I'd like to keep the price point low as possible a fulfill some basic requirements.
Well you could start by providing us with your definition of a low price point.
I would recommend the following parts - - SSD system drive (I recommend the Samsung 840 EVO or PRO 120 - 250gb)
- 5400 RPM hard disk 2 - 4 TB (e.g. WD Green)
- TV tuner card if you want to have access to local TV broadcasts (Hauppauge HVR 2100)
- Optical drive is choice driven, on my last HTPC build I put in a BluRay RW but it would have been fine with just a DVD RW, you can also make this work without an optical drive if you don't use physical media
- RAM can be the cheapest Corsair / Mushkin / Kingston sticks (anywhere between 4 - 8gb is all you need)
- Motherboard choice will be mini ITX or micro ATX, I went with Micro ATX, this choice is going to be based upon whether you need to use a PCI-E slot or not, which case you end up picking. I always go for Asus or Gigabyte so something like the Asus H87M-E or the Gigabyte GA-H87 (choose the model which has the extras you want like wifi or more expansion slots) in the micro ATX category
(Note a mini ITX motherboard is also great but I don't have too much insight into this form factor because I prefer slightly larger cases).
- I have a discrete graphics card in my HTPC but I doubt you will need it since you don't want to play any games on your machine
- CPU, both AMD and Intel make good options for this type of build with integrated graphics, I'm not too familiar with the AMD range. For Intel I would recommend any 4th Generation i3 component with onboard graphics such as the i3 4130T
- Power supply go for something between 350 - 400W gold 80+ rated, something like a Seasonic 350W G series or the OEM equivalent would work fine
- The case is very person dependant, I don't mind paying more for a good looking and functional case so I'm a fan of the SIlverstone GD series but there are many half height cases to look out for that are cheaper. My only other reasoning was that 120mm case fans are used in this case and I swapped out the original case fans with some left over quite Noctua fans
- I left my CPU with the regular Intel heatsink but if you have the extra money and the Intel stock solution can be heard, you can swap it out for a low profile heatsink and fan
You don't need an SSD. Yes, your storage is external, but nothing an HTPC does requires such fast disk I/O. Get the magnetic drive just to save money.
Also, I don't know if you think the PC solves all your gaming needs. You will find that lots of games are just better on a TV. In Steam I organize my games into HTPC and not HTPC. Once you have one, you may do the same. You should also install all the emulators for everything ever.
That being said, it doesn't mean you need some crazy graphics card. My HTPC has this shitty old graphics card, and it plays everything just fine. Well, there can be a bit of slowness if you try to play SFIV with settings too high. That's the only game I've ever wanted to play on my HTPC that had an issue.
A TV tuner card is silly. The point is to cancel cable. If you have OTA free broadcasts antenna, a tuner will let you record that stuff like a DVR. Still, not really worth it.
Also, if you are truly serious about not ever wanting to play games on the HTPC, just get a Mac mini. DONE.
Hey Scott. Merging threads is usually a good idea, but in this case, it just causes confusion. Some content is now duplicated. On top of that, two different conversations are now inter-mixed. The 'HTCP' acronym jokes don't fit here and break the flow of conversation.
Hey Scott. Merging threads is usually a good idea, but in this case, it just causes confusion. Some content is now duplicated. On top of that, two different conversations are now inter-mixed. The 'HTCP' acronym jokes don't fit here and break the flow of conversation.
I didn't know it would re-sort them by date. I thought it would just put them at the end. Now I know. But what has been done, can not be undone.
Meh. Merging threads > wasted new threads. I'm all for less separate threads when whatever you want to talk about can be put in an already created thread that has similar discussions.
You don't need an SSD. Yes, your storage is external, but nothing an HTPC does requires such fast disk I/O. Get the magnetic drive just to save money.
Also, I don't know if you think the PC solves all your gaming needs. You will find that lots of games are just better on a TV. In Steam I organize my games into HTPC and not HTPC. Once you have one, you may do the same. You should also install all the emulators for everything ever.
