Hey Forum. I need some help and some recommendations.
Idea:
I'm trying to plan an HTPC rig. My idea is mainly to do Plex streaming and Steam In-Home streaming, at up to 1080p/60fps, but it may also be used as a presenter PC (for giving a basic presentation or demoing some non-intensive software, something like that).
Supposed CPU: Athlon 5350 - is this powerful enough? I'd probably do some bclk overclocking.
Supposed motherboard:
If so, I'm planning on using the ASRock AM1H-ITX motherboard because of its DC power in (so I could use a compatible laptop power brick), meaning I can use a smaller case without having to get a PicoPSU.
Supposed cooling: I have an AM3+ cooler from my old FX-6100. I'm wondering if I could somehow ghetto mount this and use it passively to have a total of zero moving parts?
However, I've read about the AM1H-ITX (when being used with DC-in) ending up with too hot VRMs, so I'm wondering if that should be a concern.
Supposed power: A laptop power brick from this list. If you could help me choose one that's available on Amazon UK, it'd be great.
RAM: I have 2 4GB sticks of Corsair Vengeance (full heatspreaders). My only concern is that they'll be too tall, but I have a feeling they'll be fine in the case I'm suggesting.
Storage?? I have a 64GB basic SanDisk SSD in my main rig (it's probably got some life left in it) and it'd be nice to give it it a good use and upgrade my main rig to something that's both fast and has enough storage for my main programs plus pagefile. I'm not going to be storing a particularly large amount of stuff on the HTPC, planning on streaming almost everything.
Supposed Case: I like the look of this case and simply how small it is. I assume it should be able to fit everything I'm planning to put into it: http://www.mini-box.com/M350-universal-mini-itx-enclosure.
PCPartPicker list I've assembled:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: AMD 5350 2.05Ghz Quad-Core Processor (£36.98 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock AM1H-ITX Mini ITX AM1 Motherboard (£47.48 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (Purchased For £0.00)
Storage: Sandisk Solid State Drive 64GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (Purchased For £0.00)
Other: Mini-Box M350 Mini-ITX case (£34.74)
Other: FX-6100 Stock Heatsink (minus fan)
Total: £119.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-04 16:14 BST+0100