BenRK's future HTPC build - Overclock.net

BenRK · 10-02-09

Hey, I've been planning an HTPC build for a little while now. I'm no where near ready to build it, but it's nice to have everything planned out (for me at least).

My over all goal of this build is to essentially have a box where all I have to plug in is the power, a cable to the tv (CRT or HD, I'm planning ahead), and the input from satellite or cable, and then be good to go. No stray wires, no keyboard, no mouse. Just a remote control, and wireless gamepads. Which brings me to another goal of this build, gamepad gaming (nothing major).

I've found that the PS2 controller is the best for this, so I'll be using 4 wireless PS2 controllers. With my other goal of having no stray wires, I'm going to get the wireless receivers inside the case it self. I'm going to get a PCI card that adds 4 USB ports to the back and 1 USB port inside. That one inside is going be essential to the controller setup. I'm going to get a Playstation 2 to USB cable and multi-tap (which will hold all 4 receivers). I'm probably going to put the multi-tap inside the spare 3.5" bay, gluing or taping it down, so it doesn't rattle around when I move.

My current specs for this build are as follows:
AMD Athlon II X2 2.8GHz
ATI Radeon HD 4550 512MB GDDR3
4gigs DDR2 RAM
WD 1TB HDD
Windows 7 Pro

380watt PSU 80+ certified
Sony DVD-RW x24 with Lightscribe
Internal Wireless b/g/n receiver
TV Tuner with FM Tuner + Remote control
4 wireless PS2 controllers
IR Receiver
Bluetooth

This is going to cost me over $800, more then my current PC did, but I believe that's because I didn't need a built in wireless card or TV tuner, and I could recycle some parts from my old computer (DVD-RW drive and wireless receiver) If I do this right, I wont have to go inside the computer it self except to maybe add more hard drive space in the future.

A full list of parts can be found here:
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Pu...Number=9479394

And here's the case I'll be using. By far the best one I've found for this build.

Suggestions, comments, rants about poor hardware choices welcome.

This is not intended for hard core gaming or as a replacement to my main computer, although if I'm ever able to forward ports, hosting game servers in the background from this other site I go to is not out of the question.

AMG · 10-02-09

You could probably save some money buy having 2GB DDR3, that'll be suficient for 1080p too. For the HD4550, you could just get a 785G motherboard and use the onboard HD4200 for your GPU solution. I'd imagine it works just as well if your not planning on gaming,

BTW Nice build

BenRK · 10-02-09

I'm planning on simple gaming, but this wouldn't be anything high end. I mean, if it could play Half-Life 2 on high, or even default settings, it would have more then enough power for what I'm planning.

As for RAM, I'm planning on running some game servers on it (if I can ever forward ports in the future) for this one site I'm a regular on. I don't know if getting 4gigs will help that at all, but I do know it wouldn't hurt it. Maybe I should just go down to cheaper DDR2 RAM in this case.

EDIT: I've chipped the price down to closer to $750 with just a motherboard and RAM change. Same amount of RAM, slower DDR2, but really, is that a big deal for this build?

AMG · 10-03-09

I think DDR2 should be fine for this build, good luck and have fun with it

BenRK · 10-03-09

I'm a bit concerned about the hard drive space. Is 1TB good enough for at least a couple of years, or would I want more for the long run?

DuckieHo · 10-03-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenRK

I'm a bit concerned about the hard drive space. Is 1TB good enough for at least a couple of years, or would I want more for the long run?

1TB is plenty for now... in a few years, get a 5TB for today's 1TB's costs.

BenRK · 10-04-09

Haha, well that answers that question.

Well, after looking in my own computer a few days ago, I remembered I already have a USB2.0 card in a PCI slot that has an internal USB port (and, for some reason, an internal firewire port), and I'm not really using it other then my own controller, and there are at least two more I can use on my motherboard. So that's another $25 chopped off the price of my future HTPC build (gotta love recycling unused but useful parts). $725

Any recommendations that might help lower the price even further? I kind of want to keep the video card, but as the new board has on board HDMI, it may not be as required as it first was.

ambientmf · 10-04-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenRK

Haha, well that answers that question.