That being said, it doesn't mean you need some crazy graphics card. My HTPC has this shitty old graphics card, and it plays everything just fine. Well, there can be a bit of slowness if you try to play SFIV with settings too high. That's the only game I've ever wanted to play on my HTPC that had an issue.
A TV tuner card is silly. The point is to cancel cable. If you have OTA free broadcasts antenna, a tuner will let you record that stuff like a DVR. Still, not really worth it.
Also, if you are truly serious about not ever wanting to play games on the HTPC, just get a Mac mini. DONE.
Forgot about the budget build when I recommended an SSD.
OTA broadcasts are still worth it to buy a video card in Australia, since cable isn't as popular. Many popular sports are available so the cost of the TV tuner card was worth it for the DVR functionality.
I didn't realise OTA in the US was really bad.
If you go Mac Mini you won't be able to play any Blu-Rays (if you want to be doing that) without an extra external drive.
If you want to play some games on there, get a half height AMD 6000 series video card, you will be able to play games on 1080p with no problems unless you're cranking up anti-aliasing or textures.
I've been eyeing one of the Intel NUCs myself and would be more ready to push the button on it if Windows 8 (I'm not buying a £300 htpc to not have netflix on it and that means no openELEC, sadly, and the start page sort of works as a front facing 10ft interface IMHO) wasn't like half the cost of the thing.
First of all, all the HTPC naysayers. I'm watching the Rangers and the Mets on the same screen side by side without ads and without paying for cable. And I'm watching YouTube during commercials. What device can you connect to your TV that can do that? Got two cable boxes and a TV that still does PiP? Didn't think so. HTPC is the only way.
Also, my HTPC is starting to get kinda slow. I bought it in 2010. It's struggling to startup and launch apps. Probably because it doesn't have an SSD. Also it can only play Rocket League on the lowest settings, and not at full frames.
My current HTPC has an i3-530 2.93 GHz, 4GB of RAM, and a Radeon HD 5570 1GB 128-Bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16
It seems like the best low profile video card you can get today is a GeForce GT 740. Obviously I can also get more RAM. The motherboard supports up to 16GB. I can also get an SSD. Will that be enough to keep my HTPC rocking it for years to come, and get more Rocket League frames? Should I upgrade the motherboard and CPU as well?
My HTPC was from March of 2010 and I gave it a pre-emptive 5-year retirement this past Spring. I decided to stop playing the low profile video card game, though, and went with a very nice HTPC case that can still handle full-size cards.
I don't figure you're saying it for no reason, I'm just not understanding the decision to call them out here, as opposed to anywhere else. Not like they're gonna read it, just us pigeons here.
That said, I would get an Apple TV for my mother. Mostly because if you got her anything else, my sister would piss and moan because it doesn't have an apple logo on it, then convince her to buy an apple TV and throw out the other, and two, if it's an Apple TV, I can palm off family tech support duties on my sister which would save me a shitload of time.
I don't figure you're saying it for no reason, I'm just not understanding the decision to call them out here, as opposed to anywhere else. Not like they're gonna read it, just us pigeons here.
That said, I would get an Apple TV for my mother. Mostly because if you got her anything else, my sister would piss and moan because it doesn't have an apple logo on it, then convince her to buy an apple TV and throw out the other, and two, if it's an Apple TV, I can palm off family tech support duties on my sister which would save me a shitload of time.
How about that Mac mini? If you're not going to play games, it's the best HTPC.
I don't figure you're saying it for no reason, I'm just not understanding the decision to call them out here, as opposed to anywhere else. Not like they're gonna read it, just us pigeons here.
That said, I would get an Apple TV for my mother. Mostly because if you got her anything else, my sister would piss and moan because it doesn't have an apple logo on it, then convince her to buy an apple TV and throw out the other, and two, if it's an Apple TV, I can palm off family tech support duties on my sister which would save me a shitload of time.
How about that Mac mini? If you're not going to play games, it's the best HTPC.
Plays duck game and jackbox fine. So if you wanna play some games you can.
How about that Mac mini? If you're not going to play games, it's the best HTPC.
