Thought's, Opinions, Suggestions on Craigslist Listing

[fuzz092888]

So I was bopping around CL today and came across this thing. Since I don't know a while lot about HTPC's and what constiutes a good one or a mediocre one, I thought I'd ask here and see if you guys thing this HTPC is worth the $500 this guy is asking for his or if I should see if he'll go lower or perhaps maybe you'll tell me it's a great deal and I should jump on it post haste. Link is above, specs from the listing are below. TIA.

- Fractal Design DEFINE R4 Black Pearl Case (extremely quiet & cool temperature)

- ASUS F2A85-M PRO FM2 Motherboard (Available PCI Express slot for additional GPU)
- HD Sound & Video output via HDMI or Optical via Motherboard
- AMD A10-5800K Trinity 3.8GHz Quad Core APU (with Radeon HD 7660D, 3D ready)
- CPU cooled by Noctua NH-U9B SE2 92 mm CPU Cooler
- Case cooled by multiple 120 mm fans
- Thermaltake Toughpower XT TPX-675W Modular Active PFC Power Supply
- Ceton InfiniTV 4 PCIe 4-channel Internal Cable Tuner Card
- 16GB Crucial DDR3 PC3-12800 Unbuffered NON-ECC RAM
- Corsair Force Series GT Red 90GB SDD Drive (Runs OS, boots in <8 seeconds)
- WD Green 2TB HDD with 64MB cache
- Silverstone Tek SATA Cables
- LG Super Multi Blu-ray with 3D capability
- Logictech Wireless Keyboard with Built-in Trackpad
- Windows Media Center Remote with IR receiver
- Wireless Internet Adapter included if don't want to run LAN

System runs on Windows 8.1 Professional with Windows Media Center. This system set-up enables full access and media capabilities, including to, but not limited to, 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD, FULL HD DVR Cable Access with multi-channel Cable Card (this saves you BIG money on your cable bill).

 

[crossedover]

Other than the case not being a standard av rack mount, that's a good deal. I'm a huge fan of the value of amd processors and their mid and upper apu's video rivals some highend stand alone cards

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Looks pretty good to me. Plenty of processor (3.8GHz Quad core) and room for expansion (8 total HDD space available).

 

[Lulimet]

Way overpowered for just HTPC duties but it has some very good stuff in it.
Would I pay asking price for it? No because it's still a used product. I'd offer $400 if I were you.

 

[cpp]

Way overpowered for just HTPC duties but it has some very good stuff in it.
Would I pay asking price for it? No because it's still a used product. I'd offer $400 if I were you.

Agree, was this a personal build or one the person bought.
How old is the unit, hence no USB ports ,
Any Ethernet access ?
which HDMI is it, 1.2, 1.3 or 1.4

Offer $400

 

[crossedover]

Agree, was this a personal build or one the person bought.
How old is the unit, hence no USB ports ,
Any Ethernet access ?
which HDMI is it, 1.2, 1.3 or 1.4

Offer $400

The MB answers all of your questions. It was a personal build not branded. The MB has all of the latest standards. While it maybe overpriced for a HTPC in generic terms, it looks to be an excellent computer for the money.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

How old is the unit, hence no USB ports ,
Any Ethernet access ?

I assumed it had USB & Ethernet since even a cheap 10 year old PC has those. I hope this 3.8GHz Quad Core PC has those.

 

[crossedover]

The MB is substantial to say the least. Just it and the case retail for $230

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The MB is substantial to say the least. Just it and the case retail for $230

16GB of DDR3 + 2TB HDD + 90GB SDD + PSU + BD Drive probably retails another $400.

Just add 3 more 4TB HDDs, install XBMC, and you have one serious HTPC.

 

[Lulimet]

No doubt that it cost him more to build it and has very good specs, but come on, you always negotiate. Never settle for the first number

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

No doubt that it cost him more to build it and has very good specs, but come on, you always negotiate. Never settle for the first number

That's a given.

 

[fuzz092888]

He's a male nurse and needs the cash more than the computer. I offered him $300.

 

[cpp]

I assumed it had USB & Ethernet since even a cheap 10 year old PC has those. I hope this 3.8GHz Quad Core PC has those.

