Choosing the right CPU & Motherboard (HTPC)
Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 9:20 am
I have a new HTPC build in the works, based around a Silverstone Grandia GD06B, that I want to be as quiet as possible; I only plan on having a CPU fan and up to three 120 mm case fans. I plan on buying a new passive GPU and increase the storage size, but I'm having serious trouble deciding on which platform to go for. I have a S775 Intel G31 microATX motherboard, Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L, in my current HTPC, built around a Dell Vostro 200MT, and was thinking of simply reusing some of the existing components to make my new HTPC, however, it's not as easy as it seems; see below for my current and planned HTPC's components:
Current HTPC
Planned HTPC
Current HTPC
- Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L (motherboard)
- Intel Pentium E5300
- 2 GB of RAM (2 x 1 GB)
- ATI 3650
- Creative Audigy 2 ZS (PCI)
- Samsung Spinpoint HD103UI (1 TB)
- Samsung Spinpoint HD203WI (2 TB)
- LG CH08LS10 Blu-ray drive
- PSU (came with the Dell)
Planned HTPC
- Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L (motherboard)
- Intel Pentium E5300
- 2 GB of RAM (2 x 1 GB)
- AMD 6450
- Asus Xonar DX (PCIe)
- SATA controller card (PCI)
- Samsung SpinPoint HD204UI (2 TB) (x4)
- LG CH08LS10 Blu-ray drive
- Silverstone FP33B (fan controller)
- Seasonic X-460FL (fanless PSU)
- Stick with my G31 microATX motherboard and old PCI sound card and go with a PCIe SATA add-in card
- Buy a S775 microATX motherboard that has 6 SATA ports
- Buy a H67 or P67 SandyBridge microATX motherboard, Intel i3-2100T and 2/4 GB of DDR3 RAM
- Wait for AMD to release their Llano based microATX motherboards and APUs