htpc Budget HTPC Build

[Kraftman]

I'm looking to put together a HTPC to drive XBMC Eden on a 1080p TV (HDMI) for around $400 CAD.

It needs to be able to decode 720/1080p H.264 content, decode AC3/DTS, and also passthrough DTS/AC3/DTSMA/TrueHD without any dropped frames or lagging. It should have the power to decode H.264 encoded Blurays -- as long as it can do that, everything else will work as well. Preferably have the power in CPU decoding rather than DXVA as DXVA is sometimes inflexible. The machine needs HDMI output of audio and video.

Intel is preferred over AMD.

Have: Windows 7 license, hard drive, DVDRW drive, display

Need: Case, motherboard (video?/audio/LAN), RAM, processor, PSU

Any suggestions?

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

Hi there!

As for the case, do you have any preferences on the form factor? ATX/mini-ATX/mini-ITX?

[Kraftman]

Hi there!

As for the case, do you have any preferences on the form factor? ATX/mini-ATX/mini-ITX?

Not strong preferences. I have another HTPC with an ATX nMedia case which is decent. Perhaps smaller if we can do it, mATX seems like a better choice generally.

I'm looking at maybe the LGA1155 Celeron with Intel HD graphics, but I've also read that the AMD Fusion blows Intel's integrated solutions out of the water.

[NextGen_Gamer]

I went $50 over budget with this build, but you could easily eliminate the majority of that by finding a cheaper case/PSU. And you may not like the one I picked out anyways. But at $450 you will be getting a quad-core "Ivy Bridge" processor which for your HTPC needs would be perfect.

Motherboard: ASUS P8H77-I Mini-ITX (Intel H77 Chipset) - $109 at Newegg

Processor: Intel Core i5 3450S (2.80GHz Nominal, 3.50GHz Turbo, 65-Watt TDP) - $199 at Newegg

Memory: 8GB (4GB x 2) DDR3-1600 Corsiar XMS3 - $49 at Newegg

Case: Antec ISK-300-150 Mini-ITX Case with 150-Watt PSU - $89 at Newegg

That's a pretty dang fast HTPC right there :)