HTPC Build

[brain candy]

I was just looking at that motherboard...what the heck is that DIGI+ VRM?
It says something about improving the onchip Intel graphics...?!?

No freaking clue, but it looks cool.

Anyways, I can't argue with that graphics card, except for the fact its XFX and I had an awful time with XFX...until I went ATI. <_<
So who knows? Maybe they're just better with AMD stuff. Also, that card is amazingly cool as far as the features go.

This is the very first thing that came to mind -- all the drama you had with XFX and all the run-around they made you go through (if I remember correctly). I was all "OK, let's get us some EVGA!" only to remember they only do nVidia.... *sigh*. Here's to hoping XFX treats me better than they did you.

But again, remind us of the remaining budget, as well as let us know: do you have a PSU and some memory hanging around? or is that going to have to be factored in as well?

I'm splitting the build with the boyfriend, so the budget is about $1,000. I've gone over by about $200. Here's the rest of it:

CPU Cooler:  Corsair H60 54.0 CFM  Liquid CPU Cooler  ($76.99 @ Newegg)
Memory:  G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage:  Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card:  XFX Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card  ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Case:  BitFenix Prodigy (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case  ($94.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply:  SeaSonic 520W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply  ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System:  Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1261.90 (with CPU + Mobo)

Plus, this beast.
Case Fan:  BitFenix Spectre Pro 230mm Fan

If you get a chance to give this rig a once over, that would be awesome!

[Atariangamer]

Well, the SSD is in question...but if that's what you want, go for it.

Memory is also in question, as most games don't even go over 4gb, and Windows 8 is decidedly lighter than you'd expect...but 16gb for that price looks nice. Consider 8gb, though. Every bit counts...

The PSU. Dem amps are quite low...check the deeper specs on the power reqs. on the card for what it needs. 20 seems low...

And all that said, you might could step back a notch on the card...let me ask Replica what he ended up with. His rig can run everything at full quality, and I'm sure he didn't go full top of the line...


So stay tuned. I'm on the ipad, so typing and browsing is not as ideal...

[ChexCommander]

Well, the SSD is in question...but if that's what you want, go for it.

Memory is also in question, as most games don't even go over 4gb, and Windows 8 is decidedly lighter than you'd expect...but 16gb for that price looks nice. Consider 8gb, though. Every bit counts...

The PSU. Dem amps are quite low...check the deeper specs on the power reqs. on the card for what it needs. 20 seems low...

And all that said, you might could step back a notch on the card...let me ask Replica what he ended up with. His rig can run everything at full quality, and I'm sure he didn't go full top of the line...


So stay tuned. I'm on the ipad, so typing and browsing is not as ideal...

I'm glossing really quickly now so I haven't done much research, but let's see.

The SSD honestly isn't too expensive, though you could save ~$90 by switching to an HDD. Of course, SSDs have lightning-fast performance and that's something I expect you'd want when gaming.

Memory...honestly cutting back to 8 gigs would only save about $15, and for that value, extra memory doesn't hurt if you want to futureproof.

I might consider looking at GPU alternatives, like Atarian said. That 7850 looks like a monster.

[brain candy]

I also think the 16 gigs of RAM is crazy excessive, but I've only got two slots, so instead of having to discard these DIMMs in a future upgrade, I'll just buy the 16 gigs now. I'm sure I won't come close to utilizing any of it.  Bad idea?

The SSD reasoning is definitely based in performance, but I also like it's small thermal and power footprint. Also, the BitFenix case has all these clever places to mount an SSD... Looks neat. Size-wise, I got a slightly bigger one to accomodate all the game installs which dinged me in pricing. I also have a 3 TB drive laying around that I want to add in as secondary storage for media.

Oh gosh, and the video card... Most definitely overkill. Especially since we're playing on my Samsung TV, where FPS don't matter anywhere as much. My problem is that I don't like any of the cards on the next price tier down. The Radeon HD 7770 and GeForce GTX 650 Ti are noticeably nerfed compared to the Radeon HD 7850 and the price difference isn't too much of a hardship for me. I can't help myself... gotta get the spiffy GPU.

I am worried a tad worried about the PSU as I've been accustomed to buying loads of wattage in the past.The GPU calls for "at least" 500W, but with all the components combined, I'll only be pulling 275W. Let's throw an extra 100W in there for safe measures and I'm still well under the 500W. This PSU performs admirably under heavy loads as well. Still, 500W seems so wrong! I do need to look into the 20 amps too, thanks for the reminder.... To Google!

[Atariangamer]

Well, it was all for minimizing cost. If you don't need it, you can save some money. The problem is that honestly, you have an amazing build for what you need. Any less is just...probably not worth it.

So if you can afford it, you'll be future proofed a bit, I guess.

Honestly, my rig is still relevant in most games today, and it's 3 years old with just a cooling and video card upgrade.

[brain candy]

Minimizing cost was definitely the goal starting out, but somewhere along the way, I lost my mind a bit. I do really appreciate the pointers on budget and all the thumbs up on the part picking. I am always in need of the support of hardware geeks when taking on projects like this so thank you so much for your help. Apologies for my neediness.

I freaking love the rig you ended up with and I'm happy to hear it's still going strong 3 years out. I hope mine can pull that off and do the same. Fingers crossed. The parts (magically) arrive today.

CPU:  Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor 
CPU Cooler:  Corsair H60 54.0 CFM  Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard:  Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe Mini ITX  LGA1155 Motherboard 
Memory:  G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory 
Storage:  Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
Video Card:  XFX Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card   
Case:  BitFenix Prodigy (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case
Power Supply:  SeaSonic 520W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply
Operating System:  Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) 
Case Fan:  BitFenix Spectre Pro 230mm 

Most importantly:  SNES Controller to Adapter for PC USB

I've strayed a good deal from my favorites. No Antec (PSU, Case), Gigabyte (mobo) or eVGA (GPU) in sight. In fact, I typically hate on ASUS and I have a huge distrust for XFX after your encounter. Also, Kingston... meh.

[Atariangamer]

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised...they exist for a reason.

It'll be cool to see all together!