About to pull the trigger!

[Abe Frohman]

So I've got all these components sitting in my Newegg cart I just need to verify with the Hackintosh gods before I click the "Buy" button. This build is for an HTPC/moderate gaming rig. It needs to fit into specific dimensions; hence the slim case. Here goes:

Motherboard = GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3

Power Supply = Silverstone ST45SF (450W)

Case = Silverstone MILO Series ML03B

Optical drive = I have an IDE drive pulled from an old PowerMac. Anyone have any experiences using IDE to SATA adapters? If it's a problem I'll just go with a Sony Optiarc

I already have RAM, SATA hard drives, and Core i7 (2700k). Initially I'll just be using the integrated HD3000 graphics but eventually I'd like to get a dedicated graphics card. Any recommendations on the best slimline card available? Also, I'd like to add Firewire 800 at some point; any advice on FW cards?

Any advice, recommendation, recipes on this build? Thanks!

 

[emaf]

there's nothing bad with this set, but here goes my recomendations.

i'd probably ignore the dvd drive since i barely use them, and you can always get a much more usefull external drive at almost the same price.

for htpc, i'd stay with integrated graphics, you're not gonna be much better with a discrete card.

2700k is absolutely overpowered, btw its a waste in every aspect given the use its gonna have. Consider selling it and getting a 2105 or similar. (more than enought to play whatever you want). Just make sure the chip has HD3000 graphics instead of the unsupported HD2000.

If you go for the i3 2105 or whatever dual core, you can choose some smaller casing and psu.

This would be my shopping list.

Antec ISK 300-65 Black (135w noiseless psu included) $69.99 << i LOVE this case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811129068

case comes with 135 psu but power brick is just 60W, it should do, but you can get a 120w brick for just $20 elsewhere, i got one for my friend, anyone having those requirements will work (120w DC 19V /6.3A - connector 2-prong / 5.5mm / 2.5mm

you will not be able to do more than 70-80w with this components, so you are safe with 120w brick.

remember this case is damn small


Gigabyte GA-H61N-USB3 (already on dsdt database, but google for it a little more just in case) $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128526

Intel Core i3 2105 $134.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115090

8Gb DDR3 Corsair RAM (4gb would do, but its too cheap) $35.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820233192

For the hard disk, they went quite expensive because of the TW flooding, so its up to you... you can have a 2.5" 500gb at barely the same price as a 120gb SSD.

slim dvd drive, would be around $30-$40, either internal or external.

 

[Abe Frohman]

Thanks for the advice, emaf. I do like that Antec case. I've always been worried about power draw when using an external power supply. Are there any that provide more than 120W?

While I'm not dead set on using this i7-2700k CPU; it is brand new in the box and I got it for practically nothing. Plus I see it as future proofing my system.

 

[emaf]

Thanks for the advice, emaf. I do like that Antec case. I've always been worried about power draw when using an external power supply. Are there any that provide more than 120W?

While I'm not dead set on using this i7-2700k CPU; it is brand new in the box and I got it for practically nothing. Plus I see it as future proofing my system.

u have som 130-140w brick around, but consider those bricks are near 90% efficient, and also, a 2105 with no discrete card and 2.5 hard drive, can not take more than 80-90w, and that should be under furmark + superpi or whatever, under normal-heavy load it should keep well under 60w.

consider the use that htpc is going to have, you probably will never use more than 2 cores, and even then its overpowered...

it will force you to use a bigger psu, bigger fan....

the i3 2105 is damn fast (in the end is almost like a i5 2500 with just 2 cores) and requires much more power / heat dissipation.

if its brand new and on the box, you will sell it better and faster

even if you prefer a bigger case / psu i would consider getting a 2105 instead of the i7

 

[Gordo74]

If there is ANY gaming going on, I would NOT trust it to that PSU or integrated graphics. I would get a SUGO 05 case and a dedicated card.