HTCP Q's

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daptay1527

n00b
Joined
Oct 12, 2011
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What setup do you guys suggest for a HD HTPC?
I was thinking:
Cor i3 2100 CPU
Antect 520w or higher PSU
At least 6GB DDR3 1333 or 1600
I have a case already :)
Not sure if I should get a mother board with a HDMI output already or get a Card.

Let me know what you guys think.
I was waiting for buldozer to see how it was but since it blows, that leaves me leading to the Intel side of things.

Also, I'll be looking for most of these parts if any of you have them for good deal prices.
 
It looks like you are heading down the right path. Based on your case you can go with the Intel® Core™ i3-2100 or take a look at one of our new "T" like the Intel Core i3-2100T which is running at 35w TDP (basically the same as many of our laptop cpus). Also you might take a look at the Intel Desktop board DH67CF which is a mini-ITX board that will support a PCI-e 16x card and it does have an HDMI port for use with the IGP (Intergraded Graphics on Processor).

Also on the memory these are going to be dual channel boards so you are going to focus on memory in groups of 2 and make sure that it is DDR 3 1.5v ±5% not the older 1.65v.
 
for a htpc you dont need nearly that much. a pentium g620, a cheap itx mobo, 4 gigs of ram, a ssd and a larger laptop drive all runs on less than a 100w power supply. the sandy bridge hd is like the hd 2000 except it doesnt have quick sink, 3d acceleration or a few other little things. it does do everything you need for 1080 playback. everything can be had for under $250.

hell the pentium g620 with a regular hd under full load with the gpu full load is still only 64w total system draw. i thought about the i3 but unless your gaming its not going to benefit you much. a duel core is pleanty for a htpc. i know my old 64 x2 works just fine and that's 6 years old or more.
 
That would be a cheaper route for sure, but not sure I want to go that way. If it is going to be "new" I at least want it to keep up with the standards for a little while. I will be surfing the web and doing a few other things. Possibly gaming in the future if I get into that. I believe with my setup all I would need to do is get a better graphics card right?
 
Since you are planning to buy a locked chip anyway i'd get a cheap h67 board. I would suggest trying the onboard graphics and if they turn out to be insufficiant you can always pick up a GPU later.

Ram wise get a 2x4GB set of basic 1.5V ddr3-1333.

What form factor to go for is up to you. Personally unless you are very tight for space i'd suggest going microatx or maybe even ATX. The boards are cheaper than mini-itx boards and will give you more options down the line.
 
mATX is the plan as of yet, going to try the onboad graphics out with a hdmi output and if it is not to my liking I'll just get a gpu so +1 to what you have said.
 
You might also want to consider getting the i3-2105 rather than the i3-2100. It's $10 more expensive (at newegg prices, prices in your locality may vary) but it has a better graphics core.
 
It looks like microcenter does not sell the 2105... :( which has the graphics hd 3000 as apposed to the 2100 which has the hd 2000. Has any one seen them both in action that can atest to the difference?
 
What would be the difference between the Penitum G620 and the Celeron G530? AFAIK the Celeron is dual core as well and they have the same iGPU as the Pentium G620 so if you really wanted to cut costs why not go with the Celeron?
 
Just because the advice I have been given from trusted people. I really would ratrher have the core i3 2105 but no where local sells it :( The core i3 2100 at my microcenter is only $99. With the $50 I save there I could always get a better GPU down the road if the onboard hdmi and hd2000 are not good enought for the 52" flat I'll be hooking this up to.
 
I am currently looking for a DVD burner. It would be nice to have one that plays bluerays but is not mandatory at this time. Just got to have a SATA so I can connect it to my borad to load windows 7. A lot of these new mother boards are doing away with the old connector styles and moving to strictly SATA.
 
Yeah, the same one is only $17.99 at microcenter, hence why I'm going there later. Thanks though.
 
Oh yeah, I'm contemplating upgrading to do blue-ray and possibly 3d later in the future and will start looking for good video cards now. Any suggestions or anyone have one up for grabs?
 
Do get the blu ray ROM at least, HTPC should play blu rays. Also my HTPC runs a GTX 460 I like the card they can be had in short enough versions to fit in various cases and so far it works pretty good, I removed an ATI card since theirs were not as nice driver wise. At this point a 560 may be better but if you can grab a 460 at a really good price its a good card.
 
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