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HTPC Build Plan--Your thoughts? - Page 2

post #11 of 24
11/5/12 at 7:16pm
Both are great boards. I have the Z77 variant as my main/gaming rig, along with that same processor. Microcenter usually has the best deals on processors, and if you get a combo deal like what they're offering now with the 3750k, it's a helluva deal, and the main reason I shop there exclusively for core components. We are really lucky to have one 20-30 minutes away!

You won't be disappointed with either board. The Z77 chipset is an upgrade over H77, but both will do all you're asking of them, and you won't notice a difference in your usage - only if you start serious gaming/benchmarking/overclocking would it come up.

Both have all PCI-express slots, HDMI/VGA/DVI video outputs, so both are equally suited to HTPC usage.

Shoot me a PM if you'd like to come over to Eagan some night for beer & HTPC / build your own computer demo/BS'ing - I'm happy to share my knowledge & insight.
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post #12 of 24
11/6/12 at 6:16am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the confirmation on the board, DaveG. It looked to me like a similar, but slightly up-rated board, but I'm glad to have confirmation that I didn't miss some glaring shortcoming in the board for HTPC use. Now I just need to hope that my board is good. Several of the reviews on NewEgg mentioned flawed boards from the factory, so hopefully mine works as it should.

It's nice knowing there's a helpful computer-savvy resource in Eagan. I'm still in the process of buying all the components (I still need the case, power supply and OS), but I may take you up on your offer once I'm ready to build and/or boot it up.

Now I just need to figure out what OS to run. I would run Win7, but it looks like Win8 is easier to find for cheap right now.....
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post #13 of 24
11/6/12 at 9:29am
AFAIK, the cheap Win8 deals are for upgrades, not fresh installs. I think the OEM copies are the same price as Win7, but keep in mind 7 comes with WMC - with 8 you have pay a little extra for it.
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Smalls
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OCZ Vertex 3 120GB Scythe Big Shuriken 2 Windows 7 Home 64 Bit Silverstone SST-ST45SF 
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Silverstone SG05-450 
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Phenom II X2 560 MSI 785GM-P45 MSI HD6570 1GB DDR3 Microcenter/A-Data DDR3 4GB 1333 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
OCZ Agility 2 Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB Samsung Bluray Scythe Big Shuriken 
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post #14 of 24
11/9/12 at 11:10am
  • Ironman517
  • I don't understand the point of brand favoritism.
Woah wait a second..... If you want to do light gaming with this machine and that was the reasoning for the i5, where is the GPU?

if you want a HTPC with some gaming potential look into AMD's trinity chips OR get a GPU with your i5/i3.
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post #15 of 24
11/9/12 at 2:28pm
Thread Starter 
Hmm. I was under the impression that I would be able to play some games with the i5 's integrated 4000 graphics. Is this not the case?

I did end up buying a 650 watt modular power supply, so that I can add a graphics card in the future. I would love a suggestion for a card that fits the following criteria:

1) fits the Asus P8Z77 M-Pro board with i5 3570K CPU

2) No longer than 11" to fit inside the SilverStone GRANDIA Series GD04B-USB3.0 Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC, 8.0mm aluminum front panel, 0.8mm SECC body Case with 2 x USB3.0 ports (Black)

3) Good value. I'm not a serious gamer, so I don't need bleeding edge performance. I would also like this card to be under $200, if possible (assuming that's a reasonable price point).

My board is SLI and Crossfire ready, but it looks like that is a feature only used if you have 2 identical video cards. Could I use this to run 2 older, cheaper cards together, for less $$ than a similarly capable single modern card? Can I use the onboard graphics from the i5 along with the graphics from a standalone card, via SLI?

Card suggestions for the future welcome! Also, should I wait for a black friday deal online? do these cards often go on sale?

