The Best $1,000 High-End Home Theater PC Build – September 2025

By Ari Altman | Published August 31, 2025 | Updated August 31, 2025

GD11A True Home Theater Powerhouse!

If you want to build the best home theater PC (HTPC) for $1,000, this is the system for you! The $1,000 High-End 4K Home Theater PC Build may be sleek and compact, but it packs in plenty of impressive gear, plus a lot of room for expansion. It features a stylish design that will blend in perfectly with the rest of your AV components, which is great for keeping other members of your household happy. Behind that unimposing façade, however, lies the power of a seriously tricked-out PC!

This Month’s Build, Featuring AMD!

For September 2025, the $1,000 High-End 4K HTPC Build features the impressive AMD Ryzen 7 7700X. It offers 8 cores and 16 threads for tremendous multi-tasking power, along with incredible efficiency for low noise and heat output. Plus the 7700X has an onboard graphics chip, which means you can avoid paying top dollar for an add-in video card. The best part: HDMI 2.1 is provided on the motherboard we recommend, which is a huge benefit to HTPC users, as it allows beyond full 4K/60Hz output to a TV. And while this system isn’t set up for gaming by default, we list an optional drop-in video card that will turn it into a serious gaming powerhouse!

On the storage side, the $1,000 High-End 4K HTPC Build goes with a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 solid-state drive, which will provide incredible responsiveness for your operating system and applications. Need more space? No problem – you can add two more M.2 solid-state drives and up to three high-capacity hard drives for media storage. You can also add an optional Blu-Ray burner for optical media access. In terms of memory, we recommend a full 32GB of ultra-fast DDR5-6000 RAM, which will provide plenty of breathing room for any high-end task, including video production.

The big news this month is the move to a new case, the GD11 from SilverStone, which replaces the venerable GD09 in this guide. There are a few key reasons for the change: first, it looks better! Second, with the demise of optical disc drives in the PC market, we decided to move to a case that drops that compatibility in favor of other more modern features, specifically larger coolers, including liquid coolers, which we opt for in this build. It also can fit powerful graphics cards and power supplies (we use a 650W model in this build).

Parting Thoughts

The $1,000 High-End 4K HTPC Build has plenty of expansion potential, so be sure to check out the optional components we recommend at the end of this guide, as well as our favorite accessories! Throughout this guide, we provide product links to Amazon, which will auto-convert for readers in Canada, the UK, and parts of the EU. As always, we’d appreciate if you’d use our product links, which helps support continued development of this and all of our buyer’s guides.

Required Components

  • CPU

    AMD Ryzen 7 7700X

    $272
    Based on AMD’s revolutionary Zen 4 architecture, the Ryzen 7 7700X is a truly fantastic processor. It has 8 core and 16 threads all running from a single complex for maximum efficiency, with boost up to 5.4GHz. And thanks to a significant price drop since its release, it’s more attractive than ever!

    The Guru’s Tip

    This CPU does not come with a cooler, so make sure to get the low-profile model we recommend later in this guide. Note that while we considered Intel's competing Core Ultra 7 processor, it uses far more power, and therefore is not a good match for a low-profile cooler as required in this system.

  • Motherboard

    Gigabyte B650 Eagle AX

    $159
    This B650 board from Gigabyte allows you to tap into the potential of AMD’s cutting-edge AM5 platform at a great price. You get a potent 12+2+2 power design, a PCIe Gen 4 video card slot, three M.2 slots (one being Gen 5), plus built-in WiFi 6E.

    The Guru’s Tip

    This board has both HDMI 2.1 and Displayport 1.4, meaning you can easily run any monitor or TV using the built-in graphics on the CPU we recommend without a video card in your system!

  • Memory

    TEAMGROUP 2x16GB Vulcan DDR5-6000 CL30 EXPO

    $94
    To get the most out of AMD’s latest CPUs, you want fast RAM, and DDR5-6000 is the sweetspot not only in terms of price, but in terms of the capabilities of the AM5 platform. It allows for the optimum settings and highest overall performance. This kit from TeamGroup is specially designed for AM5, thanks to the tight 30-36-36-76 EXPO timings.

    The Guru’s Tip

    The high speed of this RAM will help not only the CPU, but the built-in graphics too, as it borrows system RAM for its image processing. Just make sure to enable the faster speed in the motherboard's UEFI to take advantage of it!

