AMD HTPC
Everyone asks for HTPC component recommendations, and then when we publish them readers can't wait to throw rocks at our recommendations. Perhaps this is because the HTPC, more than any other computer class, is a very personal machine. It needs to meet the specific needs and demands of the end users, who vary widely in what they plan to do with their new HTPC. So let's first talk about our concept in these two HTPC configurations.
We are assuming the user already has the HDTV (likely) or display he plans to feed, along with a sound system for that HDTV. The motherboards we recommend can reasonably feed audio signals for your Blu-ray movies, but they are not integrated audio amplifiers. Since most end-users are on cable or satellite for TV, we will make no recommendations at all for a TV tuner. Of the many possible uses of an HTPC the great majority of end-users store, play, and stream movies with their HTPC computers. That is mostly what their HTPC systems are used for and that is where we have concentrated our recommendations. In general the processing power in both systems has increased since our December 2009 guide, but costs have gone down a bit.
| AMD HTPC System | ||
| Hardware | Component | Price |
| Processor | MD Phenom II X3 710 (2.6GHzx3, 3x512KB L2, 6MB L3 Cache) |
$119 |
| Cooling | CPU Retail HSF | $- |
| Video | On-Board | $- |
| Motherboard | ASUS M3N78-EM | $90 |
| Memory | 4GB DDR2-800 - GSkill F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ | $37 |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EACS 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM | $105 |
| Optical Drive | LG BD/HD DVD / 16x DVD+/- RW GGC-H20L - Retail | $110 |
| Audio | On-Board | $- |
| Case | SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum/Steel LC13B-E ATX HTPC Case (After $15 Rebate) | $100 |
| Power Supply | PC Power & Cooling Silencer PPCS500 500W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail (after $25 Rebate) | $50 |
| Base System Total | $611 | |
| Keyboard and Mouse | Logitech Cordless Desktop EX110 Black USB RF Wireless Keyboard & Optical Mouse | $30 |
| Operating System | Microsoft Vista Home Premium OEM | $99 |
| Complete System Bottom Line | $740 | |
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The CPU chosen for the AMD HTPC computer is the new triple core Phenom II X3 710 with 6MB of L3 cache. You get the expanded processing power of the Phenom II, which is always useful in an HTPC, at the same price as the older Phenom CPU chosen in the December guide. The three CPU cores each run at 2.6GHz, each with a 512KB cache, and a shared 6MB L3 cache - the same L3 cache sized shared on Phenom II quad-core processors. We hesitate to call a Phenom II X3 CPU a low-end chip, but this is certainly the most reasonable Phenom II you can buy. It has plenty of power, however, to drive your AMD HTPC to most anywhere you choose to go.
With DDR2-800 so reasonable these days we equipped the HTPC with 4GB of G.Skill memory. We aren't really interested in overclocking this HTPC (though it's technically still possible), and spending additional money on even higher performance RAM just doesn't make sense. 4GB of memory, however, does make perfect sense in an HTPC box.
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The $90 ASUS M3N78-EM is based on the NVIDIA GeForce 8300 chipset. The board features one PCI-E x16 slot, one PCI-E x1 slot, two PCI slots, 8GB memory support, NVIDIA Gigabit LAN, 7.1 HD audio, 12 USB ports, five 3Gb/s SATA ports with RAID support, IEEE 1394a, one eSATA port, HDMI/DVI/VGA output, and full support for the Phenom 140W processors. This board offers overclocking capabilities along with being a top notch HTPC capable board. We highly recommend the GF8200/8300 series for the HTPC market due to hardware accelerated Blu-ray/H.264 playback, multi-channel LPCM output, and very good application performance.
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As we discussed in the HTPC introduction, we did not include a TV tuner in the configuration since most end-users are now using their cable and satellite feeds. Few users, therefore, have any real need for a TV tuner card. There's something else to consider in this, and that is the US government mandated deadline to end analog broadcasts (which is now in June), so older/cheaper analog tuner cards are now useless unless you have an analog Cable/Satellite signal. If you truly need a Digital TV tuner, one option that is pretty unique on the TV tuner side is the HD HomeRun from Silicondust USA. This is a dual HDTV tuner/recorder that functions over a network and provides ATSC/QAM support. The price of $169 is more than many other options, but this is arguably a more flexible overall solution - particularly with the mandated move to digital and away from analog.
