As always, thanks for everyone's help in advance.
I'm looking to build a media center for my dad when he upgrades his TV at christmas. I've been looking around and I've come up with a couple things but I haven't quite found a build priced as low as I want, so I thought I'd ask the experts. The usage on this machine is pretty basic so I don't mind cutting corners on performance to save money.
Here are the things I need for the build:
*Case: I'm not worried about cooling because I won't be using a graphics card. My biggest concerns here are a small size and something that will look relatively unobtrusive, i.e., something that doesn't look like a computer tower.
*CPU: I'd like something with an LGA 1155 socket (reason below), but anything is fine. Something like a dual or triple core at 2.5ghz would be great.
*Motherboard: The most important thing is onboard graphics through either VGA or HDMI (preferably HDMI) - I won't be using a discrete gpu. The only expansion cards I'll be adding are a wireless card and a TV tuner. A mini-ITX board with a mini PCIe slot and a PCIe 2.0 x16 or x1 slot would be excellent, but a micro-ATX board would also be acceptable. Also, I don't need PS/2, firewire, eSATA, s/pdif, or coaxial ports and USB 3.0 would be nice but is not strictly required.
*TV Tuner: I don't know anything about TV tuners. It seems like every time I read reviews, half of them are perfect and the other half are terrible. I don't need any special features, I just want it to work with Windows 7.
*Wireless Card: Some mini-ITX boards with mini-PCIe slots come with these. Otherwise I'll need to buy one.
*RAM: Anything in 2x2GB, 1333mhz/1600mhz, 1.5V, CAS latency 9. With the instability of RAM prices I can just pick this later.
*PSU: With no GPU obviously most anything will do.
*Optical: I'm not going to worry about Blu-Ray just yet. I'll pick a $20 CD/DVD drive.
I don't need a hard drive included in this build. I haven't exactly decided what to do there, but I don't think my hard drive choice will influence the rest of the build.
Also, I would prefer there to be a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot on the board. I'm not including a discrete gpu but I would like the user to be able to add one later if they wanted to do so. I understand that most boards have a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot, but mini-ITX boards only have one slot and that slot can sometimes be a PCIe 2.0 x1 slot or a PCI slot.
The rest of the details are given below.
--------------------
Approximate Purchase Date: It will be a Christmas Gift, so I'll need to order the parts by about December 10th.
Budget Range: Let's say $500 max, but I'm looking to get it closer to the $400 range. Lowest possible cost is the point of this thread.
System Usage from Most to Least Important: HTPC. I will be streaming video from a server, using a TV card to play and record, using netflix, playing music, and other standard tasks like web browsing and office applications. No gaming.
Parts Not Required: I only need the box, so no monitor, keyboard, mouse, OS, etc. I also do not need a graphics card - I will be using onboard graphics. Additionally I salvaged a 150GB 2.5" 5400RPM hard drive from a laptop that I will be using (at least for the time being) as the only drive on the machine so do not include a hard drive.
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I usually use newegg but anything reputable is fine. I'd rather not buy used parts, but refurbished or open box products are fine.
Country of Origin: USA
Parts Preferences: I would prefer something based on socket LGA 1155. I have an i5-2500K that I will upgrade to Ivy Bridge some time from now and when I do that I would like to put the 2500K in this machine. I understand, however, that AMD is usually king of this price range and if it saves me $50 I'll happily go with something from AMD.
Overclocking: No
SLI or Crossfire: No discrete graphics at all
Monitor Resolution: I don't have any control over this. The recipient has not yet purchased the monitor, but I imagine it will be a 50"-60" TV in a moderate price range for that size.
I'm looking to build a media center for my dad when he upgrades his TV at christmas. I've been looking around and I've come up with a couple things but I haven't quite found a build priced as low as I want, so I thought I'd ask the experts. The usage on this machine is pretty basic so I don't mind cutting corners on performance to save money.
Here are the things I need for the build:
*Case: I'm not worried about cooling because I won't be using a graphics card. My biggest concerns here are a small size and something that will look relatively unobtrusive, i.e., something that doesn't look like a computer tower.
*CPU: I'd like something with an LGA 1155 socket (reason below), but anything is fine. Something like a dual or triple core at 2.5ghz would be great.
*Motherboard: The most important thing is onboard graphics through either VGA or HDMI (preferably HDMI) - I won't be using a discrete gpu. The only expansion cards I'll be adding are a wireless card and a TV tuner. A mini-ITX board with a mini PCIe slot and a PCIe 2.0 x16 or x1 slot would be excellent, but a micro-ATX board would also be acceptable. Also, I don't need PS/2, firewire, eSATA, s/pdif, or coaxial ports and USB 3.0 would be nice but is not strictly required.
*TV Tuner: I don't know anything about TV tuners. It seems like every time I read reviews, half of them are perfect and the other half are terrible. I don't need any special features, I just want it to work with Windows 7.
*Wireless Card: Some mini-ITX boards with mini-PCIe slots come with these. Otherwise I'll need to buy one.
*RAM: Anything in 2x2GB, 1333mhz/1600mhz, 1.5V, CAS latency 9. With the instability of RAM prices I can just pick this later.
*PSU: With no GPU obviously most anything will do.
*Optical: I'm not going to worry about Blu-Ray just yet. I'll pick a $20 CD/DVD drive.
I don't need a hard drive included in this build. I haven't exactly decided what to do there, but I don't think my hard drive choice will influence the rest of the build.
Also, I would prefer there to be a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot on the board. I'm not including a discrete gpu but I would like the user to be able to add one later if they wanted to do so. I understand that most boards have a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot, but mini-ITX boards only have one slot and that slot can sometimes be a PCIe 2.0 x1 slot or a PCI slot.
The rest of the details are given below.
--------------------
Approximate Purchase Date: It will be a Christmas Gift, so I'll need to order the parts by about December 10th.
Budget Range: Let's say $500 max, but I'm looking to get it closer to the $400 range. Lowest possible cost is the point of this thread.
System Usage from Most to Least Important: HTPC. I will be streaming video from a server, using a TV card to play and record, using netflix, playing music, and other standard tasks like web browsing and office applications. No gaming.
Parts Not Required: I only need the box, so no monitor, keyboard, mouse, OS, etc. I also do not need a graphics card - I will be using onboard graphics. Additionally I salvaged a 150GB 2.5" 5400RPM hard drive from a laptop that I will be using (at least for the time being) as the only drive on the machine so do not include a hard drive.
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I usually use newegg but anything reputable is fine. I'd rather not buy used parts, but refurbished or open box products are fine.
Country of Origin: USA
Parts Preferences: I would prefer something based on socket LGA 1155. I have an i5-2500K that I will upgrade to Ivy Bridge some time from now and when I do that I would like to put the 2500K in this machine. I understand, however, that AMD is usually king of this price range and if it saves me $50 I'll happily go with something from AMD.
Overclocking: No
SLI or Crossfire: No discrete graphics at all
Monitor Resolution: I don't have any control over this. The recipient has not yet purchased the monitor, but I imagine it will be a 50"-60" TV in a moderate price range for that size.