Budget Micro ATX machine

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phiber

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Hi Guys,

Need to build a very budget micro ATX machine. Want it to play 1080p movies in my lounge, so i would hope it has the following, can you suggest components? No links to sybaritic, had some very bad experiences there.

Micro ATX Case
Mobo with ethernet
CPU (would need to be c2d or equiv for 1080p rite ?)
Gfx card with HDMI out (now this is a luxury i know, dont think i will be able to budget for it, maybe add it a little later)
i have a 500 gig 3.5 and a 320 gig 2.5 inch lying around, so i wont need to buy a hdd.
Wireless card (108 +)

I can go either Intel or AMD. What would you guys suggest ? Also if i missed anything, let me know. I have a bluetooth dongle which i will use to connect some sort of a remote control or whatever. Planning on using something like XMBC or the other.

Thanks in advance.
 
mATX and 1080p video? You're looking at an Ion system at least, which means you're going to spend around R2000 on the motherboard which has an integrated CPU and graphics card, at least. (See Zotac Ion).
 
Hi

The new H55 Intel chipset and the i3 will be able to handle full HD video, and the GPU is on the CPU which saves in space and heat, letting you build a smaller, lighter, quieter and cooler system. Its got HDMI and DVI onboard, as well as optical out!

The other thing i would recommend is one of the seagate low power drives. They almost the same speed as the normal ones, and run abit quieter and cooler.

The thing with building a system into a home theater is that you want it as small and quiet as possible! that means no fans and low temps... so as soon as you start putting in lots of HDD's and a decent graphics card, you temps shoot up, and you either need to get a bigger case with some 120mm fans or stick with the small case and use the noisy 80mm fans, and hope you dont blow anything from overheating!

That said, you can get the i3 CPU (with iGPU) for about R1200 and a H55 mobo for about R800... all you then need is some DDR2 ram and you sorted!
 
I personally think AMD will do perfectly
I currently have an AMD system running in my lounge which is playing full HD.

Mobo: M4A785TD-M EVO Socket AM3
CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 Dual-Core 240 (2.8GHz)
RAM: 2GB Kingston DDR3-1333 (2x1GB)
HDD: 40GB (System) + 4x80GB (Storage - in RAID)
GPU: HD4200 (Onboard)

EDIT: Oh, and the Mobo has HDMI out on it already

You can also go for a cheaper AMD Socket AM2+ board and still out a socket AM3 processor in it, would save you a few hundred, I'd still recommend the Asus M4A785-M motherboard though (I currently sell it for just under R1k and the processor for R650, the 1GB Kingston chips for R295)
 
Last edited:
DJNgoma said:
I say ASRock G41M-S, any 775 socket dual core CPU really and a 9400GT. Sounds like an ION setup, right :D?
Click to expand...

+1

Celeron E3200 dual core.

In a Cooler Master Elite 360 case.

Isn't the G41's Intel GMA4500 good enough for displaying HD content?
 
I'm considering one of the RC-100 Elite cases from Cooler Master for my 1080 HTPC - great compact size and looks good. Just need to find a mini-ITX board with everything onboard, incl. HDMI (or DVI) and Optical out.

RC-100_Elite.jpg
 
howardb said:
I'm considering one of the RC-100 Elite cases from Cooler Master for my 1080 HTPC - great compact size and looks good. Just need to find a mini-ITX board with everything onboard, incl. HDMI (or DVI) and Optical out.

RC-100_Elite.jpg
Click to expand...

The Zotac ION ITX boards mentioned earlier are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head, but you're looking at 2k+. Review.

edit: I see that Prophecy has the single core ITX B version for 1.4k in their 'beta products' section. All the reviews I can find have been about the dual-core 'ITX A' version, so not sure about its 1080p credentials. Might not have optical, though. Zotac site useless, but based on pics it has both optical and coaxial digital out.
 
Last edited:
stroebs said:
I personally think AMD will do perfectly
I currently have an AMD system running in my lounge which is playing full HD.

Mobo: M4A785TD-M EVO Socket AM3
CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 Dual-Core 240 (2.8GHz)
RAM: 2GB Kingston DDR3-1333 (2x1GB)
HDD: 40GB (System) + 4x80GB (Storage - in RAID)
GPU: HD4200 (Onboard)

EDIT: Oh, and the Mobo has HDMI out on it already

You can also go for a cheaper AMD Socket AM2+ board and still out a socket AM3 processor in it, would save you a few hundred, I'd still recommend the Asus M4A785-M motherboard though (I currently sell it for just under R1k and the processor for R650, the 1GB Kingston chips for R295)
Click to expand...

keen to go this route. Thanks for the help guys!

Possibly these specs tho:

Mobo: M4A785TD-M EVO Socket AM3
CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 Dual-Core 240 (2.8GHz)
RAM: 2GB Kingston DDR3-1333 (1x2GB chip)
The cooler master Elite 100.
 
Last edited:
phiber said:
keen to go this route. Thanks for the help guys!

Possibly these specs tho:

Mobo: M4A785TD-M EVO Socket AM3
CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 Dual-Core 240 (2.8GHz)
RAM: 2GB Kingston DDR3-1333 (1x2GB chip)
The cooler master Elite 100.
Click to expand...

A graphics card would still be required for 1080p, hope 720p will hopefully be handled by the above.
 
DJNgoma said:
A graphics card would still be required for 1080p, hope 720p will hopefully be handled by the above.
Click to expand...

The on board on there isn't crappy intel on board. With that processor it's enough for 1080p.
 
Antec Minuet 350 Slimline Micro-ATX Desktop/ Vertical Case w/350
With AMD goods inside, works for me.
 
phiber said:
Hi Guys,

Need to build a very budget micro ATX machine. Want it to play 1080p movies in my lounge, so i would hope it has the following, can you suggest components? No links to sybaritic, had some very bad experiences there.
Click to expand...

I have one - intel Fly Creek Mini-ITX mobo. Pinnacle sell then for just under 1K excl CPU and RAM. It has a dvi and hdmi out and spdif optical out - handles 1080 like a dream.....
 
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