What's the point of having an HTPC if you don't have a lot of storage space? To that end, we selected a newly affordable 1TB (1000GB) Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EACS SATA hard drive at just $105. The WD Green is a variable speed energy saving design that we found to be among the quietest drives we have ever evaluated. For an HTPC, quiet operation is paramount and this WD Green will not disappoint. The WD Green is a bit slower than true 7200RPM 1TB drives, but the real performance difference is very minor. Another excellent HD option is the Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31000333AS 7200RPM 1TB at $110. Performance of this 1TB drive has been exemplary in early testing at AnandTech, and the drive has proved to be reasonably quiet. Seagate also makes a super-reliable 1TB drive optimized for video storage and retrieval called the Seagate SV35.3 ST31000340SV 1TB at $150. This "video" Seagate features 24x7 reliability with > 1 million hours MTBF and improved read/write reliability. For those willing to pay the small premium the "video" Seagate would be a good alternate choice.
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The optical drive is certainly an upgrade to the entry and budget systems since a reasonable HTPC requires Blu-ray playback capabilities. The LG Black 6X Blu-ray SATA fits the bill without breaking the bank. It provides 6X Blu-ray playback and the fastest recording and playback of DVD and CD media. The current price is around $110, but this drive sometimes goes on sale for $100 so look out for specials. There are also Blu-ray options under $100 from Lite-On and a 6X Blu-ray player at $105. We do not have much experience with this Lite-On drive, but Lite-On drives in the past have proved reliable. That would make the Lite-On Black 6X Blu-ray SATA a more reasonably priced alternative where every penny counts.
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Our choice for an HTPC case is the audio component look in the Silverstone LC13B-E, which is an extremely flexible design with two silent fans and silent power when combined with the PC Power and Cooling 500W Silencer power supply. This solid Silverstone case can handle either ATX or Micro ATX motherboards, with space for four internal hard drives in addition to two 5.25" External bays and two 3.5" external bays. If your plans for your HTPC include lots of comportments and storage the Silverstone is an excellent choice. If you prefer a small cube case the Lian Li PC-V350B is a gem of a small black aluminum case. The Lian Li is our choice for the Intel HTPC system on the next page, and you can find more information on that case there.
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Since most will place their HTPC near their HDTV or big screen monitor, a wired keyboard and mouse are not really very useful in most setups. Control is more often from across the room, so a wireless RF Logitech keyboard and mouse were selected. At just $25 for the pair, the Logitech Cordless Desktop EX110 wireless keyboard and mouse is a great value. This is also the HTPC preferred RF wireless set, which does not require "line of sight" that is needed for IR wireless.
The final price of the AMD HTPC comes to just $740. That has to be considered a bargain considering the triple core Phenom II CPU, 4GB of memory, and 1TB hard drive all housed in a quiet Silverstone HTPC case with a PC Power and Cooling Silencer 500W PSU. You can certainly spend even less on a basic HTPC box, but we doubt you can build a more powerful or quiet system for the same money.
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Spivonious - Monday, March 16, 2009 - link
What's the point of an HTPC if you're just watching movies on it? Just get a $300 blu-ray player and a $200 Xbox 360 to stream movies from your existing PC.The only reason I would build an HTPC is to do the above PLUS act as a DVR. For that you need a tuner card, even if you're not using the actual tuner on it.
erple2 - Monday, March 16, 2009 - link
Interesting. How many tuner cards support CableCARD's? I don't really know of any that you can buy yourself (without the rest of the computer from an OEM, that is). If I want to watch some encrypted stream (like HBO, Comedy Central, etc), there aren't any options.Therefore, the ripping aspect is what I'd wind up using the HTPC for, I'd imagine. That, or the ubiquitous hulu or other ... ahem ... legal means for watching TV shows...
:)
Hrel - Monday, March 16, 2009 - link
Don't know why you guys didn't include a gaming machine for this price point... so I'll list out some components for you.Part : Price
Antec 300 Mid-Tower computer case : $60
Scythe S-FLEX SFF21D 120mm Case Fan : $15
Silverstone ST70F 700W PSU : $125-rebate=100
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R Intel P45 : $115-rebate=100
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz : $165
Kingston HyperX 4GB(2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 : $48
XFX GS250XYDFC GeForce GTS 250 512MB : $130 w/ free game
Seagate ST3640323AS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache: $70
LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Blk : $24
Grand Total= $752 Total with rebates= $712
Throw in a second hard drive and set up a RAID 0 configuration for 50 percent faster load times and your total is still only $782!!!!
Add SAMSUNG 2233SW Monitor for $200 ($180 after rebate) and Logitech S-220 17 Watts 2.1 speakers for only $23 and your total is still only $915 or $985 with RAID!!!
