[New build] HTPC build, but also my main computer. Advice?

[thetipster]

My setup is my computer connected to my 50" TV and a secondary 22" display so I can watch my shows and surf or work at the same time.

Computing activities: Surf, 1080p watching, Office tools, programming, light gaming.

I have come close to choosing a build and even though Ivy bridge will come Q1 2012, I think I will pull the trigger on a system now.

Here's what I'm thinking of getting, I know it's a little overkill, but I think it will be really fast and fun.

Components to re-use:

Storage: Two 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 (will do raid 0)
PSU: Corsair VX450

New components
Case: SilverStone GD05 Grandia
Processor: Intel I5 2500K
Cooler: Scythe Shuriken Rev. B (SCSK1100)
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3
Memory: Kingston ValueRAM 8GB (2x4GB) 1333MHz DDR3 CL9 DIMMs (KVR1333D3N9K2/8G)
OS Drive: Adata S511 120GB 2.5" SATA3 SSD
Optical Drive: Prob some SATA DVD writer, but might not bother with one. With virtual drive mounts and online storage who needs to write to media anymore

Let me know what you think! Do you have any suggestions, improvements?

[loimlo]

It looks very balanced....
That said, I am a bit skeptical about ADATA SSD. I'd purchase OCZ, Corsair etc if I were to be in Sandforce campaign. I don't really trust ADATA's firmware talent, sorry firmware development. In this regard, OCZ enjoys a huge advantage compared to ADATA .....

[benius]

...
Computing activities: Surf, 1080p watching, Office tools, programming, light gaming...

Light gaming on Intel® HD Graphics 3000 IGP? I think you'll need a discrete graphic card for that, a cheap one will put the IGP to shame.
And yes, the i5 2500K is absolutely overkill for your needs, a cheaper CPU would do perfectly fine and you could spend the difference on a better/bigger SSD, better GPU, etc. if you're on a budget.
If not, I suppose it could last quite some time before you will feel again the need for an upgrade.

[netmask254]

It looks very balanced....
That said, I am a bit skeptical about ADATA SSD. I'd purchase OCZ, Corsair etc if I were to be in Sandforce campaign. I don't really trust ADATA's firmware talent, sorry firmware development. In this regard, OCZ enjoys a huge advantage compared to ADATA .....

Me too, however I would prefer Intel or Crucial rather than OCZ, the latter has very high nominal speed however the reliability is questionable.

[CA_Steve]

Computing activities: Surf, 1080p watching, Office tools, programming, light gaming.

For web surfing, 1080p media, and office tools, you could get away with a Pentium.

Are your programming tasks CPU intensive? Would it benefit from 4 cores?

What's your definition of "light gaming"? Nearly any current game, other than some flash based ones, or if you don't mind "dumbing down" the resolution/picture quality, will require a separate video card for adequate fps and 1080p play.

Raid 0 for storage drive is baffling. I could understand this for heavy Photoshop use. Do you have large data sets that will need to be read/written quickly to the HDDs instead of the SSD?

+1 on the Adata comments. I'd lean toward Crucial M4 or Samsung.

Mobo: If only using IGP graphics, no big benefit of Z68 over H67..unless you are overclocking the CPU. Also, while Gigabyte makes fine boards, the fan control compared to MSI or Asus is inferior. The also don't implement UEFI boot.

[Scrooge]

I'd be cautious about using the Shuriken - with an optical drive, the GD-05 only has 70mm of clearance for the CPU heatsink, and the Shuriken is 65mm, leaving only 5mm of breathing room. That's the reason I used the Kozuti on mine (and I used a 2500k like you). Alternatively, you could use a Big Shuriken 2, since the RAM you're using lacks a heatspreader. I believe that would give you 12mm of breathing space or so, which is better, but I'd strongly recommend the Kozuti, which is really a great little heatsink and has a ton of breathing room above it (especially when you measure from the fan itself).

That's just a thought, of course, and the optical drive doesn't cover the entire heatsink, so some of a Shuriken would have space above it. However, I'd think long and hard about it, especially since there are two other good options that should be better for this build.

[tpe]

How about the Fusion? It seems build just for you. Enough horse power for the applications you need and enough GPU power to watch 1080p and play games... And it could cost you much less.

