living room budget mini pc

[leo]

Hi guys,
I'm thinking about a small pc, almost invisible :) , to use in the living room with my HDtv as monitor. main usage will be as HTPC and gaming station for indie/old games..I've already got a good gaming rig in an other room.
the system probably will be on at least 12h a day most of the week, so it must be quiet.
my budget will be under 500$.
I tought the intel NUC (haswell with hd 5000) or similarities with the same form factor could be enough to play more requiring games (like skyrim, civilization 5, chivalry or dota2) at midium-low setting. what do you think?

[_I_]

nuc could work, but very limited for upgrades
no gpu, uses so-dimms, notebook hdds or ssd

if you can hide a atx/m-atx behind a wall or tv stand
or an itx case/mobo, they can hold a standard gpu/psu and have room for good cooling

an itx build with an os can be around $500usd
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/34apQ

without an os you can get the 4670

[time goblin]

Originally posted by leo1984:

gaming station for indie/old games.

Originally posted by leo1984:

(like skyrim, civilization 5, chivalry or dota2)

what?

[leo]

Originally posted by _I_:

nuc could work, but very limited for upgrades
no gpu, uses so-dimms, notebook hdds or ssd

if you can hide a atx/m-atx behind a wall or tv stand
or an itx case/mobo, they can hold a standard gpu/psu and have room for good cooling

an itx build with an os can be around $500usd
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/34apQ

without an os you can get the 4670

I' ve really no space for a bigger system. the tv is in a cavity in the wall. I know my purpose has a lot of cons.. :(

Originally posted by time goblin:

Originally posted by leo1984:

gaming station for indie/old games.

Originally posted by leo1984:

(like skyrim, civilization 5, chivalry or dota2)

what?

I'm almost sure NUC will be good for indie/old games, what about civ 5, dota2, chivalry and skyrim at low setting?
do you think could I stream them from an other rig in the same lan?

[Veristä mössöä]

NUC comes without memory, SSD/HDD, OS & WLAN adapter (depending of the model).

So price can easily go over 500$. Otherwise it's pretty solid package. HD 5000 is capable for older games and some newer ones with reduced detail settings.

[leo]

Originally posted by ontelo:

NUC comes without memory, SSD/HDD, OS & WLAN adapter (depending of the model).

So price can easily go over 500$. Otherwise it's pretty solid package. HD 5000 is capable for older games and some newer ones with reduced detail settings.

any cheaper solution with similar FF?

[_I_]

amd builds will make alot more heat, and much lower cpu performance

[_I_]

i3 4130 /w h81/b85 is about the same price as an a10/fx6300 /w good board setup

[mika]

This is what iam putting together for our living-room or 2nd mini pc- I have the Fractal Design Node 304, just bought the Gigabyte A88XN-WI-FI motherboard (mini itx) has alot of features for just around $100 bucks, I will be picking-up the Amd a10 6800k or the newer 7850k Kalveri or whatever they are called tommorow with a full modular psu ( 750 watt ) corsair rm series......The only thing that worries me is the i-gpu,I know its respectable mid-range chip but the 6800k has 382 radeon cores? Not sure, But i have an xtra Radeon (refrence design ) 6970 (2gb) that looks so sexy inside the Node 304 that I just must use it in this build~! What do u guys think,go hybrid crossfire?what card do i need to buy to crossfire the i-gpu or use the 6970>? I will be testing for performance as soon as iam done.

[_I_]

hybrid crossfire (dual graphics) isnt worth it, just use the better card

[mika]

Yeah thats what I was thinking too, I need your guys opinion for the cpu cooler as iam kinda stuck now (space wise ) iam not so sure I can fit a Corsair h80 i closed loop in the Node 304- Do you guys have any other options for me>? ........ Theres no way in hell iam gonna for a Evo-212 in there but maybe just maybe if I mount the radaitor on the outside of the case I can pull it off>?!......... Iam buying a full moduar Psu just so I have xtra space and not a huge mess of wires running all over the place! Corsair Rm 650 watt-Gold certified-$130. This little machine has really got my hopes up in terms of looks, now lets just see how she performs but according to the benchmarks ive seen the A10-6800 K is right there with my Fx 6100 if not better at most games! My kids and wife are the lucky ones this time around lol. Hopefully I can pick-up the 8350 for myself after this ones done?

[mika]

Sorry for double post but for the sake of argument what card is compatable for hybrid crossfire>? Isnt it the Radeon 6570 or 6670? Thank you.

[_I_]

if you are height limited, cm n520 will cool justa s good and is slightly shorter
141mm vs 160mm tall

if you need shorter, gemini ii m4 will cool about like a tx3 (around 100w limit)
and is 59mm tall

[senseidongen]

Originally posted by UberFiend:

No need for aftermarket cooler unless you are extreme overclocking, the stock cooler (depsite the fact people dump on them all the time) will handle a moderate to decent overclock (say around 4.2ghz).

... but they aren't quiet - my AMD one CERTAINLY wasn't and while the Intel ones are better, I can still hear the one in my office PC right now and all I am doing is looking at websites whilst eating lunch, so conceivably that might be annoying under load. That said, on a tight budget, an after market cooler should be an afterthought.

Have you considered the gigabyte-brix? There is a brix gaming coming out which will use a discrete R9 275M GPU - it's obviously a laptop card but probably still pretty powerful. Not sure how much it will cost though, plus you'll need SODIMM RAM and a 2.5" SSD (or conceivably a 2.5" HDD)

EDIT: also, if case width is the main issue (it is for me with my PC behind my TV) but other dimensions aren't so important, have a look into the new Silverstone RVZ01 - it's a M-ITX case that can accept full height, dual slot GPUs and the case is only 100mm (4") deep (it uses a PCIe riser card like the beta steam machine). However, you do need an SFX PSU for that case which aren't cheap for a decent one

[senseidongen]

Originally posted by UberFiend:

Do you have 15.1 surround sound in your office too? ;p

Hahaha I wish :P but I agree in so much as you shouldn't buy an aftermarket cooler unless the stock is annoyingly loud or if you want to overclock... which I doubt for a living room friendly PC