-drive-asp550ss3240gmc

 

I know it can game at the settings I want it to already, I am merely asking for suggestions to decrease the cost as far as possible. Since that is the objective I don't want to add any aftermarket cpu heatsinks or anything like that. 

 

That being said, the 6500 may not be such a bad idea given a mere 3gbp price difference. 

 

The SSD is a 240gb, but I may be adding the odd HDD for Mass storage as well so that is no issue. 

2 minutes ago, tmcclelland455 said:

IMO I would swap out the PSU for at least a Corsair CSM (if they still make those), or an EVGA G2 (overkill) or GS.

 

The EVGA 550GS would be my pick, as it is a very solid unit (JohnnyGuru gave a good review), and it will power everything fine.

As mentioned above, I will not be purchasing a power supply, I have owned the one listed above for years and it has been very reliable. I realise that newer offerings exist, however there is no point in purchasing one. 

2 minutes ago, Shahnewaz said:

Ask us in September. The market offerings will change by then. The later you ask, the more upto-date and accurate information you get.

I realise that newer offerings will surface by then, however I would like to have some idea of a budget in my head as early as possible due to my desktop upgrades happening at the same time. If I locked in a setup, the price can't but decrease in the upcoming months, as long as it is not an already discontinued platform. 

[Energycore]

2 minutes ago, cc143 said:

 

Don't look like we could cut costs anymore tbh. Only add features.

 

Although for a couple more quid I'd switch the motherboard to one with wifi so you don't have to route a cable to it or install a crappy USB wifi card.

 

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/x2mxFT/asrock-motherboard-h110mitxac

[cc143]

2 minutes ago, Energycore said:

Don't look like we could cut costs anymore tbh. Only add features.

 

Although for a couple more quid I'd switch the motherboard to one with wifi so you don't have to route a cable to it or install a crappy USB wifi card.

 

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/x2mxFT/asrock-motherboard-h110mitxac

An AMD system could be less expensive, however I am not at all versed in AMD's offerings to know what to choose and tbh, unless it got ridiculously close to 200 quid I would still choose intel. 

 

WIFI is no issue, my TV is practically above my modem. Features are not an issue either, I don't even need half the things available on that mobo any way. 

[Energycore]

1 minute ago, cc143 said:

An AMD system could be less expensive, however I am not at all versed in AMD's offerings to know what to choose and tbh, unless it got ridiculously close to 200 quid I would still choose intel. 

 

WIFI is no issue, my TV is practically above my modem. Features are not an issue either, I don't even need half the things available on that mobo any way. 

You could certainly go cheaper with a AMD build. Although gaming on it will be affected, if this is primarily a HTPC it won't affect movie-watching performance at all. And the stock cooler is as silent as a stock cooler gets.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 880K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£69.66 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XN-WIFI Mini ITX FM2+ Motherboard  (£74.00 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (£22.98 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card  (Purchased For £0.00)
Case: Silverstone Sugo SG13B Mini ITX Tower Case  (£35.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Zalman 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
Total: £202.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-10 21:26 BST+0100

[Shahnewaz]

53 minutes ago, cc143 said:

I realise that newer offerings will surface by then, however I would like to have some idea of a budget in my head as early as possible due to my desktop upgrades happening at the same time. If I locked in a setup, the price can't but decrease in the upcoming months, as long as it is not an already discontinued platform. 

~750 pounds is all you will possibly need for a solid 1080p gaming rig.

As for locking onto parts, don't. There will be newer products that beat out the old generation offerings in value proposition. The prime example is an R9 390 vs an RX 480; and a GTX 970 vs a GTX 1070. And depending on how new parts perform, the recommendations will also change.

So just keep the cash on hand for September, and ask us for a recommendation when the time comes!

[Mr.Meerkat]

Two things:

7 minutes ago, Shahnewaz said:

The prime example is an R9 390 vs an RX 480; and a GTX 970 vs a GTX 1070.

Eh? So a last gen high-ish tier vs new gen mid tier with your next statement having a last gen high-ish vs new gen high-ish...I know you're not directly comparing but the 970 and 1070 will not be in the same price bracket  

 

9 minutes ago, Shahnewaz said:

~750 pounds is all you will possibly need for a solid 1080p gaming rig.

Nah, 500 quid is all you need if you want a 1080p gaming PC. Now the 480 can replace all the 280/380 suggestions for the 500 pounds budget section  

[Shahnewaz]

1 minute ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

Nah, 500 quid is all you need if you want a 1080p gaming PC. Now the 480 can replace all the 280/380 suggestions for the 500 pounds budget section  

I know man, but I overstated the cost just to stay safe.

But really, I agree. ~500 pounds is all you truly need with Polaris. And Zen might bring the cost down even further!

[flibberdipper]

4 hours ago, cc143 said:

As mentioned above, I will not be purchasing a power supply, I have owned the one listed above for years and it has been very reliable. I realise that newer offerings exist, however there is no point in purchasing one. 

Gotcha. I was here before all the replies so I never saw that.

[cc143]

I believe the purpose of this build is not understood. 

 

This build will be built with parts I will not be using in my desktop come september due to my upgrading my desktop. (970 to 1070 and SSD to 950 pro). These parts are the GPU and SSD. In addition, I will be adding a PSU I have at home. This is why these parts are 1. Marked with a 0 value on the PCP link, 2. Are underlined in the original post. 

 

Therefore, what I am trying to lock into is a CPU, memory, mobo and case. This is to gauge weather this is a plausible build. 

 

The point is to maximise fulfilling the objectives I have for this while minimising the cost, which is why I am asking for suggestions. Specifically, perhaps going with a different platform or even used parts would be beneficial for this use-case, however I am unfamiliar with many platforms. 

 

For instance @Energycore proposed an AMD x4 build, would that be able to handle my use case and if it is is there a benefit to going with the originally proposed i5 system, that outweighs the additional cost. (At this point I have to say I have not owned an AMD processor for more than 10 years, and that was in a laptop, so am completely unaware of their relative performance.) 

[Energycore]

15 hours ago, cc143 said:

I believe the purpose of this build is not understood. 

 

This build will be built with parts I will not be using in my desktop come september due to my upgrading my desktop. (970 to 1070 and SSD to 950 pro). These parts are the GPU and SSD. In addition, I will be adding a PSU I have at home. This is why these parts are 1. Marked with a 0 value on the PCP link, 2. Are underlined in the original post. 

 

Therefore, what I am trying to lock into is a CPU, memory, mobo and case. This is to gauge weather this is a plausible build. 

 

The point is to maximise fulfilling the objectives I have for this while minimising the cost, which is why I am asking for suggestions. Specifically, perhaps going with a different platform or even used parts would be beneficial for this use-case, however I am unfamiliar with many platforms. 

 

For instance @Energycore proposed an AMD x4 build, would that be able to handle my use case and if it is is there a benefit to going with the originally proposed i5 system, that outweighs the additional cost. (At this point I have to say I have not owned an AMD processor for more than 10 years, and that was in a laptop, so am completely unaware of their relative performance.) 

Here's an idea of its gaming performance. http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/72286-amd-athlon-x4-880k-review-9.html

 

In most games it's less than 10% slower than an i5-6400. Then there's Shadow of Mordor, ew.