Advice for cheap HTPC

[jamesa917]

I'm looking to build a cheap and cheerful HTPC and would be grateful for some advice. It will be connected to the main TV and mostly used for general streaming and for photo storage/viewing. I'm not intending it for gaming, but my wife likes the Sims so being able to play Sims 4 would be a plus!

My plan is to start it off cheap and simple, and gradually upgrade it into a better machine over time. I'm looking at an initial budget of about £200 (excluding operating system), so my two ideas so far are:

1. Intel Pentium G3220 based: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/ynscmG

I considered the G3258 (not planning to overclock so didn't seem worthwhile) and the G3420 (won't make much difference for what I'll be using it for). Motherboard choice is just something cheap that'll do the job with a HDMI output.​

2. AMD A6-6400K based: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/R4FfkL

I also looked at the Athlon 5350 (good for power consumption but the onboard graphics were weaker and the AM1 socket seemed less future-proof).​

The case has been chosen to be cheap and relatively small. I'd be willing to spend a little bit more to get something better here but probably no more than £40 - I looked at the CoolerMaster Elite 130 but there didn't seem to be many affordable mini-ITX FM2 motherboards, so I opted for the micro-ATX instead.

The power supply has been chosen to be reliable and fairly quiet - I'm never planning on having a top-end graphics card in there so 430W should do me fine for a few years. I might add discrete graphics in the future but as I'm trying to keep the cost down I'm planning to stick to integrated for a while.

I'll add a second stick of RAM at some point but 4GB should be fine for now. I'll also buy an SSD to put the operating system on in a few months, but it's too expensive for the initial budget!

Does anyone have any recommendation for better builds? Thanks in advance!

 

[GhostRyder]

If your not getting a discreet GPU with it then get an APU as the integrated GPU is much more powerful and the rest is enough for the basics.

 

[GreiverBlade]

just in case : the FM2 socket is allready "obsolet" and the FM2+ future proofing is hum ... good for now (7700K 7850K and other FM2+) also AM1 platform (socket Fs1b, nope AM1 isn't the socket name) is newer than FM2/2+ and likely to be continued by AMD, i did a AM1 5350 8gb 1600 and a plain 500gb 7k2 HDD in a InWin Diva 150W (430W for a HTPC? you want to buld a gaming budget PC or a HTPC??? ) build for my mother and as a HTPC (bluray/web/flashgames) it's more than enough (around 500chf : 328.62gbp where i am)

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Personally, I'd probably build this if I was in your situation- http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/DtgssY

 

[TRWOV]

I'd go for an FM2+ build. AM1 is fine for playing back movies but you get the weird hiccup here and there, although it could also be other part of my system what's causing the (rare) hiccups

Unless you want to go with a slim mini ITX case (like this: http://www.coolermaster.com/case/mini-itx-mini-series/mini110/ ) for which I think AM1 would be the best fit.

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

Look at the Shuttle range of pcs. They come in a tiny case and are upgradablel to a certain extent.
Ive bought 2 on ebay 2nd hand. The postage was more expensive than the pc. !
With intel chips they have HD graphics though there is room for a single slot gpu.
Seriously.. check ebay. They are often used as office pcs because they are small form factor and sit on a shelf.
I love em

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

Look at the Shuttle range of pcs. They come in a tiny case and are upgradablel to a certain extent.
Ive bought 2 on ebay 2nd hand. The postage was more expensive than the pc. !
With intel chips they have HD graphics though there is room for a single slot gpu.
Seriously.. check ebay. They are often used as office pcs because they are small form factor and sit on a shelf.
I love em

 

[jamesa917]

430W for a HTPC? you want to buld a gaming budget PC or a HTPC???

True, probably overkill! Although prefer a bit of room to expand - perhaps the be quiet! that BarbaricSoul recommended.

Look at the Shuttle range of pcs. They come in a tiny case and are upgradablel to a certain extent.

I'll take a look - I used to build my own PCs a few years ago and miss that, so this project is an excuse to build one as much as anything!

Thanks for all the advice so far; it looks like an AMD system will probably be the better option for me.

 

[GreiverBlade]

True, probably overkill! Although prefer a bit of room to expand - perhaps the be quiet! that BarbaricSoul recommended.

yep @BarbaricSoul build template is a good one. you can trust that advice.

also worth mentioning : i was able to play

1. Kings bounty : Armored Princess full settings
2. Kings bounty : The Legend full settings (not that the KB serie is ressource hungry but still)
3. Defiance (yep Defiance ...) in low/med settings

on my mother's HTPC when i was at their house in holiday in spain (the 5350 build)

 

[jamesa917]

Personally, I'd probably build this if I was in your situation- http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/DtgssY

yep @BarbaricSoul build template is a good one. you can trust that advice.

