My first HTPC

[Black Cat Nash]

Hi everybody,
after spending a life buying desktop PCs, I'm looking to build my HTPC.
I would mainly use it for watching movies on my 60 inches TV, watching blurays (3D and not), streaming 4k contents and sometimes for gaming (no need for extra high resolution though).
I'm a total newbie on this, so please help me.

Looking and reading around, this is the parts list I have imagined for my HTPC.

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2Ghz Quad-core processor

CPU Cooler: ?

Motherboard: Asus H170 Pro Gaming

Memory: ?

Power Supply : Silverstone 600w 80+ Gold

Optical drive : LG BH14NS58BL BLK

I have already an ASUS Geforce gtx970 4gb (gtx970-dcmoc-4gd5), so I need an advice about compatible cases (thinking about a Silverstone Grandia, but I don't need the case to be compact, just as silent as possible). I'm gonna buy a WD Hard Disk, and a 256 gb SSD (any advice accepted).

I don't have problems of budget, but I don't feel the need to overdo.

Thank you for your help, guys.

[CA_Steve]

Welcome to SPCR.

Here's your most important decision: where to place the PC. Unobstructed airflow makes the difference between a quiet gaming PC (GTX 970 -> gaming PC) and a loud one. The Grandia case implies the PC will be on an entertainment center shelf (or worse, in a closed cabinet). Horizontal cases have worse airflow than upright ones. btw.

Please describe where this case will be, including dimensions and openings, and we can go from there.

[edh]

A few initial comments:
- If budget is a problem, why spend so much? Seems expensive for the application. I know budget is relative so how much exactly do you want to spend?
- That's an expensive graphics card for occasional gaming and even if you already have it, onboard graphics may be better suited to the application. That way you may be able to set something up far smaller and lower power.
- 600W is a big PSU for such a system. Even with this over the top config you would still be looking at maybe 250W max DC. Anything draw you to the Silverstone in particular?

[Black Cat Nash]

Welcome to SPCR.

Here's your most important decision: where to place the PC. Unobstructed airflow makes the difference between a quiet gaming PC (GTX 970 -> gaming PC) and a loud one. The Grandia case implies the PC will be on an entertainment center shelf (or worse, in a closed cabinet). Horizontal cases have worse airflow than upright ones. btw.

Please describe where this case will be, including dimensions and openings, and we can go from there.

I just moved in a new house and I have a small room (3.6m x 2.8m) where I'm going to place the TV on a large low TV board, PC at its side. That's why I'm thinking the Grandia case is not good for my build, I have space and I don't mind about aesthetics. Case may be cubic, upright or big.
Mind that up to now I have ONLY the TV and the GeForce gtx970, so I can change any setup following your advices.

[Black Cat Nash]

A few initial comments:
- If budget is a problem, why spend so much? Seems expensive for the application. I know budget is relative so how much exactly do you want to spend?
- That's an expensive graphics card for occasional gaming and even if you already have it, onboard graphics may be better suited to the application. That way you may be able to set something up far smaller and lower power.
- 600W is a big PSU for such a system. Even with this over the top config you would still be looking at maybe 250W max DC. Anything draw you to the Silverstone in particular?

Budget is not a problem, but being a newbie I don't want to overspend, that's why I'm here seeking for your advice.
I missed to report my exact ideal budget only because I'm living in Japan and I thought prices were different. Spending under 70000 yen (now the dollar-yen exchange rate should be about 1:1, so let's say 700$) would be great, given that I expected building the system by myself would have costed me more than 1200$.
I followed some articles on the net about building a performance HTPC, that is where all my little knowledge comes from.

So, the GeForce gtx970 I possess would have totally no use for my build? It's the main cause I was thinking to use the 600W power supply.

As I said, I have few knowledge, so please recommend me your build. Excluding the GPU, I don't need an overkill build, and my idea is having an all in one system that I wouldn't want to upgrade for at least 5 years. My son is growing up, so probably he will use my PC for high resolution games, that's why in any case I can make use of a good GPU.

[CA_Steve]

Thanks for the info.

One truism: While a current gen CPU/mobo could be good for 5 years, the gfx card won't last that long as new AA games use more gpu resources over time. So, expect to replace that in a few years - depending on the games. Then again, if your son is mainly playing non-gpu intensive games like Farmville or Minecraft or something like that, you could get away with just using the integrated gpu in the CPU. If it's more gpu intensive games, then the GTX 970 is good for 1080p to 1440p. Sort of depends on the game and the quality settings.

CPU: If this were an HTPC with no gaming, then an i3 is good enough (and in many cases a Pentium or Celeron). For gaming, I recommend the i5.

CPU cooler: Scythe Kotetsu.

gfx card: what's the make and model of your GTX 970? So are fairly quiet, others aren't.

Case: If ATX motherboard, gaming gfx card and an optical drive, I'd suggest the Fractal Define R5. Easy to work in and can be very quiet. If the footprint is too large, there's always uATX and mITX form factors. Tradeoff is it can be tougher to keep them as quiet during load. Then again, if you are 3m away, it may not matter.

mobo: Asus H170 Gaming is fine. Decent fan controls, Intel NIC, good audio.

