2 – Selecting the components
Case: Silverstone LC13-E
There were a number of criteria which lead me to select this case for my HTPC build. These included the high quality build, clean styling, large internal space and good cooling. In particular I dislike seeing exposed USB ports and optical drives, so the door on the Silverstone LC13-E provided a clean and minimal look which few other HTPC cases could match.
CPU: Core i5 2500K
The reviews of the Sandy Bridge CPUs found the processors to be powerful, efficient and cool, so they were ideal for a gaming HTPC build. I went for the cheaper i5 2500K CPU as the faster and more powerful i7 2600K processor would provide negligible benefit for my build.
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9B-SE2
The Silverstone LC13-E case that I had selected for my build is relatively large for a HTPC case, but it is still smaller than a regular desktop PC case. Therefore, a low height CPU cooler was required. The Noctua NH-U9B-SE2 came highly recommended by Razor for its excellent cooling combined with low noise levels.
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD4-B3
From the first time I saw the previews of the P67 series of Gigabyte motherboards with their black PCBs and chunky heat sinks I knew this was the motherboard for my build. All I had to do was wait for the revised “B3” motherboards to be released with the fixed Intel chipset before I could begin my build.
Memory: 8GB Mushkin Silverline DDR3 1333MHz 1.5V
Mushkin have a reputation for producing high quality ram with a lifetime warranty and providing excellent customer service, so I decided that this was the memory for my build. I went for 8GB of DDR3 1333MHz memory as the premium over 4GB was not too great and you can't have too much memory.
The low height design and lack of any fancy heat spreaders also meant that the memory should fit underneath the Noctua CPU cooler without causing any issues. The recommended memory voltage of 1.5V is supposed to be better for the long term reliability of Sandy Bridge motherboards, but I don't think this has been conclusively proved. Either way this was another reason I went for the Muskin memory.
After ordering the memory for my build it was suggested that I should have gone for the faster 1600MHz memory. I did some research, however the articles that I found indicated that the potential benefit from running the faster 1600MHz memory over the 1333MHz memory that I had purchased was only 1-2 frames per second when gaming, so a negligible improvement at best. If you want to find out more about the impact of memory speed on Sandy Bridge based PCs these articles should make interesting reading:
Graphics Card: Gainward GeForce GTX 570 Phantom
The graphics card was probably the most difficult component of my build to select. As this was to be a gaming HTPC which would be connected to my 50” Pioneer plasma I would be gaming at a resolution of 1920 x 1080. Therefore I didn't need the most powerful graphics card available or multiple graphics cards. However, I wanted to make sure that I could run my chosen racing games (e.g. NFS Shift 2) at this resolution with all of the graphics settings maxed out. Therefore, I chose the Nvidia GTX 570 as this provided a good balance of price to performance, and also supported the bit streaming of HD audio.
When it came to picking the manufacturer and model of GTX 570 graphics cards there were plenty of options to pick from. After reviewing the available options I decided to purchase the Gainward GeForce GTX 570 Phantom graphics card, as it had a 2 year warranty, full size HDMI socket, mild manufacturer overclock and a custom cooler which had received rave reviews for its excellent cooling and low noise levels. The styling of the graphics card with a black circuit board and custom cooler which looked like a water cooling radiator was also a great match for the other components of my build.
PSU: Corsair HX 650W Modular Power Supply
When it came to choosing a power supply my main priorities were reliability, efficiency, low noise and modular cables. Therefore, the Corsair HX 650W power supply with its 7 year warranty, quiet 120mm fan and 85% energy efficiency was the ideal choice for my build.
Blu-ray Drive: Samsung SH-B123L
Since they were originally released a couple of years ago Blu-ray drives have down significantly in price. This Samsung model came highly recommended from Razor for its ability to rip Blu-ray discs, which was one of my key requirements. The clean bezel with the simple Blu-ray logo was also appealing from an aesthetic point of view.
Hard Drive: Crucial RealSSD C300 64GB
Like Blu-ray drives, Solid State Drives (SSDs) have come down significantly in price. The key benefits of using an SSD is lower noise and faster loading of applications and games. As I will be storing my media on a NAS a small SSD with 64GB of storage should be plenty for Windows and a couple of games. The Crucial RealSSD C300 had received many positive reviews and was well priced, so I decided to include this in my build.
Keyboard: Microsoft Media Centre 2005 Keyboard
I have really liked the design of the Microsoft Media Centre 2005 Keyboard it was originally launched, and I managed to purchase a brand new one from eBay about a month before I began purchasing the other components for my build. Not sure if it is going to be any good, but for only £12 I thought it was worth giving it a go to see if it was as good as it looked.
Software: Operating System and Applications
The following software was required for my HTPC build:
- Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)
- Xbox Media Centre (XBMC)
- Total Media Theatre 5
- SlySoft AnyDVD HD
Misc: Other bits and pieces
In addition to the major components listed above I also purchased the following smaller items to complete my HTPC build:
- Noctua NF-R8 80mm and NF-B9 120mm fans
- Acousti anti-vibration fan gaskets
- MDPC cable sleeve kit
- Plasti-kote Super Spray matt black
- Draper ratchet screwdriver set
- Rubber washers (9.3mm O/D X M3 I/D X 0.8mm)
- Heat it up! hot air gun
Getting the best deal
Once I had finalised the components for my HTPC build I created a spreadsheet of prices from a number of popular online retailers (e.g. Amazon, Aria, CCL, Dabs, eBuyer, MicroDirect, Overclockers, Scan, YoYo Tech). At this point I also discovered that a number of retailers have daily / weekly special offers. Having a spreadsheet of prices made it quick and easy to compare prices and to determine if these special offers really did offer significant savings over the regular prices. For example I was able to purchase the i5 2500K CPU from Aria at the special offer price of £150, a saving of almost £20 over the best price that I had previously found online.
Once all of the components for my build have arrived I'll update this thread.
James