Looks good to me too - how different are the A4-4020 and the A6-6400? After postage the price difference will only be about £10 between them. I know both can handle running I HTPC but it might be worth the extra £10 if there's a significant difference.

Is there much reason to prefer the A88XM-E45 over the (slightly cheaper) A88XM-E35 for a HTPC? The main benefit I can see is that it's got the extra RAM slots so I could start with 2x2GB and add two more sticks (and enable dual channel from the start) rather than starting with 1x4GB and adding a second.

 

[xvi]

Looks good to me too - how different are the A4-4020 and the A6-6400? After postage the price difference will only be about £10 between them. I know both can handle running I HTPC but it might be worth the extra £10 if there's a significant difference.

Slightly better resale value, if it ever comes to that. Check out this comparison here. The A6 chip has better graphics and higher clock frequency, so it might be worth it for that. If you can get a A6-6400K for about the same price, I'd recommend going for that. For HTPC use, the A4 will likely do just fine.

Is there much reason to prefer the A88XM-E45 over the (slightly cheaper) A88XM-E35 for a HTPC? The main benefit I can see is that it's got the extra RAM slots so I could start with 2x2GB and add two more sticks (and enable dual channel from the start) rather than starting with 1x4GB and adding a second.

Instead of getting a 1x4GB stick, I'd suggest getting a 2x2GB stick and selling it to fund a 2x4GB kit in the future if you decide to upgrade.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

RAM slots are the only difference I see.

 

[jamesa917]

Slightly better resale value, if it ever comes to that. Check out this comparison here. The A6 chip has better graphics and higher clock frequency, so it might be worth it for that. If you can get a A6-6400K for about the same price, I'd recommend going for that.

I can get an A4-6300 for about the same price as the A4-4020. I'm assuming the A4-6300 should be better?! I know larger numbers don't always mean better performance...

 

[xvi]

I can get an A4-6300 for about the same price as the A4-4020. I'm assuming the A4-6300 should be better?! I know larger numbers don't always mean better performance...

Oddly enough, the A4-6300 is older, but better. Slightly better GPU and pretty good clock speeds.

 

[GhostRyder]

I'm looking to build a cheap and cheerful HTPC and would be grateful for some advice. It will be connected to the main TV and mostly used for general streaming and for photo storage/viewing. I'm not intending it for gaming, but my wife likes the Sims so being able to play Sims 4 would be a plus!
My plan is to start it off cheap and simple, and gradually upgrade it into a better machine over time. I'm looking at an initial budget of about £200 (excluding operating system), so my two ideas so far are:
1. Intel Pentium G3220 based: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/ynscmG

I considered the G3258 (not planning to overclock so didn't seem worthwhile) and the G3420 (won't make much difference for what I'll be using it for). Motherboard choice is just something cheap that'll do the job with a HDMI output.​

2. AMD A6-6400K based: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/R4FfkL

I also looked at the Athlon 5350 (good for power consumption but the onboard graphics were weaker and the AM1 socket seemed less future-proof).​

The case has been chosen to be cheap and relatively small. I'd be willing to spend a little bit more to get something better here but probably no more than £40 - I looked at the CoolerMaster Elite 130 but there didn't seem to be many affordable mini-ITX FM2 motherboards, so I opted for the micro-ATX instead.
The power supply has been chosen to be reliable and fairly quiet - I'm never planning on having a top-end graphics card in there so 430W should do me fine for a few years. I might add discrete graphics in the future but as I'm trying to keep the cost down I'm planning to stick to integrated for a while.
I'll add a second stick of RAM at some point but 4GB should be fine for now. I'll also buy an SSD to put the operating system on in a few months, but it's too expensive for the initial budget!
Does anyone have any recommendation for better builds? Thanks in advance!

Why not try something like this:

A8 6500K
Crucial 4gb DDR3
WD 1tb 7200RPM
Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM
Case and PSU combo (Random one I chose that fit within the budget/specifications)

That's around ~216 which is pretty cheap overall and should do what your expecting (Sims, Media, etc). You can a lot of times get a case and PSU combo for a decent price and since your just running off integrated you wont be stressing it enough to have to worry.

 

[jamesa917]

Why not try something like this:

A8 6500K
Crucial 4gb DDR3
WD 1tb 7200RPM
Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM
Case and PSU combo (Random one I chose that fit within the budget/specifications)

That's around ~216 which is pretty cheap overall and should do what your expecting (Sims, Media, etc). You can a lot of times get a case and PSU combo for a decent price and since your just running off integrated you wont be stressing it enough to have to worry.

Going for an A8 is another option I've looked at. I've realised that the A6-7400K isn't much more expensive than the 6400K so that might be a good compromise between the two.

The PSU is probably one of the parts I'd plan to keep for longest so I'm happy to pay a bit more for a reliable brand.