HTPC Build for $400? Is it possible?

[sHannonL]

Building a Hackintosh wanted to know if this sounds good?

 

Zotac GF9300-G-E---129

E3200 2.4-------------51

2GB Ram--------------40

WD 160GB------------40

Sony DVDRW---------24

APEX MI-008 Case---40

SL----------------------30

Airport PCI-e----------30

Total--------------------384

 

Did I miss something?

Will everything work?

[alltoorobot]

Building a Hackintosh wanted to know if this sounds good?

 

Zotac GF9300-G-E---129

E3200 2.4-------------51

2GB Ram--------------40

WD 160GB------------40

Sony DVDRW---------24

APEX MI-008 Case---40

SL----------------------30

Airport PCI-e----------30

Total--------------------384

 

Did I miss something?

Will everything work?

 

 

what board are you using?

[sHannonL]

what board are you using?

 

Zotac GF9300-G-E Mini ITX

[alltoorobot]

Zotac GF9300-G-E Mini ITX

 

check out my the build I was looking at man you, right above your post you will save a bit of money. The pci video card is pasively cooled so no additional noise and the power consumption shouldn't go up.

 

Im still wondering about the power supply for the eg31m tho. Like I said it the manual recommends a 400wat but I will have pretty low end components in it, so id like to get away with a 350 watt or less.

[sHannonL]

check out my the build I was looking at man you, right above your post you will save a bit of money. The pci video card is pasively cooled so no additional noise and the power consumption shouldn't go up.

 

Im still wondering about the power supply for the eg31m tho. Like I said it the manual recommends a 400wat but I will have pretty low end components in it, so id like to get away with a 350 watt or less.

 

Does everything work?

[alltoorobot]

Does everything work?

 

 

the eg31m is a super compatible board

[digt]

I built this system and it is working great. I had a lot of issues with the audio working, but finally got that.

 

Also, the HDMI port cannot be used because it is too close to the top of the case. Kind of a bummer.

Did you get a chance to see if the HDMI port worked sending audio and video before you put it in the case? What case did you get?

[Zaap]

Im still wondering about the power supply for the eg31m tho. Like I said it the manual recommends a 400wat but I will have pretty low end components in it, so id like to get away with a 350 watt or less.

You probably solved your power needs by now, but just in case: The 400w "requirement" in the manual is misleading, if not just plain wrong. It's a common mistake to discuss PSU needs only in terms of wattage, yet the manual does this. More important would be the quality of the PSU.

 

I've used a 300W PSU included with a low profile case (IE:like this one) to power a G31M board, LP video card, 1 PCI card, max RAM, 1 HD, 1 optical and a Quad Q8300 CPU. That machine still runs fine for the person that owns it. (Over a year).

 

If you pick a name brand, highly-rated and well-made PSU in the 300w range (personally I wouldn't go below 300w) and don't plan to add more than say, 3 hard drives, and aren't planning to use a beefier gaming graphics card, you can get away easily with 300W.

[boomerx01]

Did you get a chance to see if the HDMI port worked sending audio and video before you put it in the case? What case did you get?

 

I did not, because it is impossible to even plug in the cord. I doubt the audio will work over it.

 

My Case - HEC Black .7mm SECCC 7K09

 

My Graphics Card - Which has HDMI Port on the top portion, that is now flush with the case - ECS NS9400GTC-512QZ-H GeForce 9400 GT 512MB

[boomerx01]

I got those Griffin remotes and they are OK if you are pretty close. They have a noticeable delay and are not ideal for Plex.

 

It works, but not to my liking. I am still looking for a better remote solution for under $30.

 

There are a TON of HTPC remotes with IR receivers on eBay but they all say they work with Windows. So it sounds like a gamble.

 

Any thoughts?

[alltoorobot]

You probably solved your power needs by now, but just in case: The 400w "requirement" in the manual is misleading, if not just plain wrong. It's a common mistake to discuss PSU needs only in terms of wattage, yet the manual does this. More important would be the quality of the PSU.

 

I've used a 300W PSU included with a low profile case (IE:like this one) to power a G31M board, LP video card, 1 PCI card, max RAM, 1 HD, 1 optical and a Quad Q8300 CPU. That machine still runs fine for the person that owns it. (Over a year).

 

If you pick a name brand, highly-rated and well-made PSU in the 300w range (personally I wouldn't go below 300w) and don't plan to add more than say, 3 hard drives, and aren't planning to use a beefier gaming graphics card, you can get away easily with 300W.

