Building a HTPC that - Your thoughts on these parts?

[shateredsoul1979]

(He went a little higher end so he could push out SBS 3D .. which this build does perfectly, according to him)
[cpu] Intel Core I3-2100 3.1GHz LGA-1155 Dual-Core 65W
[mobo] MSI H61M-E33 (B3) LGA-1155 Micro-ATX
[gpu] ASUS GeForce GT520 1GB DDR3 64-bit Fanless Low Profile
[case] SILVERSTONE ML03B Micro-ATX
[psu] Antec EarthWatts 380W ATX12V
Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066
Kingston SSDNow V Series SNV125-S2/30GB 2.5" 30GB SATA II Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

It comes out to a little bellow 500 (I have a copy of win 7 64bit)

What do you think? I will use it for HD movies, music, and emulating mame and every system up to dreamcast through nulldc.

Option 1 - Switching the Graphics Card

The guy who recommended this build said he could run gamecube games on the dolphin without a hitch, but someone else recommended switching the graphics card for a Nvidia GT 240 or GT 440. The 240 is about the same price and the 440 is about $20 more.

Option 2 - Switching the hdd

A ssd is nice since the startup time is super fast, but for the same price of a 30gb ssd I could get a 2tb 7200 rpm Hitachi.  If I stick with the ssd I'd probably get a Mediasonic HF2-SU3S23 External HDD Enclosure http://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-HF2-SU3S23-External-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B003X26VV4/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1319490565&sr=1-1

[upprc04]

I have a lot of the similar parts in my HTPC I built a couple of months ago.  I have the same CPU/Motherboard and just use on-board graphics and haven't had problems with HD OTA TV, dreamcast with null dc or anything else I've thrown at it.  This is an easy part to upgrade if needed, or for the price it might be worth it for you to just get it now to off load the work on to a separate GPU.

I currently just have an old laptop harddrive as my boot drive.  Are you planning on storing movies (vs streaming) or recording TV on this machine?  Like you said, a SSD would be nice for quick boot/load times, but you would fill up 30GB quick.  I'd look to get a bigger SSD (60 GB would probably do it, assuming its just for some games and OS/not storing movies or recorded TV) if it's in your budget or just get another HD and look to upgrade that in the future.

[shateredsoul1979]

Ahh cool thanks for the info. The ssd would be to install programs and the OS. I just saw a 60gb one for the same prices as the 30gb ssd on new egg. All the movies and games would go on an external drive if I go with a ssd internal drive.

[upprc04]

If you aren't planning on having a DVD/Bluray drive, then I'd try to have an internal boot drive and storage drive.  It looks like the case you are getting should have room for two hard drives if you aren't putting a DVD drive in it.

[shateredsoul1979]

Ahh, that's right, I probably will do that!

A really weird thing I've noticed, so I usually just put my pc to sleep and don't turn it off. I put all the part in my amazon.com basket a few days ago. When I go back to amazon and view the basket, it tells me what prices have gone up or down. Sometimes prices change several times a day.. what the hell?

It's not just an offer expiring or anything like that, it's prices going up 1 dollar, down a few cents, maybe they adjust prices to demand instantly??? Overall it's gone down since I put the stuff in my basket 

[upprc04]

Amazon will do that.  Are all of the parts from Amazon or a third party through Amazon?  I think Amazon is good about price matching, so when you do buy it keep an eye on it for 30 days to see if it drops.  It may only be a couple of dollars but usually just have to go through Amazon chat and they will credit your account.

[shmokes]

Don't forget a media center remote. You can forgo the remote if you have a Harmony remote and the case has an integrated IR receiver that's compatible with the Microsoft one. Also something like this would be cool. Lenovo is just releasing one that looks good. I have the previous version that had an actual trackball on it instead of a little trackpad. It's pretty great, but it lacks backlit keys which is a pretty serious problem since movies are typically watched in dim light or darkness. Also when moving the remote the trackball, being a mechanical part, will shift on its own ever so slightly, but the resulting slight cursor movement causes the on-screen display in any media playing application to spring onto the screen. It's a minor annoyance. Both issues appear to be addressed in the new version, though.

But p.s., you'll want both a standard remote and a remote with a keypad, though. Generally speaking you don't need to type on your media center. For regular applications you just want a typical style remote with arrow buttons and a select button, as well as a few others like Back and Guide, etc.. There are some remotes that combine the two into an acceptable package, like the awesome new Tivo bluetooth remote, and Boxee's remote that has a keypad on the back. But if you don't get one like that, you'll want both.

[shateredsoul1979]

I just bought the backlit lenovo one for $40, and I already have a windows media center remote and receiver. I used that on my cab though (mostly to adjust volume on the fly).

It doesn't look like the tivo or boxee remotes have touch pads, now if they had that I'd be in on one. I also have a wireless receiver for the xbox 360 stuff, now i'm starting to worry about having enough usb ports =/ I think I need 4. 1 for the xbox 360 receiver, one for the Lenovo keyboard receiver, 1 for an external, and 1 for a media center remote. =/ I won't have any plugs leftover, but I don't think I need anymore.

