£400 HTPC build - looking for comments/suggestions

I've agreed to build an HTPC for a friend on a £400 budget.

He's looking for a quiet system with plenty of storage that can handle blue ray playback.

Here's what I'm looking at

Case
Antec NSK 2480 MATX Desktop Case Black & Silver - With 380W EarthWatts PSU
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/130945 - £84.90

Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H 785G Socket AM2+ VGA DVI HDMI Out 8 Channel Audio MATX Motherboard
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/174223 - £61.86

CPU
AMD Athlon II X2 235e 2.7GHz Socket AM3 2MB Cache Energy Efficient Retail Box Processor
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/177051 - £49.60

RAM
Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 Memory Kit CL5 1.8V
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/164758 - £63.75

HDD
Samsung EcoGreen F2 1.5TB Hard Drive SATAII 5400rpm 32MB Cache - OEM
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166989 - £60.00

Optical Drive
Samsung SH-B083L 8x BD-ROM with DVD±RW DL SATA Blu-Ray Drive - Retail Box Black
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/191042 - £49.99

Keyboard/Mouse
Logitech Wireless Desktop MK250 - 2.4Ghz UK Layout - USB
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/194758 - £21.45

Total = £391.55

I'd appreciate any comments or suggestions.

Cheers

Just built one myself, see the thread here

Do you need an OS? - windows 7 will set you back around another 70 to 80 quids. Power supply? - around 30 to 40 notes. TV tuner, wireless?

I also think 4gig ram could be overkill for an htpc, 2gig could be suitable so could save a bit there. Mine in the thread plays blu ray perfectly. I found the stock cooler quite loud, so personally would repalce but would try it before upgrading.

Get to 20 constructive posts and you get free shipping at scan, so keep an eye out for today only offers.

Yup 2GB will definitely work fine with Windows 7, I tested it myself.

The case that he linked comes with a PSU so he won't need that.

You may also want to go for the Samsung F3 series (5400rpm ones) as there were some boosts over the F2 series IIRC. Other than that, everything looks good!

As the previous two posters have said 2Gb of RAM is perfectly adequate for media centre work. I would definately think about getting a replacement CPU cooler over the stock one with the money you save going down with the RAM. In that case there are two fans right next to the CPU area so you could even get away with a passive cooler.

Hawker

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Originally Posted by Ulti

The case that he linked comes with a PSU so he won't need that.

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Whoops missed that!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nimrod's on

HDD
Samsung EcoGreen F2 1.5TB Hard Drive SATAII 5400rpm 32MB Cache - OEM
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166989 - £60.00

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You might want to shop around a bit the same HDD is on SCAN for less
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/15Tb-...32Mb-Cache-8ms

edit: Opps...just noticed I linked to the F3 not the F2 which is £57.52

and once you've posted here 20 times you get free postage

Yeah, my own HTPC almost never goes over 2gb, I might use the AM3 version of that board and 2GB of DDR3 instead.

I can't see an F3 on ebuyer and I'd rather get everything from one place unless there's a really compelling reason.

I'm pretty happy with the noise level of the standard cooler I got with my 4850e, so I think I'll run it with that first and see how it goes.

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Originally Posted by Nimrod's on

I'd rather get everything from one place unless there's a really compelling reason.

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Fair enough but in my experience SCAN and Aria tend to be cheaper on the whole than ebuyer and you can approach SCAN immediately through HEXUS and Aria through their own forums if you get any problems.

I'm not trying to sell you either of these over ebuyer I'm just letting you have the benefit of the experience I got from my build.

I could save a little by ordering from different places, but not enough to be worth the separate orders and deliveries.

I'm pretty set on the case as I have one and am really happy with it and of ebuyer, scan and aria only ebuyer carry it.