HTPC Build Low Budget

[Guest]

Purchase Date : Hopefully Soon
Budget Range : $300 total
System Usage : Connecting To Server on Network, playing HD Shows & Movies, running Plex on Windows.

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: Complete New System

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Canadian Sites or Local To Ottawa

Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Parts Preferences: Normally Intel, but if it works it works.

Overclocking: No

Resolution: Up to 70" 1080P TV, possibly 4K when available.

Additional Comments: USB 3.0 port(s) for external HDDs. Internal SSD for system OS would be nice. As small as possible. Something that can be upgraded long-term would be nice.

 

[Guest]

I suppose that is asking too much for that price?

 

[bigshootr8]

Not sure I'll take a crack at it.

 

[bigshootr8]

This is about as low as I could get sure you could save a few pennies here and there on worse off components however I don't want to set you up for a DOA.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A6-5400K 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($59.99 @ Memory Express)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75M-DGS Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($49.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Canada Computers)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($43.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($37.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($44.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Canada Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($94.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $398.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-29 15:49 EDT-0400)

 

[Guest]

How about making it Intel based, I don't need OS or Optical drive (should have added that sorry)

 

[bigshootr8]

It's a little more expensive. You could go with a Intel Celeron Processor however the graphics aren't as good and with the A6 processor the strong point really is that the integrated graphics are stronger then what intel provides. In a HTPC environment I would go with a AMD A6/A8/or A10 situation. And that build I had for you if you take out the drive and the os puts you right under 300.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3225 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($139.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: ASRock B75M R2.0 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.49 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($37.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($44.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $406.44
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-29 16:51 EDT-0400)

 

[Guest]

How important is the graphics in terms of playing HD content? Will they both do it fine?

Thanks, I will think about it. How upgradable is this? Either build..

 

[Guest]

Also, I think my only real complaint is the case. I really would love something much smaller.

 

[bigshootr8]

Well that is a micro ATX case. I'm not sure how well it will handle things. I believe the celeron will do fine with HDCP video's such as blu rays however as to how well I don't know and even then the processing power isn't anything to ride home about. I'll show you a itx build which is very very small about the size of a small all in one printer but it will cost more.

 

[bigshootr8]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3225 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1155 Motherboard ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($55.25 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.24 @ Amazon)
Case: BitFenix Prodigy (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $467.45
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-29 17:29 EDT-0400)

 

[Guest]

That would be perfect except those are all US places, I am sure it would be a couple hundred more on the Canadian ones.

*edit actually not that bad.

Thanks.

 

[bigshootr8]

Yea its not to bad in Canada

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3225 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($139.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1155 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($80.00 @ NCIX)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ NCIX)
Case: BitFenix Prodigy (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case ($64.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $504.95
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-29 18:23 EDT-0400)

 

[bigshootr8]

EDIT: I went through with the Canada pricing and made some adjustments to bring the price down a little bit.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3225 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($139.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: Asus P8H77-I Mini ITX LGA1155 Motherboard ($98.00 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.49 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ NCIX)
Case: BitFenix Prodigy (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case ($64.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $476.45
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-29 18:35 EDT-0400)

 

[Guest]

Very cool, thanks!