No seriously, I still to teach my mother how to cut and paste semi-regularly. You underestimate how simple it needs to be.
Plus, frankly, setting her up with a mac mini would be a waste of time and money. She'd never use 3/4s of the things any HTPC is capable of - in fact, even a Mac Mini is pushing it a bit. I'm all about getting the best thing you can get to suit your purpose - but seriously, any real HTPC is way, way more than she'd need, or realistically ever use.
How about that Mac mini? If you're not going to play games, it's the best HTPC.
No seriously, I still to teach my mother how to cut and paste semi-regularly. You underestimate how simple it needs to be.
Plus, frankly, setting her up with a mac mini would be a waste of time and money. She'd never use 3/4s of the things any HTPC is capable of - in fact, even a Mac Mini is pushing it a bit. I'm all about getting the best thing you can get to suit your purpose - but seriously, any real HTPC is way, way more than she'd need, or realistically ever use.
I hear this argument a lot. "I don't need technology X because..."
1) I'll never use it. 2) I'm fine right now without it 3) Technology B which does less, does everything I need/use.
But in the real world I find time and time again that although people might resist a more capable technology, once they have it in their hands, they will start doing many of the things they thought they never would.
I've met people who have never left their hometown. They don't own a car. They'll say they don't need a car, because they never go anywhere. But the truth is that they don't go anywhere because they can't. They don't have a car. If you give them the car, they will learn how to drive, start going places, and then they will say they "need" the car after they discover what they are missing.
Just a decade ago all you hear from people was how a flip phone was enough. They don't need a smartphone. The dumb phone does everything they need. A camera in the phone is stupid, they don't need that.
I have an older conservative Jewish coworker who is a skilled programmer, but refused to use "useless" smartphones. He held on to his brick until it physically broke, and because it was cheaper to get a free smartphone rather than buy a weird phone, he got one against his wishes.
A few months later, he's really interested in the GPS and google maps. A few months after that he's got multiple email accounts and a bunch of little apps he uses. A few months after that OH SHIT THE CAMERA IS REALLY GOOD! A few months after that he's asking me about smartphone models and cyanogenmod
Scott, I don't feel the need to tell you this very often, but seriously, back off. This isn't a situation where I need your advice, as much as I appreciate it. I'm not asking your opinion, I'm telling you what the situation is. If you want to know how I know exactly how it would go down, ask me how I got my HTPC sometime.
She's had the technology in her hands. She's seen the capabilities, been shown how to use it, I made up a book with instructions, pictures and all, she had every possible opportunity afforded to her to use it, and she didn't. Even when nudged into using it, she'd use it, and then stop as soon as you stopped all but forcing her. Because what your argument doesn't take into account is that my mother is the kind of person who gets a $100 cable package, then watch nothing but the news and reality TV on the free-to-air stations because "There's nothing on the foxtel", that's what we're dealing with here. This is not a person who hasn't seen the possibilities, this is a person who has seen the possibilities, explored the sights, and didn't give a shit unless they were, at that moment, showing her Say Yes to the Dress or House rules. She knows - she just literally could not give less of a shit.
I don't need you to explain to me why I'm wrong for not getting her a HTPC, but I appreciate that you tried.
I gotta side with Churba here. I've dealt with a lot of parents and technology. Some old people will just never get over that hump. My grandparents are better with most tech than my parents are. Just let them do your thing. Forcing useful new technology on them will only get you one thing: more calls to fix the broken thing.
I have an older conservative Jewish coworker who is a skilled programmer, but refused to use "useless" smartphones. He held on to his brick until it physically broke, and because it was cheaper to get a free smartphone rather than buy a weird phone, he got one against his wishes.
A few months later, he's really interested in the GPS and google maps. A few months after that he's got multiple email accounts and a bunch of little apps he uses. A few months after that OH SHIT THE CAMERA IS REALLY GOOD! A few months after that he's asking me about smartphone models and cyanogenmod
How about that Mac mini? If you're not going to play games, it's the best HTPC.
No seriously, I still to teach my mother how to cut and paste semi-regularly. You underestimate how simple it needs to be.
