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Cheap HTPC: Thoughts on hardware?

GTaudiophile

GTaudiophile

Lifer
I am thinking about building a cheap (~$350) HTPC, the point of which will simply be to stream online content from the Internet (including Netflix) and other network PCs onto a Panasonic G25 HDTV. Most of the local content is 720p MKV files.

Mobo/CPU/GPU: MSI E350IA-E45 AMD Zacate E350
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
Case: hec ITX200B Mini ITX
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD5002AALX 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s
Keyboard: ADESSO WKB-3100UB 2.4GHz Wireless Mini Trackball
OS: Win7 Pro

Comments? Suggestions?
 
used asus (wierd triangle one):$180 - comes with win7
boot ssd for quiet time : $70 (optional unit comes with 1tb drive)
antec microfusion 350 : $70 (newegg deal)
lenovo remote $25 special
geforce GT430 $49 - full bitstream and full screen 3D hdmi 1.4 (optional the asus came with a geforce 220)

win7mc,xbmc,ie9. in my sig. 8gb ram, core2q8300 2.5ghz i'm good to go. Can easily stream two 1920x1080 full bitrate blu-ray iso's - 5 years from now when tv's are double resolution? still good to go.

Need to airvideo transcode to 1-3 people at the same time? you've got power! need to auto-transcode from win7mc recordings? you've got the power to do that and record two 1080 tv shows (hdhomerun is my choice for tuner), and playback two 1080p video's at once.

think about the ssd for boot - that way you can spin down the green 1TB 5400rpm and keep it quiet.

I'd suspect in 5 years you can still fit a new pc in the same chassis so that will be good re-use as well.

We could call it media center consolidation - like server,storage consolidation - you get more bang per buck with 1 mid-power machine than alot of low power ones that are specialized on formats that will be outdated in a few years.
 
GTaudiophile said:
I am thinking about building a cheap (~$350) HTPC, the point of which will simply be to stream online content from the Internet (including Netflix) and other network PCs onto a Panasonic G25 HDTV. Most of the local content is 720p MKV files.

Mobo/CPU/GPU: MSI E350IA-E45 AMD Zacate E350
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
Case: hec ITX200B Mini ITX
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD5002AALX 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s
Keyboard: ADESSO WKB-3100UB 2.4GHz Wireless Mini Trackball
OS: Win7 Pro

Comments? Suggestions?
Click to expand...

You have no PSU, and a SSD (for many reasons) is way better in a HTPC. Even a small one.
 
goobee said:
Don't SSDs have a limitation on how many times you can write to it?
Click to expand...

Yes, but that's blown way out of poportion just like the whole plasma issue with decreasing brightness levels.

But a SSD isn't really necessary in a HTPC. The access time of HDDs is more than enough for file playback. Where it really helps is when you have a really huge movie collection and you're using some type of frontend that supports movie covers and backdrops. These frontends usually store the images to a local cache so a SSD definitely helps with displaying the images much more quickly when you're scrolling through your collection. It's still not instantaneous but much faster than when the cache was on a HDD.
 
ssd use more power than drives actually - but trust me - you want a x25-v - it is solid - no write-back cache if power or crash - put the rest on the hard drive since you want to go big - or use smb fileshare server.

one thing: subwoofers will DESTROY hard drives. which is why my NAS is downstairs and away. killed way too many drives enjoying the 5.1 being turned up 🙂 i use the drive only for recording tv win 7mc
 
I use BeyondTV on my HTPC and the guide updates take forever. Not the download part but the update to the program. Thinking about putting in a SSD. Think it would help?
 
Emulex said:
one thing: subwoofers will DESTROY hard drives. which is why my NAS is downstairs and away. killed way too many drives enjoying the 5.1 being turned up 🙂 i use the drive only for recording tv win 7mc
Click to expand...

LOL, how close was your sub to your drives?

I have had subs within a few feet for years and never had a problem.....was it the vibration? Spindle drives should not have been affected by the magnets in the sub.

Now a sub next to a CRT monitor......heh that is fun.


Yea I was into building a HTPC myself since I usually build all my computers but I got a ZBOX with a free HD and free ram at a new egg special that saved me a few $100 so I ended up going that route. 🙂 It was barebones so there was still a tiny bit of assembly needed.
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856115034

I recently purchased and did a review of the above. Paired with a 3.2 gigaherz Clardale processor you wil get far more power at a lower cost than your system.

You can read the review here:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2154274

Once I replaced the 80 mm case fan with a quiet one for 11 bucks, the machine as a whole is very quiet and in fact is only about 2 feet from my head and I can barely hear it.

btw I used a 60gb Adata ssd and a 500 gb spindle drive and the machine is blazing fast. Compared to your build it would be light years ahead, and even with the SSD cost about the same.

EDIT: I see the Biostar barebones is out of stock at newegg. You can wait til it comes back in stock, or buy it someplace else.
 
MrWizzard said:
LOL, how close was your sub to your drives?

I have had subs within a few feet for years and never had a problem.....was it the vibration? Spindle drives should not have been affected by the magnets in the sub.

Now a sub next to a CRT monitor......heh that is fun.


Yea I was into building a HTPC myself since I usually build all my computers but I got a ZBOX with a free HD and free ram at a new egg special that saved me a few $100 so I ended up going that route. 🙂 It was barebones so there was still a tiny bit of assembly needed.
Click to expand...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDacjrSCeq4 <-- watch


this is why you use rubber isolation mounting in laptops - this is why you don't mix RPM/drive types (and even then you can probably generate a standing wave since we're not all schooled in the jedi arts of noise cancelling our gear)
 
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I haven't used a Zacate-based board in an HTPC yet - if you go that route, let us know how you like it. The only thing I've heard that makes me hesitate on using that platform is I've read there are some issues with streaming 1080p flash content. Sounds more like a driver/software issue than anything, but... something to think about.

I have two HTPC's at home running ION-based boards and I really like them... small (mini ITX), quiet, don't require much power. I agree about the SSD - I just put little 40 gig ones in my machines because all the movies are on my file server in the basement. Really helps boot/resume times and makes the system seem snappier.

I did run into an issue on one of the machines where my MKVs started stuttering. Not really sure what happened, but somehow some codecs/software got in the loop that didn't support DXVA... I ended up just reloading because I keep it pretty simple, so it takes less than an hour to setup (Win 7 + Mastroka + FFDshow). Anyway, point is, don't over complicate things but make sure you have hardware acceleration working if you go with one of these APU/SOC/whatever-type systems.
 
Another vote for a Zbox. Mine is rock solid with Win7 and XBMC. I am going to try dual booting XBMC Live on it. I have the version with the Atom and ION2 and my main concern was low wattage and stability.
 
I too have been considering a HTPC (my first) for my HT in the basement. It will serve as both a HTPC as well as store all my movies in two 2 TB drives. At first I was considering a low power platform like Zacate only for movie watching purposes, but then again, I also want to play some racing sims on my 110" PJ setup.

A Zacate platform rules out any gaming whatsoever, right? If I want gaming, I should only consider i3 or something similar? My main concerns are power consumption and performance, and I'm looking for a good balance between those two.
 
Emulex said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDacjrSCeq4 <-- watch


this is why you use rubber isolation mounting in laptops - this is why you don't mix RPM/drive types (and even then you can probably generate a standing wave since we're not all schooled in the jedi arts of noise cancelling our gear)
Click to expand...

OOOOH that's cool. Yea all mine have rubber isolation mounts so I guess that helps. Even though I mix them they still have been fine. heh good to keep in the back of my mind.
 
GTaudiophile said:
If someone wants to recommend a high-value 120GB SSD, I will consider it. I don't think I can afford anything larger.
Click to expand...

For a htpc why would you need 120gb? I assume you will want a lot more storage than that and will have a secondary spindle drive with lots of space. Wouldn't you be more interested in just an OS sized SSD? For the difference in price of a 60 Gb SSD versus 120gb you would save enough to get a terabyte storage drive and have money left over.
 
i rock x25-V 40gb 37 formatted on mine. no need to power up chips not necessary. use the lp green 1TB/2TB for any other junk. heck 32gb wold work.

let me let you into a secret: windows 8 probably not going to come with media center.
 
techs said:
For a htpc why would you need 120gb? I assume you will want a lot more storage than that and will have a secondary spindle drive with lots of space. Wouldn't you be more interested in just an OS sized SSD? For the difference in price of a 60 Gb SSD versus 120gb you would save enough to get a terabyte storage drive and have money left over.
Click to expand...

Correct. Something for the OS, plus a few apps like WinAmp, VLC, etc.
 
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