New HTPC, need some input =]

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Thilly

Baseband Member
A friend asked me to build him a low budget HTPC for use on his 1080p LCD TV. I think it's around 40". He didn't want to give me a firm price ceiling, but I imagine he doesn't want to spend much over 300. Items we have to work with already are a 160gb sata3 WD hdd, mouse/keyboard, monitor and TV. He already has a bluray player so it won't be necessary in the htpc, but he wants to be able to stream things such as youtube, hulu, and whatnot to his television, in high quality settings.

I have a few questions before I make any decisions on hardware.

I have always liked the antec 300 case, and they have a great deal with a psu right now, but are there any smaller htpc friendly case/psu combos for around $100 that any of you have used or could recommend?

I wanted to keep things as simple as possible for him, so I was looking at the 790gx or the 780g with side-port memory boards, as I have heard good things about them. Do you think this hd3200/3300 chipset would provide enough graphics power to stream hd video to a 1080p 40" lcd tv? Gaming is not an issue here.

As far as RAM goes, is 4 gigs necessary or could I trim some off the budget by going with 2 gigs?


Was thinking something like this

CPU/board: Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

Case/psu: Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

Then a couple sticks of G.Skill ddr800, either 2x1gb or 2x2gb depending on your recommendations.

Definitely open to suggestions over these items.


Will be running windows 7RC for the time being, most likely.

Thanks for your time =]

EDIT: A note about that particular PSU. Although it lists itself as having two 12v rails, it's actually supposedly a single 30A 12v rail. Something to keep in mind I suppose. Like I said though I'm hoping to not need an add-on gpu for him.
 
Like I said though I'm hoping to not need an add-on gpu for him.
If you're wanting to be doing 1080p video, you'll almost definitely want a low-end low-profile GPU. Something cheap, and will run off mobo power. 9400GT perhaps (don't know the ATi equivelant)?
Edit: Ah, since the BD-R player isn't needed as part of the computer then I imagine the onboard should be fine.

As far as RAM goes, is 4 gigs necessary or could I trim some off the budget by going with 2 gigs? [...] Then a couple sticks of G.Skill ddr800, either 2x1gb or 2x2gb depending on your recommendations.
2GB will probably be fine for HTCP purposes, a single 2GB stick would be best provided the motherboard support it.

Will be running windows 7RC for the time being, most likely.
Sounds like a good choice for the time being.
 
The motherboard combo from Thilly's could be worth it if you need HDMI input. But there should be a cheaper solution out there. The 780g will handle 1080p but if you want a bit more performance then the 4550 or 9400gt would be good choices i think.
 
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