  • Solid-State Drive

    KLEVV CRAS C910 1TB PCIe 4.0

    $57
    The C910 PCIe 4.0, which blows past PCIe Gen3-based drives by harnessing the power of the PCIe Gen4 interface, is an absolute bargain of a high-end drive. Featuring durable TLC NAND, it can hit up to 5,000MB/s in sequential operations!

    The Guru’s Tip

    1TB of capacity will be enough for any apps you'd possibly want on an HTPC, but for serious media storage, add the hard drive in the optional component section later in this guide.

  • Case

    SilverStone GD11

    $187
    This case is the perfect choice for a high-end HTPC. At just under 31 liters, it’s compact enough to fit on most AV shelves (and in fact is the standard 17.32″ width for AV components), and allows you to use powerful video cards or other expansion cards, plus up to two 3.5″ hard drives. For cooling, it includes two pre-installed 120mm low-noise fans. In front, you’ll find dual USB Type-A ports and a USB Type-C. Note that it cannot accommodate an optical drive, but given their demise in the PC market, we feel comfortable recommending this case to new builders.

    The Guru’s Tip

    This stylish case can fit a downdraft air cooler or a 240mm liquid cooler, and given the superiority of liquid coolers, we're going with that in this system.

  • Power Supply

    MSI MAG A650BE

    $65
    This PSU offers top-notch features at a very reasonable price. It has 650W of power on tap, Bronze-rated efficiency, semi-modular cables for a clean build, and a compact depth of 140mm for ease of installation.

    The Guru’s Tip

    While you don't need 650W for this build, this one comes in at an amazing price and offers two important features: very compact dimensions, and semi-modular cables (meaning you can leave out a whole bunch of cables you won't be using).

  • CPU Cooler

    Thermalright Aqua Elite 240

    $45
    For excellent performance on a budget, we recommend you go for the Aqua Elite 240. It uses two high-performance 120mm fans and a whisper-quiet pump to keep your CPU cool! Priced below many air coolers, this model offers tremendous value per dollar, plus great looks to enhance your system.

    The Guru’s Tip

    This mounts to the front of the system, using the large meshed panel as an intake. As you probably don't want the RGB lighting in an HTPC, just leave the lighting cable unplugged.

  • Operating System

    Windows 11 Home (USB) @Newegg

    $139
    Windows 11 built on everything people loved about Windows 10, and then took it to 11! It adds significant under-the-hood changes to make it faster and more secure, and of course, the interface is sleek too! Note that we’re linking to Newegg, because Amazon long ago stopped selling this physical USB version of Windows, which is the most convenient one to use.

    The Guru’s Tip

    Windows 11 is what you want on your PC to maximize performance!

Optional Products

  • Video Card

    MSI GeForce RTX 5070 12GB 3X Shadow

    $550
    The RTX 5070 offers amazing performance and amazing efficiency, surpassing the 4070 by over 20% at the same launch price. This model’s triple-fan cooler will keep temperatures in check and noise levels down, without going overboard on size.

    The Guru’s Tip

    Turn your HTPC into a gaming hot rod with this drop-in GPU, which is a perfect fit for the case, which can accommodate big cards like this one!

  • Hard Drive

    Seagate Barracuda 4TB

    $85
    Need a lot of storage at a great price? Then head straight for Seagate’s Barracuda series of hard drives. This drives runs at a cool and quiet 5400RPM, and thus consumes very little energy, making it a great option for long-term storage of media and other files.

    The Guru’s Tip

    While this drive spins at just 5400RPM, that's a benefit for HTPC use, because it's much quieter than a standard 7200RPM drive, and frankly, that extra "speed" doesn't do anything for reading media files.

  • Sound Card

    Creative Sound Blaster AE-7

    $210
    If you’re serious about audio, you’ll want to add a dedicated sound card to your system. The AE-7 from Sound Blaster features an astounding 127db signal-to-noise ratio, an ESS SABRE-class 9018 DAC, along with an Audio Control Module (ACM) that incorporates a built-in microphone array and mic/headphone I/O connections, plus a control knob to adjust the headphone levels.

    The Guru’s Tip

    This card can be installed in the lowest PCIe slot on the motherboard.

  • The Home Theater Keyboard/Trackpad Combo

    Logitech K400

    $28
    Want to use your PC from the couch? Then pick up this wireless media keyboard with integrated trackpad, because mice are no fun to use on your lap!

    The Guru’s Tip

    The keyboard connects using a tiny USB receiver.