Building HTPC 2 Components

  • 8th Apr 2012
  • 4 min read

(This is the second part of this HTPC build series do read the Part 1 – HTPC Research and Part 3 – HTPC Final )

After doing a lot of research I come up with the final list of components. I choose to go for SSD for the OS and programs drive. Really like the choice of Silver Stone GD06 case I made. But that required me to buy a modular power supply and shorter cable set. I was able to repurpose one of my external 1TB USB drives by opening it and using it as a main storage. Keyboard/Remote choice was based on online reviews. iPazzport is a good looking small form factor RF based remote. Performance is average. My best investment was the Ceton infinity card that allows me to take my cable tv wire into the PC and

  1. CPU – i5-2500 (BX80623I52500) 250
  2. Motherboard – GIGABYTE GA-Z68MX-UD2H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 150
  3. Solid State Hard Drive – Crucial CT128M4SSD2 m4 2.5″ Solid State Drive – 128GB 159.99
  4. Case – SilverStone Grandia Series HTPC Case (GD06) 122
  5. Tuner card – Ceton Infinty 4 PCI-e 199.99
  6. Power Supply – SilverStone Strider Plus ST50F-P 500W ATX 79.99
  7. Hard disk – Western Digital – 1 TB – $60
  8. RAM MEM 4Gx2|GSKILL F3-17000CL9D-8GBXM 74.99
  9. Bluray player – BD Combo Samsung SH-B123L 57.99
  10. CPU COOLER SCYTHE|SCSK-1100 R 34.99
  11. Keyboard/Remote – iPazzport KP-810-18R 38.87
  12. CablesSilverStone PP05 Short Cable for PSU Set 19.99
  13. Wifi AdapRosewill RNX-N180UBE 16.08
  14. Guide – Renethx 4

Here is a photo of all the components

 

Silverstone GD06 case

 

Gigabyte Z68 Motherboard

Assembly in progress

 

My buddy Guru Chahal also helped me a lot during this HTPC build. Powersupply in the above picture is upside down from the optimal position as the fan should be down. Ultimately I did put in the optimal way. Had to play with cables a lot for that. Couple of interesting things I learnt during this built. CPU needs it own power. Didn’t knew that and started the PC without that connection. Took some time to figure that out. One should always have a real keyboard handy to configure the PC for 1st time. SATA Blu ray players have separate SATA connectors for data and power. It was hugely satisfying once the HTPC was built and connected with the TV. I ended up spending more than $1000 but it was worth it :)