HTCP/Gaming ITX Build, Suggestions?

[Spike]

This is a build for a friend who wants to setup a pc in his living room to both play games and view media from. He wants it small and somewhat attractive to gain the "wife approval", he would also like it quieter but is not worried about dead silence. It's been a while since I have built a pc (I'm still rocking the 2500k) so I'm rusty at this.

1. Use: Home use in a living room setup hooked to the LCD TV.

2. Budget: Right now aiming for about $1k, though less is always appreciated.

3.Location: US

4. No brand preference.

6. Use current parts? Possibly, I have an older but new in box Antec NeoHE 550 PSU that I can give him for cheap. It should power the GPU I want but I don't know if the new standards of power needs have changed much.

7. Overclocking? I am not sure, I would not mind OCing it a bit for him since he wants some logevity out of the PC. If the budget allows I can go for a 'k' processor and do this, but given the small case size cooling is likely to be an issue so the OC would not be extreme.

8. Res? He will be hooking it to an HDTV, so lets assuming 1920 x 1080 for now.

9. When? I would be building it soonish, within the next month or so.

X. Software: We know plenty of folks locally at MS so getting copies of Office and Windows will be cheap and separate from the hardware budget. However, he does want a blu-ray player so it either needs to come with playback software or we will need to get that separately.

Other info: I've been looking at ITX cases simply for the size and look. I'm looking for help on all aspects of the build, nothing is set in stone except that it needs to not be a standard tower case. With that being said, my current thoughts on parts are list below, though all are up for discussion, this was just an initial run to get a feel for the price.

Case: ITX cube of some kind
Mobo: Cheap asrock? I've had good luck with them
CPU: i5-4690
Ram 2x4GB Corsair
SSD 120GB Samsung EVO
HDD 2-3TB Hitachi 7200 RPM
Vid: R9-280x
Blu-ray drive, PSU

Thanks!

 

[Charlie98]

Couple of things...

The mITX and a GPU will eliminate any expandability for tuner or audio cards. What kind of sources does he want to use in HTPC roles? The 3TB HDD suggests he wants to store a fair amount of video, but what else does he need to do with it?

Besides the cube cases, there are also 'HTPC' cases that are sized to fit in with other stereo components, for example this Silverstone case.

I would just get a new PSU, it sounds like reliability and longevity are paramount, just spring for a new PSU.

 

[Spike]

Couple of things...

The mITX and a GPU will eliminate any expandability for tuner or audio cards. What kind of sources does he want to use in HTPC roles? The 3TB HDD suggests he wants to store a fair amount of video, but what else does he need to do with it?

Besides the cube cases, there are also 'HTPC' cases that are sized to fit in with other stereo components, for example this Silverstone case.

I would just get a new PSU, it sounds like reliability and longevity are paramount, just spring for a new PSU.

Interesting thoughts there. To my knowledge he had not planned on going down the route of a any kind of tv tuner or additional audio components and had planned to just use the HDMI out or HDMI + optical. However, that case does look more like an audio component and if it would allow for expandability than thats even better.

 

[crashtech]

I really like the cases that are the size of an A/V receiver. You can set them side by side and they look right at home. This enables the use of large, quiet fans, full size GPUs, and even liquid cooling if wanted, without worrying about cramming it all into a tiny case.

 

[DSF]

I was going to suggest a Silverstone case as well, the only issue is that they tend to be a little bit more expensive than I'd like to go on a $1k budget.

Here's one that's 89.99 after rebate and Prime eligible:
http://www.amazon.com/Silverstone-Te...ds=silverstone

If it ends up fitting in the budget I would also recommend bumping the SSD up to a 256GB one. 120GB just isn't very much storage space. In reality it becomes about 60GB once you leave 25% empty and then install Windows.

I wouldn't worry very much about overclocking. It's not strictly necessary in terms of gaming (and certainly not for HTPC duties) so unless you pay for a nice cooler it's just going to add noise. If he changes his mind later he can always buy the cooler and crank it up with nothing lost.

 

[mfenn]

How about this:

i5 4440 $175 AP
ASRock H87M Pro4 $80
Kingston DDR3 1600 8GB $73
Sapphire R9 280 3GB $200 AR - 10.3" long
Crucial MX100 256GB $115
Toshiba 7200RPM 2TB $85
ASUS Blu-Ray Burner $50 AR AP
Corsair CX600M $55 AR
Silverstone GD05-USB30 $85 AR
Noctua NH-L9i $48
ArcSoft TMT 6 $50
Total: $1016 AR AP

 

[crashtech]

^Ton of machine for the money. Hard to say where to trim until if and when the mission objectives get refined.

 

[Spike]

I was going to suggest a Silverstone case as well, the only issue is that they tend to be a little bit more expensive than I'd like to go on a $1k budget.

Here's one that's 89.99 after rebate and Prime eligible:
http://www.amazon.com/Silverstone-Te...ds=silverstone

If it ends up fitting in the budget I would also recommend bumping the SSD up to a 256GB one. 120GB just isn't very much storage space. In reality it becomes about 60GB once you leave 25% empty and then install Windows.

I wouldn't worry very much about overclocking. It's not strictly necessary in terms of gaming (and certainly not for HTPC duties) so unless you pay for a nice cooler it's just going to add noise. If he changes his mind later he can always buy the cooler and crank it up with nothing lost.

Thanks for the link to that case. I was recommending 120GB to him since it would just be for windows plus programs, all media would be stored on the HDD in the 2 - 3 TB range. Though he does also want to game and those do benefit from the SSD so maybe 256 makes more sense.