Well, after looking in my own computer a few days ago, I remembered I already have a USB2.0 card in a PCI slot that has an internal USB port (and, for some reason, an internal firewire port), and I'm not really using it other then my own controller, and there are at least two more I can use on my motherboard. So that's another $25 chopped off the price of my future HTPC build (gotta love recycling unused but useful parts). $725

Any recommendations that might help lower the price even further? I kind of want to keep the video card, but as the new board has on board HDMI, it may not be as required as it first was.

Well, this is very similar to an HTPC I've half-completed (waiting for the last parts to get here on monday). I'm using an AMD 785G motherboard with integrated Radeon HD 4200 and no dedicated video card, so that's kept costs down. I'm also using that exact same case as well and it's excellent. Unlike your setup, I didn't require any tuners, wireless adapter, remote controls, or a dedicated GPU so my build worked out around $650CAD.

As far as DDR2 vs DDR3, the recent price increase for DDR2 memory has made it very close to DDR3 prices. I just went with a DDR3 motherboard (Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H) in case I would want to add more memory in the future (DDR2 availability will probably only keep declining).

The only thing I could think of would be to scrap the Radeon 4550 and stick with the integrated video.

Btw, here's some pics of my Antec NSK2480. I only have the DVD drive and hard drive installed. I also have been playing with the cable management, for when I get the rest of the parts Monday. You can't see it from the pics but there's also a Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB in there.

BenRK · 10-04-09

Clearly my goal with my HTPC is different then yours. Good to see better pics of the case though.

FINALLY decided to drop the GPU. On board should be enough for what I'm planning anyway.

I'm now down to $680 (~$200 more then my main build) not counting the controller setup (which eBay shall provide).

BenRK · 10-05-09

So, I think I'm close to finalizing my build. I've done a lot of changing parts and chopping things here and there to bring the price down. The most significant change being the case it self. Yes, I had to change the case to cut the price down. I still think it's a good looking case. I've also found some parts that should get internal USB ports working for my controller plans with less use of space inside the case it self.

I'm down to just under $600 (and I do mean just under), which is, effectively, $100 more then I spent on my main build (the PSU decided it didn't want to work anymore, so I replaced it with a high quality $100 one, putting me from $400 to $500).

New specs are as follows:
Same CPU (Athlon II X2 2.8GHz)
Dropped the video card in favor of the new motherboards on board (Integrated ATI Radeon HD4200)
Changed to 2gigs of DDR2 RAM in favor of the new motherboard
Different WD 1TB HDD (same company, same space, different price)

300W PSU 80+ Certified (the new case comes with one built in, but it's a POS and doesn't have the right connectors, 300W should be enough for my HTPC)
Same DVD player (Sony DVD-RW x24 with Lightscribe)
Different internal wireless receiver as the old one went out of stock
Same TV Tuner + Remote control
Same controllers
Different IR Receiver to fit inside a 3.5" bay rather then a 5.25" because of the case
Bluetooth when I get around to it.

Like I said before, I'm now at $600, which is at least $200 cheaper then before. I'm not as close to getting a job, but birthdays and Christmas presents as an interesting opportunity.

Picture of the new case.

And of course, updated list of parts can be found here.
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Pu...Number=9479394\

Suggestions, comments, and rants welcome.

Edit:
Ugh... kill it with fire. I just realized that there's no way for video to go out other then HDMI, which is something I don't have. So I'm going to have to ditch the TV Tuner in favor of a cheaper one and a video card on par or slightly better then my on board with s-video output. I'd also like to know if it's possible for my motherboard to output sound to a TV as well OTHER then the HDMI port.

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BenRK's future HTPC build

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