Celeron 430 in an HTPC

[JDNewell]

I want to build my first computer from scratch, and I want it to be able to handle basic HTPC duties.  Your thoughts please, specifically on the integrated video ability to handle HTPC duties.  Is there anything the below setup would NOT be able to do?  The basics are listed below:

Intel Celeron 430 Conroe 1.8 Ghz
MB-Zotac GF9300-A-E LGA 775 with NVIDIA GEFORCE 9300
Case: Rosewill R379-M Slim Case – 300W
4 1 gig ram sticks
CD ROM (not going to go high end for my first build)

 

OR….am I better off going inexpensive MB and getting a low power video card, like a Radeon 5 series, which should work with a 300Watt power supply.

Remember it is my first build and money is an object for me.

Thanks,

John

—————-UPDATE 7/19/2011———————-

Budget is under $300.  I want a low power, efficient system.  I can handle not playing BR discs.  All I wish to know is can the 430 with the NVIDIA GEFORCE 9300 handle 1080 streaming, maybe a Hauppuage TV tuner down the road.  I know the requirements for the tuner card are P4 or better, but my experience from the tech field is that companies like Happuauge are slow to update their requirements, not because they are bad people, but because testing with new products takes time when dealing with corporate.

Thanks.

[swoon]

Let’s start with your budget (hard number you can’t exceed) and what sorts of tasks you want your HTPC to perform and then we can go from there.

[Mike Garcen]

go with 2 x 2gb of RAM if you can, make use of dual channel.

Also, there’s absolutely no reason to not at least get a DVD-Rom, considering one can be had for $20-30. If you might possibly watch blu-rays, you can get one for a modest $60-80

Agree what aaron says, exactly your budget will determine any suggestions–mainly on the CPU & motherboard. Obviously if you could splurge a bit on a Sandy Bridge solution you would be extremely happy, but your wallet might not be

[babgvant]

I would recommend staying away from a system based on ancient hardware.  Given the budget I can understand the motivation, but you don’t need to shoot so low to achieve that.  Based on the requirements I’ve put together two sample systems – please note that this is very “back of the envelop” I put no effort into vetting the quality of the individual components (that said, mobo selection is probably the only thing I’d really worry about in the list).

SNB:

	Model	Cost
Case	Rosewill R379-M	$50
Board	ASRock H61M-GE LGA	$70
CPU	Intel Pentium G620	$78
dGPU	N/A	$0
RAM	G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB)	$30
ODD	LITE-ON iHAS124-04	$19
PSU	N/A	$0
HD	WD Caviar Blue WD3200AAJS	$42
	Total	$289

Llano:

	Model	Cost
Case	Rosewill R379-M	$50
Board	ASRock A75M-HVS	$70
CPU	AMD A6-3650	120
dGPU	N/A	$0
RAM	G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB)	$30
ODD	LITE-ON iHAS124-04	$19
PSU	N/A	$0
HD	WD Caviar Blue WD3200AAJS	$42
	Total	$331

[JDNewell]

My budget is $300 max, and preferably less.

I know I will not get high performance on such a budget.  I am doing this more for the fun of it and the learning experience.  Eventually I may turn it into a Linux box.

I just want to know what to expect and what the limitations are.  Would I be better off ditching the onboard video and getting a cheap graphics card?  My understanding is the onboard shares buss and memory and the external card does not, but for basic streaming and maybe a TV card it may be overkill.

[babgvant]

Unless you are doing more than light gaming there’s no need for a dGPU.  Also, the nice thing about going IPG w/ a decent CPU first is that in a year or two if there’s a need for more GPU you can throw a discrete card in for $30-60.

[mikinho]

I’ll echo Andrews remarks on starting a new build on older hardware.  You cut your hardware lifespan down considerably and if you do have issues you increase the changes that you won’t get a fix.

I would also highly stay away from nForce chipsets for a HTPC.

[swoon]

I think the Pentium G620-based system Andrew suggested fits your requirements very well. I definitely agree that you should not build the system you originally posted. The SNB Pentium system has a lot of legs and will serve you well for a long time. If your needs grow down the line, you can throw in some very powerful processors, discrete GPUs, additional storage, etc. On its own, the G620 is more than capable of playing back virtually everything there is today in video and handling basic record/playback HTPC duties.

[JDNewell]

Michael,

I can certainly avoid NVIDIA, but can you tell me the reason?  I guess if I go Sandy Bridge the graphics is in the chip itself, correct?  Along that argument I am assuming you would also avoid intel GMA4500 as well, correct?

 

This all started when I discovered the net boxes like the Zotac SU2300 which seemed like a really good idea, if it can deliver on its promises.

 

Thanks,

John

[mikinho]

I like NVIDIA GPUs, it is just their nForce network card that is unreliable when taxed.  We have a review unit Zotac ZBOX ZBOXHD-ND22-U that I’m extremely delayed in publishing a review for.  It works very well…except for 1- the network card. 2- no HD Audio bistreaming support.

I put network cards very high, higher than most, on my feature list when looking at motherboards and OEM builds so maybe take what I’m saying with a grain of salt.

[JDNewell]

Michael,

I am very interested to hear your review.  I was thinking of making a similar unit but with the Conroe chip for its low power, reliability, and dumping it into an Antec ISK100.  Certainly small and cute, but maybe I should just consider the SU2300 (ZBOX ND22?), although I am not sure how well it would do with a TV tuner card.  Do you care to leak such information before publishing the review?

Thanks–John

[swoon]

Unless you are strapped for space, the suggested Sandy Bridge platform is a much better idea. It will still run cool and be very power-efficient.

[JDNewell]

Sounds good.  I may go the Sandy route after all, and I see no good reason not to put a Sandy Bridge in the compact Isk 100.  OK, maybe the cost of 2.5 inch drives and lack of expandability, and being limited to external DVD drives and TV tuners.  After researching things I decided my first build should be the more conventional micro-ATX.  Even a slim case should have good functionality/expandability.  If I feel like building a second box then I might consider doing an ultra compact box, but not right now.

Thanks for everything and let me know when you think the Z-BOX review might be published.

John

[mikinho]

I hope early next week.  I’ll address a few points here tomorrow though.

[swoon]

If you’ve got your heart set on a mini-ITX platform, you can certainly get that. Here’s a $70 H67 board.

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