Dynamics Computer Info Source

In this article I’ll look to build a fully functional HTPC (Home Theater Personal Computer) for less than a standard desktop computer. Our computer will have plenty of power and all packed into a case that will fit anywhere with a look to fit that fits in.

The goal of building this HTPC will be to listen to music, view photos, watch DVD/Blu Ray movies and whatever other computer related tasks it will need to do. Did I mention that this build will have a remote to control from your couch.

Let’s start by looking at what components are need for this build:

• Motherboard
• CPU/Processor
• Memory
• Storage Drive (Hard Drive)
• Optical Drive (DVD/Blu Ray)
• Operating System
• Keyboard/Mouse
• Case

Let’s start by selecting the most important part of the HTPC, the CPU/Processor. I want to select a CPU/Processor that will have enough power without showing signs of weakness no matter what task it’s performing. I chose an AMD processor over an Intel one due to getting more for our money without sacrificing speed. I selected the AMD Athlon II X2 255 Regor 3.1GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor. This process or has more than enough power to get the job done and costs about $80.00 plus it run very cool too.

Now that I have selected a processor we need to select a motherboard that can accommodate it. I chose to look at small form factor boards to fit into a smaller case that we will pick at a later time. The motherboard needs to be able to accept an AM3 CPU/Processor chip. To keep the costs down on this project I chose this board due to the audio and video onboard being very acceptable for performing those functions. The integrated ATI Radeon HD 4200 GPU provides adequate 3D and video playback capability; digital interfaces (DVI/HDMI) and analog interface (D-sub) are included. If that is not enough for you, simply update your display subsystem by ATI Hybrid CrossFireX technology. 106dB SNR Blu-ray audio playback through analog output and digital output can be easily implemented without buying any additional audio devices. The board I chose is the GIGABYTE GA-MA785GMT-UD2H AM3 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard. This board will cost you about $90.00.

Another important part to our system is memory. Our motherboard can accommodate up to 16 GB of ram which is overkill. I chose to go with G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600. This ram is known to run cool and the cost is about $100.

Since this HTPC is going to store audio, video and photos we are going to need a decent amount of storage space. I will break our storage into two sections, one that stores the programs and the other that stores the audio, video and photo files. For the operating system and program file I chose the Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3250318AS 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5″ Internal Hard Drive. This drive has enough space and speed to have the system running a peak performance. Next we need to choose a storage drive for our audio, video and photos. I chose to select the Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5″ Internal Hard Drive. This has enough room to get started and build a nice collection depending on what media you will be putting onto this drive. If you chose to put photos, audio and DVD video your move then fine. If you’re looking to put Blu Rays then it will fill up quickly. For additional space you can always add external hard drives or upgrade to a media server with many extra drives to store to. The cost for these two drives will cost you about $105.

Next we will need a way to get the DVD/Blu Ray’s onto our storage drive. We chose to use the LITE-ON Black 4X BD-ROM 8X DVD-ROM 32X CD-ROM SATA Internal 4X Blu-ray Reader as our optical drive. This drive will read DVD/Blu Ray’s and record CD-R and DVD’s. The cost is around $60.00.

Now that we have the core of the HTPC selected, we need to put all the components somewhere. For a case we selected the Antec Black M FusionRemote 350 Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case. The case fits the job and looks like an existing entertainment component. The case also come with a display on the case and remote control. The case comes with large, quite fans to keep the components running cool with have the noise you would expect from a standard desktop computer. The case costs about $100.00.

To control our HTPC we chose the Logitech Cordless Desktop EX 100 Black 102 Normal Keys USB RF Wireless Standard Keyboard and Mouse. This will cost you $30.00.

Lastly we need an operating system to running our HTPC. We chose Windows 7 Home Premium. The cost of the OEM disk and key was $100.00. 

Stay tuned for the next next part of the build. Part 2 (Getting the HTPC Running)