Building a Home Theater PC: Step 1 Components

My first real post was about Home Theater PC's. Recently one of my friends has asked me to put together an HTPC for him. So I thought that it would be a good idea to share this on Steemit.

How it started

A friend of mine came over to help me with the fence of my backyard (had to be replaced). He has come over a couple of times now but for some reason never got to see my Home Theater setup.
He was quite impressed and of course he uttered the words I have heard so many times when people see my Home theater PC (HTPC), "I want that too".
Because he was such a great help with replacing my fence, I agreed to put one together for him.

For more on HTPC's read the post Home Theater PC: Basics.

The Hardware

Processor

What it is about:
The engine of the PC.

The selected component:
AMD FX-8300, 8 cores with 3.3 Mhz of horse power.

Why?
AMD has a couple of advantages over Intel. Price and compatibility being the most important ones. This PC is not going to be a high end gaming rig, so keeping the cost low with a more than decent AMD CPU is the best choice.

Cost:
€99,90

Motherboard

What it is about:
The board that connects all the components with one another

The selected component:
GIGABYTE GA-78LMT-USB3 with onboard graphics

Why?
I prefer Asrock but this board has onboard graphics, this way my friend can have a working machine and decide later on if he wants to add a video card for more serious gaming.

Cost:
€48,99

Memory

What it is about:
The short term memory of the PC

The selected component:
Kingston Value RAM KVR1333D3N9/8G, 8Gb of RAM.

Why?
8Gb is more than enough for a HTPC and future gaming purposes. I chose Kingston because it is a reliable and cheap brand.

Cost:
€59,90

Storage

What it is about:
The long term memory of the PC

The selected components:
Crucial Crucial MX300, 275 GB SSD
Western Digital, WD Blue, 4 TB

Why?
The SSD is used only for the Operating System (Windows 10) and relevant programs like Kodi. This will make the HTPC fast and silent when booting up. The 4 TB hard disk is meant for storing files (e.g. video, pictures and music). This method will ensure that Windows will stay fast and snappy.
The Crucial MX-series is the best for SSD's at the moment and at an reasonable price.
I always prefer Western Digital for HDD and have used their disks for many years without problems. It will take my friend a while to fill up the 4 TB of disk space.

Cost:
Crucial SSD €69,90
WD HDD €119,90

Power Supply

What it is about:
The part that powers the PC

The selected component:
Cooler master Watt Lite 230V (ErP 2013) 500W

Why?
Actually I had another PSU in mind but I am working with a budget and the Power supply was tippin' the scales so I had to compromise and choose a cheaper PSU.
Cooler Master has surprisingly quiet PSU's (which is important with a HTPC) and 500W is enough to keep this HTPC running without problems.
In the event that my friend decides to add a video card however I think a more powerful PSU will be needed.

Cost:
€44,49

HTPC case

What it is about:
The face of the PC

The selected components:
Silverstone LC10S-E

Why?
Silverstone are experts at producing good HTPC cases. Their HTPC cases resemble A/V amplifiers and they take into account that non HTPC components should also fit into the case.
This case in particular has a very classy look.

Cost:
€134,90

CPU cooler

What it is about:
Keeps your CPU cool and happy

The selected components:
Scythe Big Shuriken 2 Rev.B

Why?
Stock CPU coolers suck and are noisy. The Scythe Big Shuriken is a cpu cooler designed for HTPC's. The Big Shuriken is silent and moves enough air to keep the AMD very cool.

Cost:
€35,99