Don't forget a media center remote. You can forgo the remote if you have a Harmony remote and the case has an integrated IR receiver that's compatible with the Microsoft one. Also something like this would be cool. Lenovo is just releasing one that looks good. I have the previous version that had an actual trackball on it instead of a little trackpad. It's pretty great, but it lacks backlit keys which is a pretty serious problem since movies are typically watched in dim light or darkness. Also when moving the remote the trackball, being a mechanical part, will shift on its own ever so slightly, but the resulting slight cursor movement causes the on-screen display in any media playing application to spring onto the screen. It's a minor annoyance. Both issues appear to be addressed in the new version, though.

But p.s., you'll want both a standard remote and a remote with a keypad, though. Generally speaking you don't need to type on your media center. For regular applications you just want a typical style remote with arrow buttons and a select button, as well as a few others like Back and Guide, etc.. There are some remotes that combine the two into an acceptable package, like the awesome new Tivo bluetooth remote, and Boxee's remote that has a keypad on the back. But if you don't get one like that, you'll want both.

[Dexter]

The nwe AMD fusion CPU and boards might save you a few dollars if its just for HTPC use, but if you can see yourself running emulators from said HTPC stickwith the I3 setup as recommended.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2637

[gaijinking]

I've had my htpc running XBMC for a year now, and was just using a standard mouse on my couch cushion attached to a long usb extension cable.
So I finally splurged and bought the Logitech diNovo Edge for a decent price at amazon. I actually do use my keyboard quite a bit since I also use the same system to seed posts on a few trackers.
The diNovo keyboard is fantastic, and the trackpad is adequate, however, the size and position of the tiny little mouse buttons just didn't do it for me. And it seemed like the left mouse button sunk down below the case level after only a few clicks! So after sending it back I stumbled across this on from Logitech : http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wireless-Touch-Keyboard-920-003070/dp/B005DKZTMG/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1319991061&sr=1-1 I didn't even know it existed since it's hard to find in stores, maybe it's an online offering only.
And it's only $36 Sure it's a bit larger than a remote sized keyboard, and it's smaller than a laptop key spacing, but the trackpad is really nice, and it nice large buttons that fit my thumb.
 I played with the Lenovo one, and while it is fairly high quality, I think if you do any kind of typing at all, or are accustomed to using a trackpad,  the Logitech k400 is a more comfortable choice.  I highly recommend it.

[shmokes]

That looks pretty great. I'd definitely pick it up if I used my box for anything more than XBMC.

[drventure]

I'm waiting till someone hacks up some software to allow you to control your home theater with your kinect 

[shateredsoul1979]

I'm waiting till someone hacks up some software to allow you to control your home theater with your kinect 

Ooh nice, then I could yell at my htpc and wave my hands at it.

Yup, I decided to go with the I3, ended up getting this mobo, a bit more expensive and than required for a htpc, but I have the option of upgrading later. Plus it comes with a controller that lets you turn your pc off and on.

I also ordered a crucial ssd instead of a kingston

Now I just need to wait for 3tb hdds to come down to around the $100 dollar range... I have a long wait ahead since their prices have recently skyrocketed. If there's enough room I'll put it in the case, if not i'll do an external thing.

[shmokes]

I actually far prefer the external thing. I run a Windows Home Server that stores all my media. It offers up many more features than simply serving up media (though it does that very well). All of my computers are automatically backed up to the server at regular intervals. All of my torrenting is handled by the server (which is nice because the WHS is a MUCH lower-powered box than my media center). It serves media to multiple devices throughout the house. And it makes for a very simple upgrade path for the media center. When I decided to move from an Xbox to an HTPC that could handle HD it was just a matter of pulling one box (and putting it in the bedroom) and putting the new box in place. I didn't have to deal with moving any media over. I just pointed the new HTPC to the existing media server and off I went.

[DillonFoulds]

I use the K400 with my htpc. Mostly I never have to actually use a mouse, but the odd time that I do, that keyboard is GREAT!

Obviously the touchpad, being a touchpad, will be sub-par for intensive mousing. If I'm going to play DotA, Bejewelled, or anything that actually requires a mouse then I'll pull out a logitech laser mouse that uses the same dongle. So plugged in to my HTPC all I have is the logitech dongle, a bluetooth dongle for PS3 controllers, a network cable (i HATE wireless), power cable, and HDMI.

And for the record, i picked up my K400 from best buy for 40cad. Not a bad deal considering what I've got out of it so far. Much better than those 90$ bluetooth solutions.

[shateredsoul1979]

The k400 looks pretty nice. I built the HTPC so actually tried out the Lenovo htpc mouse control, and it works pretty well. As other people have psoted, it would be nice if it had the function keys to get into the bios, but i find the mouse and clicking it in to click intuitive.. maybe because I own a Lenovo laptop and have that weird mouse thing in the middle.

The HTPC worked great, but for some reason the fans come on at full blast. I haven't gone back to check out the bios again to fix that, but I did try out an asrock app that lets you control the fan. The cpu fan on the i3 is louder than I expected, everything else is really nice and quiet.

Now to fill up the 3tb hdd