Plus, frankly, setting her up with a mac mini would be a waste of time and money. She'd never use 3/4s of the things any HTPC is capable of - in fact, even a Mac Mini is pushing it a bit. I'm all about getting the best thing you can get to suit your purpose - but seriously, any real HTPC is way, way more than she'd need, or realistically ever use.
This is how my mom is and even my girlfriend's mom. The other day in fact my girlfriend's mom was asking us why her pair of those standard iPhone headphones wasn't connecting to bluetooth so she could use the microphone. We were just straight up confused for a while. My mom can also barely use a remote with the cable box. Luckily my Dad is fairly decent with technology, but still suffers from some issues that should be simple to manage. Like I think he called me once to ask how to resize images to put on craigslist because his were over the limit or something. I think he eventually figured it out but the point being that the older generation, even with direction, doesn't really connect the dots as often on how technology can work for them. He bought a Roku for Christmas...2 years ago? I think it's still in the box and I even bought him a year of Netflix for it.
Also for the record I told my mom how to attach documents to an email probably 20 times over half a year in high school.
Also listening to Dan Rykert tell stories of him trying to set up stuff for his dad on the Bombcast is an astounding reminder of how most older people don't really understand anything about technology.
Early in the morning one day last weekend, my old hometown best friend was texting me about something, and then interrupted to comment on something else, because he had "just seen a clip about it on the news." I knew then that it was too late for him.
Comments
I would recommend the following parts -
- SSD system drive (I recommend the Samsung 840 EVO or PRO 120 - 250gb)
- 5400 RPM hard disk 2 - 4 TB (e.g. WD Green)
- TV tuner card if you want to have access to local TV broadcasts (Hauppauge HVR 2100)
- Optical drive is choice driven, on my last HTPC build I put in a BluRay RW but it would have been fine with just a DVD RW, you can also make this work without an optical drive if you don't use physical media
- RAM can be the cheapest Corsair / Mushkin / Kingston sticks (anywhere between 4 - 8gb is all you need)
- Motherboard choice will be mini ITX or micro ATX, I went with Micro ATX, this choice is going to be based upon whether you need to use a PCI-E slot or not, which case you end up picking. I always go for Asus or Gigabyte so something like the Asus H87M-E or the Gigabyte GA-H87 (choose the model which has the extras you want like wifi or more expansion slots) in the micro ATX category
(Note a mini ITX motherboard is also great but I don't have too much insight into this form factor because I prefer slightly larger cases).
- I have a discrete graphics card in my HTPC but I doubt you will need it since you don't want to play any games on your machine
- CPU, both AMD and Intel make good options for this type of build with integrated graphics, I'm not too familiar with the AMD range. For Intel I would recommend any 4th Generation i3 component with onboard graphics such as the i3 4130T
- Power supply go for something between 350 - 400W gold 80+ rated, something like a Seasonic 350W G series or the OEM equivalent would work fine
- The case is very person dependant, I don't mind paying more for a good looking and functional case so I'm a fan of the SIlverstone GD series but there are many half height cases to look out for that are cheaper. My only other reasoning was that 120mm case fans are used in this case and I swapped out the original case fans with some left over quite Noctua fans
- I left my CPU with the regular Intel heatsink but if you have the extra money and the Intel stock solution can be heard, you can swap it out for a low profile heatsink and fan
- Mouse and Keyboard - Logitech K400
Also, I don't know if you think the PC solves all your gaming needs. You will find that lots of games are just better on a TV. In Steam I organize my games into HTPC and not HTPC. Once you have one, you may do the same. You should also install all the emulators for everything ever.
That being said, it doesn't mean you need some crazy graphics card. My HTPC has this shitty old graphics card, and it plays everything just fine. Well, there can be a bit of slowness if you try to play SFIV with settings too high. That's the only game I've ever wanted to play on my HTPC that had an issue.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102874
A TV tuner card is silly. The point is to cancel cable. If you have OTA free broadcasts antenna, a tuner will let you record that stuff like a DVR. Still, not really worth it.