Thanks!
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post #16 of 24
11/9/12 at 2:41pm
  • Ironman517
  • I don't understand the point of brand favoritism.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vespadaddy View Post

Hmm. I was under the impression that I would be able to play some games with the i5 's integrated 4000 graphics. Is this not the case?
I did end up buying a 650 watt modular power supply, so that I can add a graphics card in the future. I would love a suggestion for a card that fits the following criteria:
1) fits the Asus P8Z77 M-Pro board with i5 3570K CPU
2) No longer than 11" to fit inside the SilverStone GRANDIA Series GD04B-USB3.0 Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC, 8.0mm aluminum front panel, 0.8mm SECC body Case with 2 x USB3.0 ports (Black)
3) Good value. I'm not a serious gamer, so I don't need bleeding edge performance. I would also like this card to be under $200, if possible (assuming that's a reasonable price point).
My board is SLI and Crossfire ready, but it looks like that is a feature only used if you have 2 identical video cards. Could I use this to run 2 older, cheaper cards together, for less $$ than a similarly capable single modern card? Can I use the onboard graphics from the i5 along with the graphics from a standalone card, via SLI?
Card suggestions for the future welcome! Also, should I wait for a black friday deal online? do these cards often go on sale?
Thanks!

The HD 4000 is not that good, A cheap $20 GPU is better than it. Gaming for the most part is all about GPU horsepower.

Do you already have the motherboard? Because in reality you will not notice a difference between an i5 and an i3 unless you are playing a 64m BF3 game or have SLI 680s and a surround setup. An i3 will never bottleneck ~90% of games at 1080p with a single GPU.

Where are you located?
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500GB WD Black 64 GB Crucial M4 Sony CD/DVD burner H40 w/ GT AP-15s 
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Windows 7 Home 64 bit Corsair CX430 APEVIA X-Plorer2 Pink 
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Pentium G620 Foxconn H67S ITX Intel HD 2000 2 x 4GB 1333Mhz 
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The Sig Rig
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GF Rig
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Xbox PC
(11 items)
 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsGraphics
i5-2500k @ 4.8GHz stable ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen 3 EVGA GTX 680 (SLI) EVGA GTX 680 (SLI) 
RAMHard DriveHard DriveCooling
32GB (4 x 8GB) 1866Mhz Ripjaws X 256GB Crucial M4 1.5 TB HDD XSPC Raystorm RS360 
OSMonitorPowerCase
Windows 7 Professional  3 x Dell S2309W(Portrait) 3240x1920 Corsair AX750 Corsair 800D 
MouseAudioAudioOther
SWTOR Razer Naga Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Samson RH600 Razer Nostromo 
OtherOtherOtherOther
XSPC RS120 8 x GT AP-15s White Sleeved Cables for Corsair AX750 2 x EK-FC680 GTX 680 Waterblocks 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 3Ghz Asus P5G41T-M LX Plus Asus Radeon HD 7750 2x4 GB 1333Mhz 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
500GB WD Black 64 GB Crucial M4 Sony CD/DVD burner H40 w/ GT AP-15s 
OSPowerCase
Windows 7 Home 64 bit Corsair CX430 APEVIA X-Plorer2 Pink 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Pentium G620 Foxconn H67S ITX Intel HD 2000 2 x 4GB 1333Mhz 
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256GB Crucial M4 Old Laptop CD/DVD drive Windows 7 picoPSU-150-XT 
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post #17 of 24
11/9/12 at 4:08pm
Thread Starter 
Yes, I have everything but the OS.
i5 3570k
P8Z77 M-Pro
650 watt PSU
Big Shuriken 2 rev B
Samsung SSD for the OS
WD green 2 TB HD
8 GB Samsung Ram

I have already purchased this stuff. I live in Mpls, so not far from Microcenter.

I'm surprised that the performance of the onboard graphics is eclipsed by a $20 graphics card, but this is all new to me.
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post #18 of 24
11/9/12 at 4:21pm
It'll be far better than any $20 GPU I'm aware of, but you'll definitely appreciate a dedicated card. You won't want to do SLI or Crossfire because you have only 4 expansion slots with mATX - 2 cards will limit your ability to add other devices. Even getting a single card that takes up 2 slots sacrifices your flexibility, but most decent cards are dual-slot.

$200 will get you an excellent card. HTPC cards are generally quiet & efficient, gaming cards are not. You'll have to choose how much of each you're willing to sacrifice and come up with a compromise. I like to use the graphics card hierarchy charts on tomshardware.com for reference on horsepower between all the options.
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OCZ Vertex 3 120GB Scythe Big Shuriken 2 Windows 7 Home 64 Bit Silverstone SST-ST45SF 
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Silverstone SG05-450 
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Phenom II X2 560 MSI 785GM-P45 MSI HD6570 1GB DDR3 Microcenter/A-Data DDR3 4GB 1333 
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OCZ Agility 2 Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB Samsung Bluray Scythe Big Shuriken 
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Smalls
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HTPC
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Intel i5 3570 Asus P8Z77I-Deluxe EVGA GTX 660 Ti SC Corsair Vengeance LP DDR3 8GB 
Hard DriveCoolingOSPower
OCZ Vertex 3 120GB Scythe Big Shuriken 2 Windows 7 Home 64 Bit Silverstone SST-ST45SF 
Case
Silverstone SG05-450 
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Phenom II X2 560 MSI 785GM-P45 MSI HD6570 1GB DDR3 Microcenter/A-Data DDR3 4GB 1333 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
OCZ Agility 2 Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB Samsung Bluray Scythe Big Shuriken 
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Windows 7 Home 32 Bit Vizio 26" LED/LCD TV Antec Earthwatts 380 w/modded fan SilverStone Milo ML03B 
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Hauppauge 2250 Tuner 
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post #19 of 24
11/9/12 at 8:00pm
Thread Starter 
If I were to buy a $200 card suitable for gaming, would it be running loudly when I'm doing something that's not graphics-intensive, like watching a video from the hard drive? any chance it would only spin up the fans and get loud when I'm playing a game that really taxes the card?

Is there a software solution that would allow me to 'turn off' the graphics card when I don't need it?
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post #20 of 24
11/9/12 at 8:38pm
Hard to predict how the fan will run at low/medium load. Each card has their own parameters on fan speed, and different fans are noisier than others. Generally speaking, more fans = quieter (ie MSI's Twin Frozr setup), and larger fans are quieter. Most decent cards have enough horsepower to not work too hard and get too hot under normal usage, so you should be fine. Finding quieter cards under $100 can be a chore. They generally have tiny fans and work harder, so they make more noise.
Smalls
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HTPC
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OCZ Vertex 3 120GB Scythe Big Shuriken 2 Windows 7 Home 64 Bit Silverstone SST-ST45SF 
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Silverstone SG05-450 
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Phenom II X2 560 MSI 785GM-P45 MSI HD6570 1GB DDR3 Microcenter/A-Data DDR3 4GB 1333 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
OCZ Agility 2 Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB Samsung Bluray Scythe Big Shuriken 
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Windows 7 Home 32 Bit Vizio 26" LED/LCD TV Antec Earthwatts 380 w/modded fan SilverStone Milo ML03B 
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Hauppauge 2250 Tuner 
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Smalls
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HTPC
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel i5 3570 Asus P8Z77I-Deluxe EVGA GTX 660 Ti SC Corsair Vengeance LP DDR3 8GB 
Hard DriveCoolingOSPower
OCZ Vertex 3 120GB Scythe Big Shuriken 2 Windows 7 Home 64 Bit Silverstone SST-ST45SF 
Case
Silverstone SG05-450 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Phenom II X2 560 MSI 785GM-P45 MSI HD6570 1GB DDR3 Microcenter/A-Data DDR3 4GB 1333 
Hard DriveHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
OCZ Agility 2 Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB Samsung Bluray Scythe Big Shuriken 
OSMonitorPowerCase
Windows 7 Home 32 Bit Vizio 26" LED/LCD TV Antec Earthwatts 380 w/modded fan SilverStone Milo ML03B 
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Hauppauge 2250 Tuner 
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