Help me build a HTPC!

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1302559

All you ever wanted to know ! I am partial to the Sandy Bridge build .

I'll just go ahead and tell you that you can't go wrong using the guide and when all is set up , get the paid guides for the sofware set up info .

Priceless !!

So, do you want us to put a list together for you?

I charge for that kind of work.

3 hard drives, meaning 3.5" hard drives will limit your cases choices.

nMedia PC is a cheaper knock off of Silverstone, which you have to sell your first born to get.

Rosewill, newegg's private label brand, makes ir remotes, and they are sometimes on sale for $12. Buy the remote, and use the IR dongle fo ruse with your Harmony.

If you want inexpensive, AMD is the way to go. I just put together an AMD quad core desktop for a $100.

Motherboard was $20 AR
Processor was $50
Memory was $25 for 8Gb

Everything else was re-used from the computer it replaced.

Just don't expect to buy everything in one shopping trip, if you want to get deals. Retailers know that people have no patience, and will lower the price on component A in hopes that you will buy Components B and C at full price at the same time.

But things as they go on sale, and you will get your high quality build on a budget.

All prices are after rebates:
nMedia PC cases go on sale for $40 on newegg
Power supplies go on sale for $20 for quality, $5 for cheap
SSD's go on sale for less than $1 per Gb quite often
Hard drives remain high, but are slowly coming back to what they were 2 years ago.
Processors: AMd stopped making socket AM3 processors, so a lot of them are being fire saled, along with motherboards that they go into.

Intel really isn't much more than AMD anymore, btw.

Give me a budget and I will post you a list.

+1 for assassin's guides. Just go through them for a basic idea, head over to New Egg and start ordering. For budget, AM3 processors are dropping weekly, so that might be your best bet. That being said, this self proclaimed AMD fanboy just realized that 2 of my 4 desktops at home are now Intel. I've got a G620 and an i5 2500k to go along with my Phenom II 955 black edition and the (shudder) Zacate. Both of the Intel rigs were built due to assassin's input and I do not regret either. Especially the i5 2500k, which is not a dedicated HTPC (total overkill for that) but rather is used as a home PC and blu ray encoding station.
What is going to kill your budget is storage. HD prices are still ridiculous.

Your probably just want to start from scratch.

Hang on...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811154062
APEX DM-318 Black Steel Micro ATX Media Center / Slim HTPC Computer Case w/ ATX12V Flex 275W Power Supply $39



ASRock H61M/U3S3 LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard -$64
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157236



Intel Pentium G620 Sandy Bridge 2.6GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80623G620 -$69
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116399


Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CT2KIT51264BD160B -$34
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148477


LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM -$17
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106289


Mushkin Enhanced Chronos MKNSSDCR60GB 2.5" 60GB SATA III Asynchronous MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) -$79
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820226247



If you wanted a full sized ATX board you could get this with Z68 for not too much more. (not sure you need it- doubt you do)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157270


That is the best I can do for a $299 budget.

Less than $299 my advice is to wait and save up since it's not really worth it. But for $300 you can make a kick ass HTPC that can do it all. You should be very happy with the above set up on all account.

Could NOT agree more. Read that thread, buy the guides, follow the instructions and then sit back, kick your feet up and enjoy the best of the best HTPC can offer.

No need to look anywhere else until you've exhausted every option in ever guide Assassin has provided. It's really that simple. My 85 year old Grandmother could do it with this information.

Crucial M4 64GB is $79.99 currently.

That would be my choice.

Awfully horrible excuse not to jump in

SO what are u fellas waiting for?

Prime example of a cheap luxury item to kick that new htpc in the rear end !

not a bad drive at all.


I did not see it when I searched by price on Newegg.

I just picked a cheap one that was not totally crappy brand.



He did PM me and say he wanted more drive space- in which case I would recommend a normal HDD for still under $100 that would give much more space.

But- In my experience- SSD based OS installs just work so much better it's worth it every single time. I never saw a single person say it was not worth it to install the SSD. I am not sure I would even believe someone if they claimed that.