htpc build advice

T

tnaa

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Hi everyone, I am in the process of building a HTPC and need some expert advice.

Here is what I want to buy so far:
  • CASE: COOLER MASTER ELITE 130 - R650
  • PSU: HUNTKEY GS 550W - R550
  • CPU: INTEL CORE I3 4150 3.5GHZ - R1500
  • MB: ASROCK H81M MINI-ITX - R1000
  • RAM: STRONTIUM 4GB 1600 DDR3 DESKTOP RAM - R500
  • Storage:SEAGATE 3TB 7200RPM SATA3 64MB - R1500
= R 5 700 [SUB](Can find some stuff cheaper @ e.g Rebletech but prefer the shop that quoted me this price and buying from one place Midrand/PTA) [/SUB]

I have a SSD which I want to use for the OS.

Regarding the 550W PSU I wanted to have a PSU that can power 1) all the items listed above and in the future a 2)a GFX card that support 4K and/or 3D 3) another HDD and 3) in the future a a Blue Ray player. Will the PSU be powerfull enough / is it to much already? I dont want to worry about the system not having enough power in the future.

I want to use it as a NAS device (central point of access to all our media) and as a HTPC to play media on the TV.

I want to go the HTPC route as it has the full functionality of a PC (internet, networking and can e.g open a word document), this is what I want not a media player, but a PC.

Any advice and recommendations would be greatly appreciated as I have been pondering for over a week now if I should buy this.
 
ponder said:
AMD APU based PC maybe?
Click to expand...
Had and AMD on my first quote, but the MB only had 2 SATA inputs told him I need +- 4, so the next quote the guy gave me what is listed above. Said something about him not being able to find stock of a "better" Mini-ITX AMD board.
 
HP Microserver 54L
and add a HDMI screen card
This will set you back slightly more than 2k
then add your HDD's of choice. It has 4 bays but technically can take 6 SATA drives.
 
I just pulled the trigger and ordered the Wootware Drake build. Can't find anywhere else that sells the Asrock H97M-ITX/AC. Love that it has Wireless AC and Bluetooth on board.

It'll complement the N54L nicely. Now just need to find a nice wooden server cabinet.
 
i3 4k series is a mistake. You will have to add graphics card like GT1030 or a newer. The latest generation od Pentium/Celeron would do 4K things using integrated graphics. I would also double check AMD stuff.

If you can't get series 300 motherboard in Mini ITX factor, a second-hand HP microserver is an option for R1000, just add R1300 GT1030 and you have the best HTPC you can imagine for less than R2.5K total with lot of expansion space for storage.

PS. You don't really need SSD for HTPC.
 
Agree with sajunky. Latest gen AMD and Pentium are quite good for HTPC and really cheap too.
 
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