RAM: 2 x 4GB is fine. H170 only supports DDR4 2133. Look at Asus' qualified memory list for specific models. Stay away from tall heatspreaders as they add no value and can interfere with CPU cooler.

SSD: Samsung 850 Evo. Games will quickly fill up a 250GB class SSD.....

HDD: WD Red...

PSU: Do you have access to Corsair RM550x at a reasonable price? Other possibilities are Seasonic, be quiet!, EVGA,...

[Black Cat Nash]

Thank you for the tips.

About gaming, excluding RPG games as Pillars of Destiny, I would like to play stuff like FPS in a fairly good resolution (don't need 4k gaming, just a good compromise between fluidity and resolution quality).
My gtx970 is an ASUS Geforce gtx970 4gb (gtx970-dcmoc-4gd5).

I'm gonna check right now if the components you recommended are available here in Japan.

So far this would be the build:

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2Ghz Quad-core processor - 21755 yen

CPU Cooler: Scythe kotetsu - 3363 yen

Motherboard: Asus H170 Pro Gaming - 14470 yen

Memory: Corsair CMV4GX4M1A2133C15 [DDR4 PC4-17000 4GB] x 2 - total 5720 yen

Power Supply : Corsair rm550x - 11800 yen

Case : Fractal Design r5 - 13250 yen

HDD: Red WD - around 9000 yen

SDD: Samsung 850 Evo 256gb - 9050 yen
(I noticed a cheaper 256gb Trascend SSD220 TS240GSSD220S for 6420 yen, is it any good?)

Optical drive : LG BH14NS58BL BLK - 7150 yen

I don't need any other case fan, am I right?

Considering the dollar-yen exchangerate is basically 1:1 (1 dollar - 100 yen) I'llspend around 900 dollars

[quest_for_silence]

My gtx970 is an ASUS Geforce gtx970 4gb (gtx970-dcmoc-4gd5).

Ouch!

Motherboard: Asus H170 Pro Gaming - 14470 yen

ASRock H170 Pro4/Hyper IF significantly cheaper (and, of course, available): main advantages, more granular fan control, BCLK overclocking, better power circuitry, main disadvantages, it requires PWM case fans, it may give some logging issue with Linux.

(I noticed a cheaper 256gb Trascend SSD220 TS240GSSD220S for 6420 yen, is it any good?)

http://www.kitguru.net/components/ssd-d ... iew/all/1/

I don't need any other case fan, am I right?

Not necessarily: just hook up the case fans to the the mobo, not to the Fractal fan controller (it's too loud and/or not flexible).

[Black Cat Nash]

My gtx970 is an ASUS Geforce gtx970 4gb (gtx970-dcmoc-4gd5).

Ouch!

Fa proprio così schifo, Luca?
Mi basta davvero una gpu entry level, non sono né un gamer né un grande esteta dei videogames, per me fino a un anno fa il massimo era riuscire a non fare andare a scatti sul mio PC i vari Skyrim, Dragon Age e compagnia bella...

(I noticed a cheaper 256gb Trascend SSD220 TS240GSSD220S for 6420 yen, is it any good?)

http://www.kitguru.net/components/ssd-d ... iew/all/1/

Yeah, I figured it was no good...

[CA_Steve]

Yeah, the Asus GTX 970 Mini will be the loudest component (giving up the second fan in order to have the compact size = higher thermals/higher fan speed). It'll play Skyrim and Dragon Age fine.

chassis fans: It'll work fine with two. I tend to build with three (two front one rear) for a little positive pressure.

SSD: For a gaming PC, there's very little difference between current gen SSDs. I'd look for reliability, tool set, warranty.

[Black Cat Nash]

Yeah, the Asus GTX 970 Mini will be the loudest component (giving up the second fan in order to have the compact size = higher thermals/higher fan speed). It'll play Skyrim and Dragon Age fine.

OK, now i probably get our misunderstanding. My main concern is the noise when using my HTPC for playback. I can stand some noise while playing videogames. I mentioned I've got a GTX 970 just because in my ignorance I thought it might have could helped in some way the HTPC build. I have been not so clear about it, sorry.

I'll play movies in the 80% of cases (outputting 4k youtube contents or 7 channel audio won't be a problem, right?).

So, the parts I've listed in my previous post are good for a performance HTPC, I guess.
If you don't have any other advice to give me, I will proceed on buying all the components I need plus other stuff (wi-fi card, remote control, and so on).

Thank all of you for your help, guys.

[CA_Steve]

I'll play movies in the 80% of cases (outputting 4k youtube contents or 7 channel audio won't be a problem, right?).

The motherboard gfx and the GTX 970 both support 4k. For audio, the H170 Pro Gaming manual has a decoder chart for 7.1 analog line out on pg 1-14. Or, if you have an A/V receiver, just run HDMI to it and from it to the TV and keep the analog chain digital until it gets to the receiver (which will have cleaner analog path than what you'll find on any mobo).