 

 

I went for a mac mini guys.lol. the 2ghz model was in refurb store, i got her with 1 gig of ram for 465 shipped. I was pretty close to building another eg31m setup.

 

Zaap thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge with power supplies and this board. I will keep it in mind for the future. Right now I have my board in a what I feel is over kill of a chassis and the power supply is probably over kill as well. not discrete at all. Some one was over at our house and asked if my computer was a heater lol, not kidding.

 

thanks again

[SLogiq]

Hi. Just wondering if the builds posted on this thread are worth running as my main pc, becuz i'm on a very tight budget to buy a pc for school. thanks in advance.

[Zaap]

Hi. Just wondering if the builds posted on this thread are worth running as my main pc, becuz i'm on a very tight budget to buy a pc for school. thanks in advance.

I'd personally avoid any Atom-based build if I were you. The Atom processors are great for netbooks, but as a main computer are a little too weak.

 

Build yourself a cheap 775-based (Gigabyte motherboard) system, and as long as you set it up correctly, it'll make a great main computer.

 

And to put things in a better perspective about buying 'outdated' technology, head over to Apple's website right now. Find just about any Mac you'd consider buying for school. Click the buy now links, and look at the stats of the machines. 98% of Apple's lineup is still Core2Duo (775), including every iMac but the quad 27". So basically, buying a 775-based machine still puts you right in line performance-wise with most of Apple's lineup right now, in early 2010. Most people here with i5 and i7 builds are using specs that actually SURPASS the majority of Apple's lineup. (The lone exception being the dual-quad MacPro.)

[SLogiq]

Ok thanks . I'll be using the parts you mentioned except with a different case.

[beamscout]

Easily possible, if you go with a microATX sized machine and stick with socket 775. There's no need to go with an i5 for an HTPC and you can save a significant amount of $.

 

If you want something as tiny as the Mac Mini, then it's best just to get a Mac Mini- small form factor PCs end up costing just about as much as a used Mini and generally don't have very good stats for an HTPC.

 

Basically start with:

 

Gigabyte G31M-ES2L

Dual Core Pentium E6300

2GB DDR2 800

GeForce 9400GT/512 (fanless)

160GB Seagate hard drive

LG 22x DVD-R

Antec Fusion mATX HTPC case w 350W 80+ PSU

 

Total is $373.00

 

This setup will play 720p easily, even 1080p. Possibly bite the bullet and put in the full 4GB of RAM to add both dual channel performance and max RAM.

 

I'm starting to gather ideas for my own HTPC, but I may want to add a tuner/capture card in the future. What should I beef up from this setup to prepare for that? Obviously more hd space... what else would you recommend?

Case size isn't a huge deal, just as long as it isn't an eyesore for the wife and I (it'll be in our living room.) I realize this thread is a few months old too, would you change any of the initial parts?

[Zaap]

I'm starting to gather ideas for my own HTPC, but I may want to add a tuner/capture card in the future. What should I beef up from this setup to prepare for that? Obviously more hd space... what else would you recommend?

Case size isn't a huge deal, just as long as it isn't an eyesore for the wife and I (it'll be in our living room.) I realize this thread is a few months old too, would you change any of the initial parts?

Hey beamscout.

At this time, there are several things I'd revise in that original parts list.

 

I'd replace the Gigabyte G31M board with a Gigabyte G41M-ES2L board, for several reasons:

1. The G31 may require you to use a PCI ethernet card rather than the onboard. (Maybe there's an OSX driver by now for the G31's onboard NIC, I dunno).

 

2. The G41 board is Kakewalk compatible (the method I recommend for the easiest setup). Snow Leopard runs great and is slightly easier to setup on the G41.

 

3. The G41 has slightly better stats, twice the RAM capacity, and better onboard audio.

 

 

Also, I would recommend an E5700, E6500 or E6600 (dual core Pentium) replacement for the original E6300 which I think has been discontinued. Any of these would be a great CPU for HTPC.

 

 

Socket 775 is still very viable (both performance and cost-effective) for HTPC duties. Still, depending on your budget you might want to spec an entry level i5 system and see how the final tally stacks up. Again, keeping with Kakewalk compatibility, I'd recommend starting with a Gigabyte P55M-UD2 and pricing out an HTPC system with CPU, DDR3 RAM, etc.

 

I think the 9400GT graphic card is still pretty viable for HTPC, though again, depending on budget that can always be beefed up to whatever your needs are.