You can even add a TV Tuner for $50-$80 and make it a media pc as well and ur total is STILL only about $800.
Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1250 Hybrid Video Recorder 1196 PCI-Express x1 Interface
Hauppauge WINTVHVR1600 Dual Tuner White Box 1101WB PCI Interface
Knowname - Tuesday, March 17, 2009 - link
I just bought the Tuniq Potency 650w PSU, it's got 2 pcie connectors (one is 8 pin) and is like 88% efficient at the low end. for $45 after $40 rebate it's a pretty darned good deal. Much more bang for your buck than what you got.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
here is another one that is 630w, modular, 80-plus bronze efficient, 2pcie's and only $40 after rebate. I've not tried it but it's got good reviews.
Hrel - Saturday, March 21, 2009 - link
yeah, both of those seem pretty good, but they both have fewer 12V rails, they both have less total Wattage and they both have a shorter warranty or none at all. Not to mention Silverstone is reliable high quality, honestly I don't really know if those are any good, in todays market I assume they're not terrible; but the silverstone one hav tons of wattage plenty of amperage, it's modular, it's 88 percent efficient; and that's a reliable number, and it's quiet. I don't know how stable the voltage is on those psu's and I don't know how loud they are. But 100 bucks for a high quality 700W PSU with 4 12V rails that runs silent and has 4 PCIEx6pin and 1PCIEx8 pin connectors is very fair. The other ones only had two PCIE-connectors, so you won't be SLI'ing any 9800GTX+'s or GTX260's. Don't every skimp on mobo or PSU, EVER!Knowname - Tuesday, March 17, 2009 - link
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...Hrel - Monday, March 16, 2009 - link
If your really concerned with noise, you should get this case.NZXT HUSH Black SECC Steel/ Aluminum/ Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
it's awesome and priced fairly.
Don't care about noise and want good cooling? Get one of these.
Thermaltake V9
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
or
Antec 900
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
Hrel - Monday, March 16, 2009 - link
You can take another ten bucks off that price if you use this case instead: Thermaltake WingRS 201 VJ60001N2Z Black, it's $50; but it's out of stock right now.Hrel - Monday, March 16, 2009 - link
Not really dude: If you want to game, spend an extra 20 bucks and get the Wolfdale CPU, double the cache and a faster FSB AND a higher clock speed. They've got you spending an extra 20 bucks on the motherboard for no reason, there's no reason to their Gigabyte board instead of the one I listed. They have you paying for 1066MHz DDR2 instead of DDR2 800, which doesn't matter if you don't wanna overclock; and I'd rather have Kingston DDR2800 over any other brand of DDR21066 if the prices are about the same.With my system you get an extra 140GB of storage for only 10 bucks and your getting Seagate instead of WD, that doesn't really matter as far as quality, but Seagate generally has a better Warranty. They've got you buying a Samsung DVD drive when for one dollar less you can get an LG drive; so that's a pretty obvious choice, LG beats ALL!
I've never liked Cooler Master cases, every single one I've worked with has felt like is was built using cheap materials. Antec 300 is a much better choice for cooling quality noise and room. The power supply they use costs less, but it's lower wattage which means more noise, and the fan makes more noise. The Silverstone 700W PSU, that anandtech reviewed, is almost always the way to go; unless your building a low end system or stupidly high end system.
I don't know if any of you have tried to deal with Viewsonic when you have to return one of their products or get warranty work done, but they're impossible to work with. We used to use them at the computer store I worked at, but we switched to only Samsung and LG because even though Viewsonic is cheaper, their warranties are worthless because they just won't help you; and the quality is lower. For 5 bucks I'd rather have the speakers I picked, but those are good too. I didn't list a keyboard mouse combo, but Logitech all the way. The one they used for HTPC computers was a good choice at a good price.
7Enigma - Monday, March 16, 2009 - link
The problem is they are building a complete system. $20 here and $20 there, having a monitor, and keyboard/mouse, and suddenly you've increased the price by >10%.I like these builds because it allows me to say, "Well I already have an existing case/mobo/monitor/keyboard/mouse/OS, so I can look at the Budget Build but cut the cost in 1/2".
I think most of us that build systems rarely have a completely new system from scratch to build (unless you are building for someone else). We normally keep the case for a couple builds, monitor for a couple, and personally I use the keyboard/mouse until they die. I only recently upgraded the HD from my 80gig Maxtor to a 250gig WD because of the huge size of Vista and the ever increasing size of games. So while we will probably always argue over the exact components, rarely are we going to be building a complete system like in the guides.