Office/HTPC build for parents

[SpitefulSandwich]

My parents need a new PC, and I'm trying to get them sorted with one that can be attached to a 50 inch Samsung plasma (PS42B430P2W) that sits in their front room, satisfying the following criteria:

Case has a height less than 208mm (height of shelf under TV)
Can play BLU Rays
Can be used as an office pc for general work
Can browse internets
Can store and manage music for their mp3 players
Can make use of HD streaming services (Amazon Prime, Netflix etc)
Is wireless, with a signal strong enough to carry upstairs to the router


The idea is they have everything they need in one place and they can use it from the comfort of their armchairs. My dear old mum recently came into ownership of a Galaxy note and my dad has a Galaxy tab, so I'm hoping to configure them so they can be used as remotes for the device.

I have 4GB of RAM spare that I can put in it:
G.Skill Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory (F3-10666CL8D-4GBRM)

There is also a Creative Audio surround sound system lying discarded in their study that I want to hook this thing up to.


This is where it gets a tad awkward. I'm also looking at upgrading my current pc:

Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Intel Core i3 530 2.93GHz processor
Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H mobo
8GB 2x4GB DDR3 RAM
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w Silent PSU
1TB HDD
Asus ATI Radeon HD 5770 CuCore 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express GFX Card
Some random 1680 x 1050 LCD monitor that I got many a year ago

My intention was to re-use components from my current to reduce costs for the parent's PC; in a configuration something like this:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/SpitefulSandwich/saved/Ydxbt6

Reusing the GFX Card, PSU and RAM would hopefully cut costs, but I'm wondering if I'm going about this the wrong way? Am I trying too hard to use the old components when I could do something else frugally? I'm worried about the noise levels, particularly with the gfx card - it doesn't run too cold either. Would the processor even need a discrete GFX card to comfortably do all of the specified tasks?

IF anyone has a more appropriate spec, or a better idea of how to use my components then I would welcome their help (suggestions for a couple of quiet 120mm case fans and a wireless keyobard & mouse would really help too).

As a side note, I myself have no plans to use win 8 for now, but I want to know what people think of it now that it has had some time out in the public domain. Does it still suck? Is it actually reasonable now, and could two 60 yr olds comfortably use it?

I would really appreciate some input for this, as it's a real headscratcher for me.

 

[dottorrent]

Overclocking CPU, non-overclocking board. You may as well get the G3240.

 

[geofelt]

I like your plan.
Starting with the case, I think the cm elite at 207.8 height comes too darn close to your space.
Double check everything.
I suggest you find a nice HTPC case that can reuse your motherboard and cpu.
Here is a Silverstone Grandia that looks much more like a hifi component:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163205
They have other high quality units too.
The case should fit your motherboard, psu, and graphics card.
The motherboard has a hdmi port which is probably what you would use for the TV.

It will look better too.

Usually integrated graphics is fine for HD playback and other casual operations. Even low motion gaming. Just not for fast action games. You could try without the discrete card.
Even with the 5770, you could underclock to reduce noise.

I love the G3258; I just installed one in a very restrictive case with the stock cooler.
It runs at 4.0 if you have a motherboard that supports overclocking.

But, your i3-530 is plenty for your usage.
Love the use of a ssd. It makes normal operations so much faster.
That is the key to good performance.

That solves your problem of what to do with your old parts.

That leaves you free to buy what you want for your own upgrade.

Use that G3258 with a good cooler and a Z97 based motherboard. That gives you all sorts of upgrade options as well as future 14nm broadwell support.

 

[SpitefulSandwich]

Overclocking CPU, non-overclocking board. You may as well get the G3240.

Ah, thanks for pointing that out.

 

[geofelt]

Overclocking CPU, non-overclocking board. You may as well get the G3240.

Overclocking CPU, non-overclocking board. You may as well get the G3240.

Ah, thanks for pointing that out.

A minor point, the G3258 is about the same price and a bit faster at stock than a G3240.
It is cheaper than the equally fast G3420.

 

[SpitefulSandwich]

I like your plan.
Starting with the case, I think the cm elite at 207.8 height comes too darn close to your space.
Double check everything.
I suggest you find a nice HTPC case that can reuse your motherboard and cpu.
Here is a Silverstone Grandia that looks much more like a hifi component:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163205
They have other high quality units too.
The case should fit your motherboard, psu, and graphics card.
The motherboard has a hdmi port which is probably what you would use for the TV.

It will look better too.

Usually integrated graphics is fine for HD playback and other casual operations. Even low motion gaming. Just not for fast action games. You could try without the discrete card.
Even with the 5770, you could underclock to reduce noise.

I love the G3258; I just installed one in a very restrictive case with the stock cooler.
It runs at 4.0 if you have a motherboard that supports overclocking.

But, your i3-530 is plenty for your usage.
Love the use of a ssd. It makes normal operations so much faster.
That is the key to good performance.

That solves your problem of what to do with your old parts.

That leaves you free to buy what you want for your own upgrade.

Use that G3258 with a good cooler and a Z97 based motherboard. That gives you all sorts of upgrade options as well as future 14nm broadwell support.

Hey geofelt,

Thanks a lot for your comments; some real food for thought there - I hadn't even thought about finding a case that would accommodate an m-ATX mobo. I like the idea of being able to use my old cpu, mobo and graphics card in a Silverstone case; I've tweaked my spec as follows to accommodate all of that:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/SpitefulSandwich/saved/dPgQzy

If the case fans are too noisy, I'll look at some of the branded ones and see what I can get. I'm going to use the parents as guinea pigs for windows 8.1 and see what it's like. Is there anything I haven't considered?

My plan for now is to chuck in my win 7 HDD and dual boot whilst I plot for my new PC, which I want to be a bit of a monster.

 

[geofelt]

Your plan looks good.
I found windows 8.1 to be not so good for navigation with a mouse.
If I recall correctly, you have to pay extra for media center on it.
I have tried it three times, and it has not stuck with me. Even using the classic start app.
I am waiting for windows 9 or later.

On the fans, noise comes mainly from running at high rpm.
You can use a zalman fanmate to dial in the speed/noise equation you prefer.

 

[SpitefulSandwich]

Your plan looks good.
I found windows 8.1 to be not so good for navigation with a mouse.
If I recall correctly, you have to pay extra for media center on it.
I have tried it three times, and it has not stuck with me. Even using the classic start app.
I am waiting for windows 9 or later.

On the fans, noise comes mainly from running at high rpm.
You can use a zalman fanmate to dial in the speed/noise equation you prefer.

Thanks for the help mate. I'm to try out XMBC on this thing I think. I'll see how loud it is and chuck fans in if I need to.