Seeking a living room HTPC build

[xkm1948]

Got a new TV in the living room and find it is becoming increasing annoying to hook up my old laotop to it. And it is unlikely I can put my mine rig right next to the TV.

I am looking to build a HTPC with following features:

1. Can stream amazon prime to my tv
2. low noise, low power consumption
3. dual band wifi built in, will use it for a downloading station.
4. at least can play some modern fps titles at 1080p.

Basically it will be a pc with the new 55'' tv as my display.

I am thinking about AMD's APU, but i dont know they have good power effiency or enough to juice to play, say battle field 3 at 1080p.

Any recommendation is welcome!

 

[erocker]

6800K will be fine. BF3 is doable at low settings. Power consumption is low enough not to need anything over a 300W PSU.
Then again if you want more grunt, I'd suggest a lower end sandy, ivy bridge or haswell chip (any would do) and perhaps something like a 650/660 or a 7850/7870.
I really like my Fractal Node 304 if you're looking for a case.

 

[Jetster]

If at all possible go with a wired network solution. It so much less hassle. If not invest in a quality AC router.

Here is a demo of XBMC I made XBMC 12.2 Demo - YouTube

The Silverstone GD05B has three 120 fans turned down to 600 rpm. This PC is silent. Very important when your watching a movie. If I had to build another one I would use a AMD APU I think

 

[silkstone]

Budget?

 

[xkm1948]

6800K will be fine. BF3 is doable at low settings. Power consumption is low enough not to need anything over a 300W PSU.
Then again if you want more grunt, I'd suggest a lower end sandy, ivy bridge or haswell chip (any would do) and perhaps something like a 650/660 or a 7850/7870.
I really like my Fractal Node 304 if you're looking for a case.

That is one nice case. Definitely gonna get this one!
OK maybe BF3 is too high a goal. What about Skyrim? Both me and my gf plays quite a lot of RPG games together. Definitely gonna need it to do 1080p gaming pain-free. I dont plan to play Crysis3 or other really demanding titles though.

If at all possible go with a wired network solution. It so much less hassle. If not invest in a quality AC router.

Here is a demo of XBMC I made XBMC 12.2 Demo - YouTube

That is a nice system. Sadly I dont think wired network will be possible. I am already driven nuts hiding the 5.1 system cables in the carpet and ceiling. I have a Linksys e3000 and it does its job fairly well. My house is pretty far away from other houses so I get very little wifi interference.

Budget?

Hmm, 400~500 I think. Including the mouse, keyboard and hopefully a remote.

 

[Jetster]

I love the Logitech Harmony remote. I bought it refurbished and it works great. One button and it switches everything to watch TV. I also went threw about 6 keyboards before landing on the Logitech K400. Its the best. I think Office Depot had it for $25. The 650 Harmony was $65 there a little pricy.

 

[silkstone]

Then Id' go with erocker's advice.

You should go with a card that will crossfire with the 6800K. Get a SSD and a nice case. The fractal node is nice, but I think that it's quite pricey.

It's nice to have an SSD in a HTPC, waiting for mine too boot can be a pain.

You need to get on to newegg and see what you can build for your money. You might be able to put together an i3 + 7790 for you budget but I think you might get more bang for buck from an AMD system.

 

[Jetster]

Unfortunately a gaming HTPC and low noise do not go together. Although I haven't heard a 7790 at full throttle yet

 

[xkm1948]

Off to put some parts into a build. Will report back and let you guys check for me!

Thanks for all your help!

 

[de.das.dude]

Unfortunately a gaming HTPC and low noise do not go together. Although I haven't heard a 7790 at full throttle yet

at 100% set manually mine gets noisy enough to be heard over my 113CFM industrial panaflow fans!

though i have never seen it cross 50%

 

[xkm1948]

Alright, here is my AMD build, without mouse and keyboards and remote. Damn stuff are expesnive these days. I remember mem was so much cheaper last year!

CPU: A10 6800K

MOBO: ASRock FM2A85X Extreme4-M FM2 AMD A85X (Hudson D4) SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI Micro ATX

MEM:Kingston HyperX Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model KHX16C9B1BK2/8

HDD: Either ADATA XPG SX900 64GB SSD, or Seagate Solid State Hybrid ST500LM000 500GB

Disc: LiteON DVD burner

Power Supply: SeaSonic SS-300ET Bronze 300W

Case: Silverstone SL03B.

WiFi: TP-LINK TL-WDN4800

And I am off to create the Intel one

 

[silkstone]

For a HTPC, I'd say go for 4gb of ram and use the $50 or so that you save to get a 6670 or something similar to CF with the 6800K.

If you want to play games, you'll have to install them and a 64gb SSD just won't have to room. So, go for the hybrid drive.

 

[xkm1948]

Thanks for the advice! Originally I thought a 500 dollar budget will be more than enough, turns out I am dead wrong.

 

[erocker]

This is under 500 bucks.

True, you're not getting a video card, but you could upgrade down the road and I think you'll be surprised with the APU. I can play Dirt 3 1080p with a mixture of settings no problem. You don't really need the 6800K over the 5800K since they're basically the same chip with the former clocked higher.

*Promo code on the case: EMCXNWP226

 

[silkstone]

$500 is plenty. I run an older system which is fine for most stuff. I don;t game much on it though.

The deal breaker is that you want to play BF3 at 1080, with good frames. To do that under $500 you really need an APU CF with a low(ish) end video card.

This is under 500 bucks.

http://img.techpowerup.org/130720/htttt.jpg

Personally, I'd go with a cheaper case and upgrade that in the future in order to get a video card.

 

[erocker]

Personally, I'd go with a cheaper case and upgrade that in the future in order to get a video card.

It's $67 bucks with the promo code. That's a very good price for a good HTPC case.

 

[xkm1948]

Any WiFi adpater suggestions? I dont want those usb style. Had too much bad luck with them

 

[de.das.dude]

i have a wifi usb dongle that i use as an accesspoint. works neat. its an indian make.

yi think the board has wifi onboard?

 

[Jetster]

NETGEAR A6200-100NAS 802.11ac

Linksys AE3000 High Performance Dual-Band Wireless-N Adapter

Linksys AE2500-NP High Performance Dual-Band Wireless-N Adapter

 

[xkm1948]

So we all agree for a living room HTPC there is no need to go 8GB right?

 

[xkm1948]

Looks like I cant get a decent i3 rig under 500. Any ideas? I was thinking i3+7750, or maybe that is overkill for a HTPC

 

[silkstone]

That would be ideal for a HTPC gaming rig. You won't be breaking any records. But it'll play BF3 on low/medium at 1080p

I still like AMD in the budget/HTPC arena though. I want to upgrade mine to an APU system come Xmas.

 

[theonedub]

Would you consider buying a complete rig, used? Actually looking to sell my Node 304 configured in a HTPC like way.

 

[Jetster]

4 Gb is good for ram but if you get a AMD APU get 1866 ram. The video likes the fast ram

 

[xkm1948]

OK so here is my final build:

CPU: A10 6800K
Mobo: Asrock A85X MicroATX
Ram: GSKill Ripjaw DDR3-2133 8GB (bought from my friends for only 45, )
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1tb
ROM: LG Blueray ROM
Case: Silverstone SG02B
WiFi: TP Link WDN 4800
Power: Antec 380Watt Green.
With a set of Logitech MK520 Combo and a refurbished Harmony 650 remote.

Thanks for all the help! I will add a 7750 if the gaming performance is not very satisfying.