[thetipster]

Hey guys thanks for all the replies.

@loimlo, @netmask254 and @CA_Steve, after seeing your posts I did some further research and went with the Crucial M4 128GB. Looks to be the best choice for "real use" speeds and reliability and I paid $200 on the nose for it.

@benius I actually don't game at all right now so if I decide to try a game and it my system can't handle it well then I'll buy something at that time.

Yeah the I5-2500K with the Z68 is overkill but I figure it will last a long time b4 I feel any slowdowns and at that time I can start overclocking and see where it takes me.

@Scrooge
I was actually planning on not needing to buy a DVD writer, but I ended up having to anyhow to install win7 x64. I couldn't get a win7 x64 boot USB to work. I was working off winxp x86 and just couldn't get it to work. Oh well, got a drive for $20.
So I installed and now will not keep it in the machine. If I ever need it I can just quickly attach it on the fly although it will fit in the machine.
I would have gone for the big shuriken 2 but I couldn't find it locally.
I was suspicious of the fanless Kozuti so I stuck with the Shuriken.

@CA_Steve
Regarding the RAID0 for storage. I have been using raid0 for 4 years now. I love the speed. The drives I used were already in a R0 config so it was a natural choice to move it over as such. I understand the risks and really only use my storage disks for media/programs, all replaceable. I keep my pics and important docs backed up.

So the system is together and I'm almost fully migrated. I must say the system is flying!
So far the system has a steady hum from the 3 case fans and the Shuriken. The fan noise is only audible if nothing else is going on. It's very soft. The temps are really good. I haven't fully tested things out on a major CPU load. I have only had 2 720p vids (one on TV and one on monitor) + firefox with 10 tabs going and I got the system to register 38c and the processors were hardly getting used. Normal sitting tempurature is around 27c.

So I'm quite happy so far!

[Scrooge]

Ah, the Kozuti isn't fanless; the fan is just under the fins. That said, if you aren't going to have the optical drive installed often, the Shuriken will be fine.

[CA_Steve]

Congrats on your build

[Sunrise]

You seem to have pretty much the same needs as I do. I also use monitor + TV and have an older GD02. I did get a GTX260 at the time but haven't actually needed it for gaming. A few thoughts:

@benius I actually don't game at all right now so if I decide to try a game and it my system can't handle it well then I'll buy something at that time.

You have four slots of room for cooling, so I'd look at either a card that takes up three slots or a good third party cooler. The height of the cooler might be a limitation. With the positioning of the left intake fan, I think you have the setup to get a fairly high end GPU without a lot of noise.

So the system is together and I'm almost fully migrated. I must say the system is flying!
So far the system has a steady hum from the 3 case fans and the Shuriken. The fan noise is only audible if nothing else is going on. It's very soft. The temps are really good. I haven't fully tested things out on a major CPU load. I have only had 2 720p vids (one on TV and one on monitor) + firefox with 10 tabs going and I got the system to register 38c and the processors were hardly getting used. Normal sitting tempurature is around 27c.

I'm quite confident you can slow down the fans significantly even if you overclock the CPU. You have two 12cm case fans blowing directly at a good CPU cooler.

All in all a very nice build. If I had bought my current rig a year later, I would probably have nearly the exact same one.

[vladk2k]

Hi
I have a very similar system to yours (2500k with Z68 mobo, dual HDDs) and am on the lookout for a desktop mATX case. I have my eyes on the Grandia but also on the Antec NSK 2400 (mentioned earlier by tpe). Unfortunately I also have a pretty hot & noisy Radeon 4850 card (on which I'm thinking of strapping an aftermarket cooler) and I wanted to ask you a few questions:

What is your opinion on cable management in this case? It seems that the majority of extra cables bundle up in front of the left fan. I see that VX450 is not a modular PSU so you might have stumbled on this issue...
What about HDD drive placement? Is there really enought space for 2 HDDs and one SDD in that case? How about HDD data & power cable management?
Could you post some pictures with the insides of the case?
What was your previous case? Would you say that the Grandia gets a bit hotter or colder ?

BTW you could have used the x86 tool to make the x64 usb drive bootable (provided you have both versions somehow). I had to learn that the hard way, since I didn't have an optical drive (still don't) and had to use my gf's x86 laptop.