Building HTPC, please advise

Lament

Lament

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Hi, im new to the "hardware" thread :p
im looking in building a cheap HTPC, i already have a hard drive, a dvd rom, a screen and so on, so i have made a list of hardware i think will be sufficient and work with each other, my actual question is
1. will these different parts definitely work with each other
2. and i know the old 775 cpu's came with a CPU cooler, does the new 1155 i3 cpu's also come with one?
3. Do I have to buy thermal paste as well
4. I take it I have to buy 3 to 4 additional SATA power converters
5. Is there anywhere els where I can buy these parts?, im in Pretoria, Comx is not replying on my mails and has no telephone number, so im not really looking at them as a supplier, same goes for Echo tech, PC Palace and Matrix warehouse, seems like all these places are doing very good since they can’t reply with a quote on anything….

here is the list (with prices from ComX’s website)

CPU
Intel Core i3 DUAL Core Socket LGA1155 Processors
CP-iSi3D2100
http://www.comx.co.za/CP-iSi3D2100-...x-CPU-Information-Price-Buy-Cheap-p-42322.php

R 1,155.00


Motherboard
MB-iH67BLR Intel H67BL Bear up Lake LGA1155 motherboard

http://www.comx.co.za/MB-iH67BLR-In...board-Information-Price-Buy-Cheap-p-42516.php

R 943.00

Ram
Corsair ME-C2G3X13X9 (2gb DDR3 1333)

http://www.comx.co.za/ME-C2G3X13X9-...40pin-Information-Price-Buy-Cheap-p-35480.php

R 272.00

BOX with Power supply
1244 Super Channel MATX Chassis Black 450w

http://www.comx.co.za/1244-SuperCha...-450w-Information-Price-Buy-Cheap-p-43016.php


R 341.00


Additional accessories
RE-CK300 Compro K300 remote control for MCE ( Media Center Edition ) , black

http://www.comx.co.za/RE-CK300-Comp...black-Information-Price-Buy-Cheap-p-31648.php


R 212.00

The whole thing should cost around R3000 going by the prices provided (very cheap if you compare it to media players and what you can actualy do with this)
 
Last edited:
Why dont you rather look at a Mini ITX case?

CFI A2059 mini ITX Case and 300wat psu (Space for 3 x 3.5" drives)
CFI
 
paul5186 said:
Why dont you rather look at a Mini ITX case?

CFI A2059 mini ITX Case and 300wat psu (Space for 3 x 3.5" drives)
CFI
Click to expand...

i did have a look at them, this one looks quite nice, the problem is i don’t know if 300w will be enough and besides that, i have three 1tb drives, with a additional 2 tb drive, all of them are full, so i have to buy a new one in the very near future, and this case only has space for 3 drives, if i had the cash, i would just buy three 3tb drives :)
 
NBS said:
mmmmmmmmmmm, if they were currently available i would have probably went for something like this...
Click to expand...

I added more links for MSI & Asus. They should be available shortly if you can wait a bit.
 
Be aware that the Asus linked above is a Micro-ATX board, not a Mini-ITX.

The size nomenclature can get a little confusing on the lower end.
 
The Intel system you chose is a real good build. I would however go for more a more silent fan than a stock silent fan since your going to use it for music and movies.

If that Intel processor comes with a fan the paste will be pre-applied.

You might need some SATA connectors, but if your using you old hard drives, you can use those...new hard drives new dont usually comes with sata cables...
That intel motherboard has SATA3G and SATA6G connectors. SATA6G is also backward compatible for your old cables.
New Motherboards also usually comes with one or two sata cables.

If you're going to use it for games also you could also look at a AMD or Intel LGA775 Motherboard base and pass the savings on to a better graphics card.
you can for instance go with an specific AMD motherboard, four core processor and has some money left for an better graphics card and add on premium audio card.

If I mention the AMD card it might sell out so contact me for further details.
 
kwaggawerner said:
You're better off with a media player, if you're going to use it for movies/music, especially http://www.playonhd.com/en/

It's cheaper, and can do more, in terms of A/V output.
Click to expand...

First of all, the Playon HD is crap. I lost everything on my 2TB drive because the drive has to be formatted through the Playon, otherwise you keep getting those annoying reminders about it. The UI is pathetic compared to something like XBMC or MediaPortal, and it's a lot slower as well.

But please inform me, how can it do more in terms of AV output? As far as I can remember, it can output via HDMI, Component, Composite for video, and Optical and the normal RCA for sound. All which you can do with an HTPC as well. What am I missing.
 
kwaggawerner said:
You're better off with a media player, if you're going to use it for movies/music, especially http://www.playonhd.com/en/

It's cheaper, and can do more, in terms of A/V output.
Click to expand...

Nah dude, I have to disagree, media players are crapy, I have the Xtreamer Pro (the one with the same crap chipset as the ACRayn) and its crap, the problem with all these Realtek players is they can’t handle Java apps or any other remotely descend program, the developers takes ages to develop any new features for these kinda players because the hardware is so limited

With a HTPC you don’t have any bottle necks, you don’t have to wait endless moths for firmware to come out to fix the hundreds upon hundreds of realtek problems, no more lagging menus, no more missing codecs, no more scrapping problems, no more freezing, solid multitasking, the possibilities as a media player a HTPC is endless

The whole pc will cost me R3000, a i3 3.1ghz CPU (the 1155 with integrated HD Graphics), a motherboard, 4gb DDR3 Ram, with the box and PSU, mouse, keyboard and remote. It has a HDMI Port, Dvi, VGA an optical port (what more do I need?) Now have a look at the AC Ryan (just for an example), it costs +- R2000 without a hard drive, it has a 500mhz CPU and 128mb ram, which one will you rather take?
 
Rock Bottom Computers said:
The Intel system you chose is a real good build. I would however go for more a more silent fan than a stock silent fan since your going to use it for music and movies.

If that Intel processor comes with a fan the paste will be pre-applied.

You might need some SATA connectors, but if your using you old hard drives, you can use those...new hard drives new dont usually comes with sata cables...
That intel motherboard has SATA3G and SATA6G connectors. SATA6G is also backward compatible for your old cables.
New Motherboards also usually comes with one or two sata cables.

If you're going to use it for games also you could also look at a AMD or Intel LGA775 Motherboard base and pass the savings on to a better graphics card.
you can for instance go with an specific AMD motherboard, four core processor and has some money left for an better graphics card and add on premium audio card.

If I mention the AMD card it might sell out so contact me for further details.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, you have cleared up a few things for me!!

I won’t be using it for games, but if the need comes i can always just buy a decent card, from what i have heard, the intergraded graphics in the 1155 CPU's are not that bad compared to other lower end graphic cards
 
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