NEW COMPLETE HTPC FOR AROUND $500

[MSIINOZ]

Thought I would show you all one of my new projects
I have been finding (BRAND NEW) bits & pieces as cheap as possible to put together a new build for a family member

The goal was to go with a compact micro-ATX motherboard and keep the HTPC case size down to a minimum

Here is a list of the goodies I have, With prices etc

(ALL PRICES SHOWN INCLUDED DELIVERY)

MSI 890GXM-G65 SATA III USB 3.0 $124
Classed as a micro ATX gaming style motherboard

AMD Athlon X2 260 3.0Gh/z $60
Plenty enough power for a HTPC

Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB $50
What an I say, 8GB of awesome Corsair RAM

Corsair CX430 V2 $42
Great reliability & warranty to back it up

Seagate 1TB SATA III 6Gb/s $90
Plenty of storage to get started

LOGITECH MK260 KEYBOARD & MOUSE $30 (Incl delivery from 500+ K's away)
10m range, Spill resistant keyboard

SILVERSTONE ML03 CASE $99 (LOCAL STORE PICKUP PRICE)
Great looking little case

SAMSUNG SATA DVD BURNER $22
Cheap enough & brand new with Nero 9

Obviously you cant buy these parts for these prices at the shops or even online retailers but if you are any good at finding stuff on an auction site you can pickup unwanted new stuff real cheap

So far I have everything sitting on my bench & in the case except for the Motherboard
It may be a little while before I receive it the way the mail is going?

I will upload some pics when I am able to drop in the motherboard, RAM & CPU

This system would be great for someone starting out on a budget but would like to upgrade & be able to turn it into a fairly powerful machine later on

[SsZERO]

Looks like a solid system for someone who wants to test the waters without diving in. :)

[MSIINOZ]

I agree SsZERO, This could be upgraded to some fairly high end specs including compatibilty with Phenom X6 core & Bulldozer FX 4, 6 & 8 core CPU's, Also ATI Crossfire support & 32Gb max memory, You could really go all out with this setup and end up with a very high performance HTPC

Cant wait to test it out, Im liking this case, Very nice looking, compact but easy to work with and very well priced too>

(IMG:http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p603/HTPC_TEC/MICRO%20HTPC%20BUILDS/SILVERSTONEML03BUILD-1.jpg)

[MSIINOZ]

I received the motherboard today, I had half of it assembled already so it took no time to put the CPU & heatsink on the Mobo & put it in the case, Then I had some fun routing the wiring & fired it up, it all went smooth, Windows 7 64-Bit installed in no time, I got to install the graphics & audio etc drivers but have run out of time so I will have to keep going with it tomorrow, It starts up & shuts down really sweet and installed software etc pretty damn quick, All good so far