I’ve been dreaming of different setup for my HTPC system, the one I have been using, although fine, was just not what I originally had in mind. What I wanted was an actual HTPC (desktop style) case, a modest sound system and mid-range components that would allow playback of various video formats and sound and I'm not a big gamer, but I also like to play games now and again. As my daughter is in need of a computer I decided to go ahead and give myself an early Christmas and do a little upgrading on the other and give her that and build my new HTPC.
So, here is what I came up with.
Case,
LIAN LI Black Aluminum PC-C33BThis is my first Lian-li case and I’m impressed with the quality although it is a full size case and is big, but it’s also big inside and allows the use of a full size motherboard, video card, etc. I’m OK with this case, it’s sharp looking and fits in nice on the shelf under the TV.
Power supply,
Corsair TX series 650 watt These are nice units, I believe these are made by Seasonic. Very quiet, plenty of connections, overall great quality.
Motherboard,
M4A87TD EVOHere I was just looking for a mid range AM3 motherboard, didn’t need or want on board video. After reading many reviews and my past experience with ASUS products I went with this one.
Processor, Here I made an adjustment to my original plans. I was going to go with a Phenom 2 dual core in the 3.0 GHz range, but since the Phenom 2 X4 @ 2.8 GHz was on Black Friday sale with the motherboard I had already picked out with a $60 combo savings, I went with it. I’m sure it will be plenty for what I’m using it for.
Ram, Nothing special here, just went with a Crucial DDR3 1333 2x 2 gig kit. It’s fine for this and was priced right at $53. It seems like ram prices are on the way down again.
Video, Here I splurged at bit, for me at least, I normally wouldn’t spend this much on a video card ($199) but, I plan on this system lasting for a while. I went with the
SAPPHIRE HD 6850 Video quality is great, quiet fan, cool temps and sound over HDMI is very good. I plan on trying some games soon to see how that goes. The reviews I read on the 6800 series cards are very positive, it has been a long time since I’ve bought an AMD (ATI) card and I’m not disappointed.
For an optical drive I used the LG Bluray drive mentioned in a different poast. For a hard drive I just used a WD 640 I had in my main system that I was dual booting Vista on. I hardly ever used that so why not. Ideally I would have gone with a SSD drive, but that is just not in the budget at this time. I also moved my Aver Media TV tuner with the remote over. I did pick up an
Logitech Z523 2.1 speaker system I have these connected to my TV out so I can use them whenever I watch the TV. I’m actually pleasantly surprised at how well they sound. I’m sure they don’t compare to a amplified 5.1 or better sound system, but really, they sound pretty good and at half off, I’m not complaining. I had a copy still of Windows 7 64bit from the 3 pack I bought when it first came out so I was covered there.
Well, that’s about it. Everything went together well and I’m still installing data, but I’m sure I’ll be set for a while.
(Or until the upgrade monster strikes again
)
I'll get a picture or two up soon.
SeaSonic M12II 620W, ASUS M4A87TD EVO AM3 AMD 870, AMD Phenom II X4 925 Deneb 2.8GHz, Crucial 8GB (4 x 2GB) DDR3 1333, SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6850, Kingston HyperX 120G 120GB Solid State Boot Drive, WD Caviar 1 TB Storage Drive, LG DVD-RW, Samsung SyncMaster 226bw 21" LCD, Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit