My New Media Frontend HTPC Build

[poofyhairguy]

Since I gave away my old HTPC to my fiance's dad as a media center and as a present for paying for our wedding, I needed a new computer in the living room. I wanted something small enough to fit in my entertainment center, quiet as possible, upgradable (especially GPU), but able to play the largest HD files I have today. I have all my media in a big server in the back room, so I just needed something small for the living room.

So I put together a little computer based on the ION platform and it rocks!

What I have working:

-Full 1080p pure Blu Ray rip Playback
-XBMCbuntu 9.10
-Support for Dolby Digital and DTS HDMI passthrough
-7.1 Multi-Channel HDMI - Dolby True HD, LPCM via PCM to my receiver that supports that.
-On DTS-HD it passes through the DTS core
-Perfect playback at 23.97/59.94 Hz even though my TV doesn't officially support such
-a sub-30 sec bootup time
-All while being about as loud as my Wii

My Build:

The motherboard and CPU (Does have PCI Express so in the future I can put in a better graphics card)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-036-_-Product

It is a Dual Core 1.6GHZ Atom processor with a 1080p capable Nvidia graphics card built onboard.

For RAM I used Kingston 1GBx2 DDR2 Low profile sticks I bought locally.

For a hard drive I got a OCZ 30 GB Vertex

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-393-_-Product

The remote:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-003-_-Product

And for the case a G-Alantic GA620iBK-A2 Pro w/ 120Watt power adaptor - $100 off Ebay.

http://www.g-alantic.com.tw/g-ga620ibk.htm

This was the hardest part: it was the only Mini ITX case I have seen with a full-size PCI/Express expansion slot that doesn't look like a shoebox. I saw one of these at an airport in San Francisco displaying departures/arrivals last year and I tracked down how to buy one.

It requires getting a PCI-Express riser card. Also I had to get a special laptop DVD Rom to fit the case.

The custom Linux install on there works great, has a very easy interface for use by a remote. Very chick friendly!

http://xbmc.org/skins/confluence/

It is able to playback the largest HD file I have to date (a 43 Rip of my Avatar Blu Ray) without a hitch. Really good stuff, and I am very happy with it.

Hope that was interesting, have a good day!

 

[Zaap]

Very cool!
Makes me wish I had an excuse to build an ION-based system.

 

[Informant X]

Very cool! I was considering the ION platform when I was in the process of building my HTPC. Couple things I like were it's extremely low power usage (as it will be on 24/7 as Orb streamer/HTPC/media server). And also that it's small and extremely quiet so it won't look gangly in my living room. In the end though I didn't get it due to the fact that I wanted this computer to have redundancy so I wanted to setup a couple raid array's and with that computer this isn't possible. Plus the expansion slots I wanted more of as I wanted to put in a TV tuner etc. Plus like you said finding a Mini ITX case is an adventure.

Otherwise everything I heard about that ION platform has been nothing but good. I even hear you can OC that lil Atom pretty good too!

 

[poofyhairguy]

Couple things I like were it's extremely low power usage (as it will be on 24/7 as Orb streamer/HTPC/media server).

That is my favorite thing about it. I never let my HTPCs suspend because that is one more thing that can go wrong when I am not around, and with this ION system I can leave it on all the time with a much smaller dent to my power bill than before.

I even hear you can OC that lil Atom pretty good too!

Yeah, my Zotac board lets me overclock from 1.6x2 to 2.0x2. Honestly though it is not needed- the ION GPU rips through the worst x264 files I have!

 

[Aikouka]

I like that ZOTAC board in there. Did you go with the one without the PSU ( PSU one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813500027 ) because you were getting that case? I've heard some negative things about those small Pico PSUs or rather some negative banter (no real reasoning).

But I saw an interesting (and very small) thermaltake case at a local computer/radio store...

This one right here: http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?S=1321&ID=1896

It's pretty nice overall.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I like that ZOTAC board in there. Did you go with the one without the PSU ( PSU one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813500027 ) because you were getting that case? I've heard some negative things about those small Pico PSUs or rather some negative banter (no real reasoning).

Yeah, without PSU. What I have is not a Pico PSU, it is a special SPU for my case- it is not really a consumer case.

Which is why it rocks!