Also, if you are truly serious about not ever wanting to play games on the HTPC, just get a Mac mini. DONE.
OTA broadcasts are still worth it to buy a video card in Australia, since cable isn't as popular. Many popular sports are available so the cost of the TV tuner card was worth it for the DVR functionality.
I didn't realise OTA in the US was really bad.
If you go Mac Mini you won't be able to play any Blu-Rays (if you want to be doing that) without an extra external drive.
If you want to play some games on there, get a half height AMD 6000 series video card, you will be able to play games on 1080p with no problems unless you're cranking up anti-aliasing or textures.
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/desktops/lenovo/q-series/q190/?cid=ww:social:57031475:FBPAGE:Lenovo:Products&linkId=8407209
Also, my HTPC is starting to get kinda slow. I bought it in 2010. It's struggling to startup and launch apps. Probably because it doesn't have an SSD. Also it can only play Rocket League on the lowest settings, and not at full frames.
My current HTPC has an i3-530 2.93 GHz, 4GB of RAM, and a Radeon HD 5570 1GB 128-Bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16
It seems like the best low profile video card you can get today is a GeForce GT 740. Obviously I can also get more RAM. The motherboard supports up to 16GB. I can also get an SSD. Will that be enough to keep my HTPC rocking it for years to come, and get more Rocket League frames? Should I upgrade the motherboard and CPU as well?
That said, I would get an Apple TV for my mother. Mostly because if you got her anything else, my sister would piss and moan because it doesn't have an apple logo on it, then convince her to buy an apple TV and throw out the other, and two, if it's an Apple TV, I can palm off family tech support duties on my sister which would save me a shitload of time.
Plus, frankly, setting her up with a mac mini would be a waste of time and money. She'd never use 3/4s of the things any HTPC is capable of - in fact, even a Mac Mini is pushing it a bit. I'm all about getting the best thing you can get to suit your purpose - but seriously, any real HTPC is way, way more than she'd need, or realistically ever use.
1) I'll never use it.
2) I'm fine right now without it
3) Technology B which does less, does everything I need/use.
But in the real world I find time and time again that although people might resist a more capable technology, once they have it in their hands, they will start doing many of the things they thought they never would.
I've met people who have never left their hometown. They don't own a car. They'll say they don't need a car, because they never go anywhere. But the truth is that they don't go anywhere because they can't. They don't have a car. If you give them the car, they will learn how to drive, start going places, and then they will say they "need" the car after they discover what they are missing.
Just a decade ago all you hear from people was how a flip phone was enough. They don't need a smartphone. The dumb phone does everything they need. A camera in the phone is stupid, they don't need that.
500 million iPhones later, I rest my case.
A few months later, he's really interested in the GPS and google maps.
A few months after that he's got multiple email accounts and a bunch of little apps he uses.
A few months after that OH SHIT THE CAMERA IS REALLY GOOD!
A few months after that he's asking me about smartphone models and cyanogenmod
She's had the technology in her hands. She's seen the capabilities, been shown how to use it, I made up a book with instructions, pictures and all, she had every possible opportunity afforded to her to use it, and she didn't. Even when nudged into using it, she'd use it, and then stop as soon as you stopped all but forcing her. Because what your argument doesn't take into account is that my mother is the kind of person who gets a $100 cable package, then watch nothing but the news and reality TV on the free-to-air stations because "There's nothing on the foxtel", that's what we're dealing with here. This is not a person who hasn't seen the possibilities, this is a person who has seen the possibilities, explored the sights, and didn't give a shit unless they were, at that moment, showing her Say Yes to the Dress or House rules. She knows - she just literally could not give less of a shit.
I don't need you to explain to me why I'm wrong for not getting her a HTPC, but I appreciate that you tried.
Also for the record I told my mom how to attach documents to an email probably 20 times over half a year in high school.
Also listening to Dan Rykert tell stories of him trying to set up stuff for his dad on the Bombcast is an astounding reminder of how most older people don't really understand anything about technology.
Some don't and fossilize.
People who can't learn, I take the aim of minimizing their harm to society and themselves rather than trying to teach them.