How about this:

i5 4440 $175 AP
ASRock H87M Pro4 $80
Kingston DDR3 1600 8GB $73
Sapphire R9 280 3GB $200 AR - 10.3" long
Crucial MX100 256GB $115
Toshiba 7200RPM 2TB $85
ASUS Blu-Ray Burner $50 AR AP
Corsair CX600M $55 AR
Silverstone GD05-USB30 $85 AR
Noctua NH-L9i $48
ArcSoft TMT 6 $50
Total: $1016 AR AP

Thanks for putting that together! The CPU seems a little anemic, is it actually that much slower than the 4690 I linked or is it close in actual use? What about the 280, is it lots slower than the 280x? I wanted to go with something that was close to or as fast as my 7970 at least. Otherwise I like all the suggestions.

I had planned on just using the stock heatsink but I've heard great things about Noctua.

 

[crashtech]

Heat starts getting exponentially greater with clock speed, so careful consideration needs to be given to how powerful this system needs to be vs. how much noise will be acceptable. With a higher budget you could go with liquid cooling, but a lower clocked 4440 is a safe choice that will run cool and provide within 15% of the CPU power of the higher clocked i5s.

 

[DSF]

Thanks for the link to that case. I was recommending 120GB to him since it would just be for windows plus programs, all media would be stored on the HDD in the 2 - 3 TB range. Though he does also want to game and those do benefit from the SSD so maybe 256 makes more sense.

I have a 180GB SSD for my boot drive and that's the smallest I'd reasonably go in a gaming rig.

For example, my BF4 folder is just about 40 gigs. That's nuts for a single game, but it's where we're headed if he plays the blockbuster titles. If he's more of an indie/casual gamer it may not matter as much.

 

[Charlie98]

I was recommending 120GB to him since it would just be for windows plus programs, all media would be stored on the HDD in the 2 - 3 TB range. Though he does also want to game and those do benefit from the SSD so maybe 256 makes more sense.

I didn't suggest bumping up the SSD size because it was an HTPC... mine is on a 64GB SSD and works very well, but all I have on it is W7 and some other programs and utilities. The only benefit from putting games on an SSD is level load times. It's nice to have them on there (I do...) but it's not necessary... I would rather see that money spent on a better GPU, particularly if you are already tapping the budget redline.

 

[Spike]

I didn't suggest bumping up the SSD size because it was an HTPC... mine is on a 64GB SSD and works very well, but all I have on it is W7 and some other programs and utilities. The only benefit from putting games on an SSD is level load times. It's nice to have them on there (I do...) but it's not necessary... I would rather see that money spent on a better GPU, particularly if you are already tapping the budget redline.

Good points, of the 4 PC's I have using SSD's as their OS drives, 2 have 64GB's and they are more than enough.

If I were to increase the budget to the $1200 range, what would the upgrade suggestions be? 280X for the extra $80-100? Better CPU?

I'm trying to get a firm number from him price wise, so far he has been somewhat vague but I know he is prepared to spend enough to make it last.

 

[Charlie98]

Good points, of the 4 PC's I have using SSD's as their OS drives, 2 have 64GB's and they are more than enough.

If I were to increase the budget to the $1200 range, what would the upgrade suggestions be? 280X for the extra $80-100? Better CPU?

I'm trying to get a firm number from him price wise, so far he has been somewhat vague but I know he is prepared to spend enough to make it last.

The CPU/GPU really depends on what he is going to play. A Pentium will handle HTPC duty, any i5 will handle video rip and encoding... but depending on what games he is going to be playing will dictate the need for a better CPU and/or GPU.

 

[crashtech]

The 4690 is $210 at the Egg right now, that would be a good step up. I don't recommend overclocking for an HTPC. An R9 280x is also doable within that $200 extra; a GTX 770 is also a viable choice, though generally the 280x is the price/performance leader, the 770 has a bit lower TDP and does better in certain games (and worse in others). Should find out which games will be played before deciding. Anand has a good writeup of the 280x which includes results for a 770 also:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7400/the-radeon-r9-280x-review-feat-asus-xfx

 

[Spike]

The 4690 is $210 at the Egg right now, that would be a good step up. I don't recommend overclocking for an HTPC. An R9 280x is also doable within that $200 extra; a GTX 770 is also a viable choice, though generally the 280x is the price/performance leader, the 770 has a bit lower TDP and does better in certain games (and worse in others). Should find out which games will be played before deciding. Anand has a good writeup of the 280x which includes results for a 770 also:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7400/the-radeon-r9-280x-review-feat-asus-xfx

That 770 looks interesting as well. He will be playing all kinds of games, but he won't be a constant gamer. I'm assuming more on the line of a few hours a week, but he wants those games to play well (obviously). They will be FPS's and RTS mainly, so it needs to handle graphics intensive but he does not care about every bit of eye candy. It looks like the 280, 280x, or 770 would all handle what he wants.

 

[mfenn]

Thanks for putting that together! The CPU seems a little anemic, is it actually that much slower than the 4690 I linked or is it close in actual use? What about the 280, is it lots slower than the 280x? I wanted to go with something that was close to or as fast as my 7970 at least. Otherwise I like all the suggestions.

The i5 4440 is the exact same microarchitecture as the 4690, just clocked lower. The clock speed difference is 400Mhz, or ~10%. That's not going to be noticeable unless you run CPU benchmarks all day.

The R9 280 is the same as a 7950 Boost and the R9 280X is generally running at 7970 GHz Ed. clock speeds. So the R9 290 in the same performance class as your non-GHz Ed. 7970.

I had planned on just using the stock heatsink but I've heard great things about Noctua.

The stock heatsink will work OK, but it will be loud under CPU load like transcoding, etc. That's typically not good for an HTPC, so I put in a quieter fan.