Hey First post here!
After much research im about to order the parts for my first htpc build (not my first PC build though)
CASE: SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum front door and plastic front panel, 0.8mm SECC body Grandia Series GD06B ATX Media Center / HTPC
PSU: SILVERSTONE Strider Plus ST50F-P 500W ATX 12V v2.3 & EPS 12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply
CPU: Intel Core i3-3225 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX806237i33225
MOBO: ASRock Z77 Pro4-M LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
SSD: Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
RAM: Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333, 3x2gb
(These are left over from a previous upgrade)
HDD: WD Caviar Black 2TB 7500rpm
(This will be swapped out of my desktop pc)
OPTICAl: Samsung Blu-ray
(Taken from my desktop as I never use it in that machine)
Everything seems good to me just looking for some input from the community. I will be running win7 64bit and XBMC (of course![Smile]( "Smile")
One of my concerns is if the dual core i3 will be able to watch movies from xbmc while ripping dvds or blu-ray in the background without skipping a beat? I was considering going with the i5-3570K but the price point was around $100 more and it doubtful I'll ever need full use of it's Quad cores. The i3 3225 seems to be a brand new item on newegg as there are no reviews or even a picture yet. Other sites such as ncix had no info or specs whatsoever even as to what GPU was included.
Also what kind of gaming performance can I expect from the integrated Intel HD 4000?
Ive been able to find all items on Newegg for under $800 CA including shipping but of course if i didnt already have the ram, hard drive and blu ray it probably would of been closer to $1000. I may do some shopping around to see if i can get the price down but being Canadian choices are limited and shipping is usually higher than the US.
And yes I am aware that a 64gb SSD is considered small for an OS drive but I've been running one in my desktop with win7 for nearly two years and I'm still only sitting at 49gb of used space.
Anyways I'd appreciate any honest input as like I said this is my first HTPC build and I am unfamiliar with the new integrated graphics options and Ivy Bridge CPUs.
EDIT: Also would like to mention a huge thanks for Assassin's hugely helpful guide! LINK After trying to read up on HTPC builds for months I had never came across one so helpful untill i found his, I will recommend it to anyone who is surely going to ask me where I learned to do this.
After much research im about to order the parts for my first htpc build (not my first PC build though)
CASE: SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum front door and plastic front panel, 0.8mm SECC body Grandia Series GD06B ATX Media Center / HTPC
PSU: SILVERSTONE Strider Plus ST50F-P 500W ATX 12V v2.3 & EPS 12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply
CPU: Intel Core i3-3225 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX806237i33225
MOBO: ASRock Z77 Pro4-M LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
SSD: Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
RAM: Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333, 3x2gb
(These are left over from a previous upgrade)
HDD: WD Caviar Black 2TB 7500rpm
(This will be swapped out of my desktop pc)
OPTICAl: Samsung Blu-ray
(Taken from my desktop as I never use it in that machine)
Everything seems good to me just looking for some input from the community. I will be running win7 64bit and XBMC (of course
One of my concerns is if the dual core i3 will be able to watch movies from xbmc while ripping dvds or blu-ray in the background without skipping a beat? I was considering going with the i5-3570K but the price point was around $100 more and it doubtful I'll ever need full use of it's Quad cores. The i3 3225 seems to be a brand new item on newegg as there are no reviews or even a picture yet. Other sites such as ncix had no info or specs whatsoever even as to what GPU was included.
Also what kind of gaming performance can I expect from the integrated Intel HD 4000?
Ive been able to find all items on Newegg for under $800 CA including shipping but of course if i didnt already have the ram, hard drive and blu ray it probably would of been closer to $1000. I may do some shopping around to see if i can get the price down but being Canadian choices are limited and shipping is usually higher than the US.
And yes I am aware that a 64gb SSD is considered small for an OS drive but I've been running one in my desktop with win7 for nearly two years and I'm still only sitting at 49gb of used space.
Anyways I'd appreciate any honest input as like I said this is my first HTPC build and I am unfamiliar with the new integrated graphics options and Ivy Bridge CPUs.
EDIT: Also would like to mention a huge thanks for Assassin's hugely helpful guide! LINK After trying to read up on HTPC builds for months I had never came across one so helpful untill i found his, I will recommend it to anyone who is surely going to ask me where I learned to do this.