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QuintonMcLeod on 11 July 2014
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-CraZed- said:
vivster said:
-CraZed- said:
vivster said:
A lot of problems with this setup.
Don't have time yet to go into detail(give me an hour or so) but here my main question:

How important is noise for you? Because this build looks like it will blow out your walls.

Yeah it'll be a bit cramped but I have seen similar builds with the smaller Silverstone cases with the 280X included. Tons of fans on the case so yeah it has the potential to be a bit on the noisy side but then my only other option is a bigger case which won't fit in with my setup at all. The case is pretty big for what it is so its a possibility that I wouldn't need to run every single fan in it or a fan controller could help with that (though that isn't the most elegant solution) so I could most likely get a good compromise.

Maybe back off and go with an i5-3570k or 4670/4690? But then the cost will go up plus I wonder how well streaming my games will do?

Yes, definitely go for an Intel and a proper air cooling solution.

If you don't want to spend more on a CPU than what you currently planned I recommend a 3570( k). It's stronger than the FX-8350 and a lot cooler.

I don't know what you have an experience with liquid cooling, but usually they're designed to keep a chip cool and not necessarily quiet. A good air cooling beats any AIO liquid cooling.

So was leaning towards the FX due to its price point but after reflecting a bit the price isn't that much better and yeah its TDP is much higher than than a comparable intel proc so I think your suggestion is right on. But I think I might drop in a 4670k though it supposedly runs a tad bit hotter than the 3570k it hs some better benchmarks and is a bit cheaper.

That said I think I'll also take your advice and switch the cooler out as well since the cpu won't be as hot. Only reason I chose a liquid cooler was due to the heat on the FX chip. Thanks for the advice.

Oh what about AMDs APUs? Anyone using one of those?

I've built multiple APU machines. I've even built an HTPC that boots XBMC via Network Boot (PXE). 

I've also built a Steambox. My Steambox runs 2 x R9 290s. It's very nice, but attempting to run XBMC software on it will be rather annoying and with your current set up, you're going to be disappointed. Let me explain:

Currently, I use my smartphone and tablets as remote controls for my HTPCs (I have two of them that boot via PXE). My gf finds this set up very easy to approach, so, therefore, she likes to use them both to watch movies or stream shows. My Steambox boots directly into the steam Big Picture mode (Windows Explorer had been disabled via the registry). The only way to control it is via my PS3 controller which is hooked up wirelessly via Bluetooth - that way it feels more like a console experience.

Now here is your problem: Your current set up will require a mouse and keyboard to function properly. Once you have a mouse and keyboard, it'll pull you from the experience.  My Steambox sometimes needs to be configured for particular games which requires a mouse and keyboard to do. You'll certainly need a mouse and keyboard to switch from Steam and XBMC (unless you install a certain XBMC plugin - but it's not 100%). So, essentially what you'll have on your hands is just... Well... A PC. If you want to convince your wife of this, you should make a dedicated HTPC and a dedicated Steambox. An HTPC is very cheap to make. A Steambox may not be.