Just found the specs of the MB, it does have a USB 3.0 port

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Ceton tuner alone was worth $200 if you plan to use ocur/cablecard tuner
I find that this AMD's 100W TPD cpu and "extremely quiet" are rarely together, but looks like seller several steps to quiet down the power hungry cpu
I do agree it's overpowered for htpc, BUT not so much if you plan to use it with above mentioned Ceton Cablecard tuner

I find that with OTT (over the top) services (like amazon prime, netflix etc) one does nearly need so much power, not for playing MKV files... Even tiny Roku box can manage that.
I am a big proponent of using dedicated media server and client combo - it has several benefits like - centralized storage could placed anywhere and several clients could be very small and silent (or near so)

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Here's another idea, this build has decent skeleton for a custom good gaming pc, just get rid of ceton tuner, wireless key/mouse -> wired ones and good $300 GPU and of you go

 

[fuzz092888]

Well it's all a moot point since the guy ended up selling to someone else. However there are two others I'd like to get some thoughts on if you guys aren't sick of talking about my craigslist finds.

Here's one - $499

HTPC Computer with huge storage

Lian Li case
AMD E-350 APU (MSI E359IA-E45 motherboard)
4Gb DDR3 1033 MHz RAM
300W 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified PSU

6 HDDs

120Gb - System - Windows 7 64bit Ultimate

3 x 2Tb + 1.5Tb +1Tb - storage (8.5 Tb total)

Comes with your choice of either (wired) mouse/keyboard or a Visiontek wireless remote (not both) and a pair of (cheap) computer speakers.

The LAN port on the MB stopped working so the computer comes with a USB wifi n adapter.

The computer has XBMC installed with all the "good" video add-ons installed.

Number 2 - $200

http://frederick.craigslist.org/ele/4589918949.html

Core i3
4GB RAM
128GB SSD
1TB HDD
DVD Drive
600W PSU

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

First pc with lian li - very weak cpu and mish-mash of various hard drives (without warranty) - I would not get it for $500, not even $200

number is much better choice, except the psu - it's great, but WAY overpowered for this box. 200-300W would be sufficient
For $200 I think it's great deal - grab it if you can

 

[fuzz092888]

First pc with lian li - very weak cpu and mish-mash of various hard drives (without warranty) - I would not get it for $500, not even $200

number is much better choice, except the psu - it's great, but WAY overpowered for this box. 200-300W would be sufficient
For $200 I think it's great deal - grab it if you can

Alright, I just sent an e-mail to that guy. One more if you're not tired of these yet

How's this one. I missed it before and it's a little closer than the other one. Asking $425

Fully Ready Living Room HTPC (Intel Core i3-2105)

Windows Media Center w/ direct record to the 2TB HD from OTA & CableCard
MythBuntu w/ direct record to the 2TB HD from OTA & CableCard
OpenElec
MediaBrowser
Plex Front End

Parts

- Intel Core i3-2105 Sandy Bridge Dual-Core 3.1GHz LGA 1155 65W Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I32105
- ASRock Z68 PRO3-M LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
- G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ
- PNY VCGGT4301XPB GeForce GT 430 (Fermi) 1GB 128-Bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Video Card
- Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
- Western Digital WD Green WD20EARS 2TB 64MB Cache SATA
- Intel EXPI9301CTBLK 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI-Express Network Adapter
- Antec NeoECO C NEO ECO 520C 520W ATX12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
- SilverStone Aluminum/Steel Micro ATX Media Center/HTPC Case ML03B (Black)

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Alright, I just sent an e-mail to that guy. One more if you're not tired of these yet

How's this one. I missed it before and it's a little closer than the other one. Asking $425

Fully Ready Living Room HTPC (Intel Core i3-2105)

[/FONT]

No, I'm not

Ok, this build about same as previous, but with slimmer case (which is nice), but few things stick out - I don't really see the need for extra nic or external gpu
core i3-2105 onchip video should support hdmi with hd-audio just fine...
$200 would be a fair offer -

oh, and "few months old" my a$$ - the cpu info from intel: also the SSD is few years old model

Launch Date	Q2'11
Expected Discontinuance	Q4'2012

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[fuzz092888]

No, I'm not

Ok, this build about same as previous, but with slimmer case (which is nice), but few things stick out - I don't really see the need for extra nic or external gpu
core i3-2105 onchip video should support hdmi with hd-audio just fine...
$200 would be a fair offer -

oh, and "few months old" my a$$ - the cpu info from intel: also the SSD is few years old model

Launch Date	Q2'11
Expected Discontinuance	Q4'2012

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Wow, glad I asked. I'll have to see what this guy says about that and see if he'll come down.