Advice regarding HTPC design

[Pedroc1999]

Hope your happy with your build - when are you planning on building it?

 

[Greenfire]

Nice! I have to do some more research regarding the case; posted your build in the first post to see what people think. Thanks so much man!

Yeah I was hoping to mess around with some emulators and the i3 makes that possible.

 

[Pedroc1999]

Yes the i3 has the much needed hardware virtualisation that emulators are heavily dependent on

 

[Pedroc1999]

also --- could you fill in your system specs more detailedly --- sooner or later someone else will tell you the same if you dont

 

[Greenfire]

Simplified it a bit ^ thanks for the heads up

 

[kbrady1979]

I would look into the Silverstone HTPC cases, they don't mess around when it comes to cases. They also have excellent airflow and cooling capabilities as well.

 

[Pedroc1999]

I will keep that in mind next time i recommend a case. Thx for the info

 

[Greenfire]

I was looking at Silverstone case before as an alternative.

Any opinion on this one? http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=293&area=en

Comparing Silverstone to the current one:
Height: 5.9" v. 5.4"
Width: 17.3" v. 17"
Depth: 13" v. 16.3"

But 4 internals, 1 external, and 1 ssd

 

[Pedroc1999]

Looks good! Go with that one instead. It is better quality

 

[kbrady1979]

Silverstone cases like that should last a very long time and should accommodate several builds. When I decide to build one, I will spend the extra money and get a Silverstone for the build quality, the features and how flexible they are. And like I said before, their HTPC cases have excellent cooling options and great airflow so you can really get creative with them!

 

[Pedroc1999]

I dont know why i didnt look for one. Must have been a bit sleepy

 

[Erick Aguilar]

I find it ridiculous that an AMD APU was not recommended, it's cheaper, and includes a much more advanced IGP.
Not to mention the i3 strugles with 1080p playback.

 

[Pedroc1999]

I see where you are going and i agree with you. Just i personaly assumed that the OP would like a bete upgrade path along with better single threaded performance .BUT lets not argue about this

 

[kbrady1979]

I doubt that i3 will struggle with anything in an HTPC.

 

[Pedroc1999]

Even though the apu is a syrong competitor for a htpc. The i3 is simply better allaround

 

[Thorsen]

had just recently seen a video tutorial on HTPC with silverstone. worth a look:

 

[Erick Aguilar]

Even though the apu is a syrong competitor for a htpc. The i3 is simply better allaround

Price to performance ratio, no.
You are thinking of an i3 as if it was going to be used for something else other than playback and an HTPC build. Single threaded performance between an i3 and an A10 will mean squat in an HTPC, you will never experience a difference outside of benchmarks.

I am not trying to initiate an AMD VS Intel fight, but if you are also talking about upgrade path, and real performance then the new Trinity APU's will give you more, and for less money. The whole system will be cheaper all around, and more powerful in terms of what it can do alone.

 

[Greenfire]

Regarding AMD v. Intel, I'm more inclined towards an Intel because I've used theirs for two previous builds, and have not had any problems or issues so far with them. I hear that AMD is pretty good too but just have never experienced them.

I might prefer the psu being modular - its a few extra bucks but helps during installation

Given that the case has all of two usb ports, will have to get a wifi card. also - since case supports 4 bays + ssd, might as well also get an ssd for the boot drive, but not sure if the mobo could support a fifth sata connection with the wifi card in the pci express slot

edit: watched the video, pretty psyched. their cases look like masterpieces

 

[Pedroc1999]

Im sorry but the Mobo only supports 4 sata drives, you may need a sata addon card