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+--- Thread: Help finalizing build (/showthread.php?tid=102039)
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Help finalizing build - sidewinder - 2011-05-23
New to the forums but have been checking the advice given here to decide on my build. I want to play high bitrate mkv,m2ts files and use the heavy skins. Target OS will be vista ( have a spare licence), this build will be very similar to eskro's suggestions.
Case= Aplus CUPID-3 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/aplus-cupid-3-black-silver-mini-itx-aluminium-headphone-mic-2x-usb-20-250w-psu-card-reader
M/Board= Asrock e350m1 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asrock-E350M1-E350-Mini-ITX-Motherboard/dp/B004KABOZG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1306112405&sr=8-3
Memory= Crucial 2GB PC3-10600 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-PC3-10600-Desktop-Upgrade-240-pin/dp/B001NA25VS/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1306112504&sr=1-3
OS Drive= OCZ vertex 30gb ssd http://www.amazon.co.uk/OCZ-OCZSSD2-1VTX30G-Vertex-2-5-Inch-Drive/dp/B001NPCTB4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1306112578&sr=8-2
Storage= Samsung F4 2TB 5400rpm drive (already got)
Also planning on using either my 360 or ps3 media remote
Would this build be good enough first to play the files well, but also be snappy in the menus of xbmc, or do I need a desktop cpu?
Any help greatly appreciated
- fishypops - 2011-05-23
this will be be ok, but get 4GB RAM - without doubt.
- eskro - 2011-05-23
reports so far say that using heavy skins like AEON MQ2 on a E350 motherboard is ok but not super snappy....
better use AEON NOX version if u go with the E350
- sidewinder - 2011-05-23
Just tried the mq2 skin on my i5 750 desktop and it wasn't blazingly fast, so i think i would stick with the nox. apart from more ram, any other suggestions?. does the case look ok?
Thanks
- DavidT99 - 2011-05-23
sidewinder Wrote:Just tried the mq2 skin on my i5 750 desktop and it wasn't blazingly fast, so i think i would stick with the nox. apart from more ram, any other suggestions?. does the case look ok?
Thanks
Aeon MQ2 on my Athlon II 255 is pretty quick so on your i5 surely it should be very fast.
David
- sidewinder - 2011-05-23
Do the menus render using the gfx card, cause my pc has a 5 year old 1900xt. that would explain the sluggishness
- eskro - 2011-05-23
i dont know how the menus are rendered...
all i can say is that CPU obviously plays a major role
in AEON MQ2...
Regarding RAM, 2GB is enough too,,,
of course if u plan on gaming i suggest 4GB,,,
but if not, 2GB is plenty for HTPC use...
This build here looks like the perfect AEON NOX mini-ITX box
mobo/cpu/igpu: £82.55
case/psu: £33.13
ram: £19.06
ssd: £51.50
TOTAL: £186,24
This build here looks like the perfect AEON MQ2 mini-ITX box
mobo/igpu: £113.37
cpu: £45.54
case/psu: £33.13
ram: £19.06
ssd: £51.50
TOTAL: £262,60
So yeah, the AEON MQ2 build is ~£76 more but
you do have the PENTIUM E5700 in there!
which is the perfect CPU for the heavy AEON MQ2 skin!
and also, that ZOTAC motherboard has built-in WiFi and a spare PCIe2.0X16 slot!
Thats great for adding an addon card later on!
And the whole build in general is very flexible because,
it can be used with almost all versions of XBMC!
which are:
OpenELEC (Linux)
XBMC Live (Linux)
XBMC (Windows)
- sidewinder - 2011-05-24
That second build does look pretty tasty tbh, got some decisions to make me thinks. Thanks for the help, you're a legend!
- fishypops - 2011-05-24
I have an MSI E350. Aeon MQ2 works fine on it. Remember there are several modes to choose from.
But again, do remember that the Graphics are going to use up 500MB of your RAM. With only 2GB, that leaves you 1.5 GB for the life time of your HTPC. I think that that the extra RAM, in windows 7 makes the difference. The extra 2GB RAM represents 5% of the hardware purchase price, and 0.00005% of the cost including all the time you are about to spend over the next 2 years managing your libraries, addons, updates and general tinkering. Mark my words.
- eskro - 2011-05-24
yes indeed but its still enough for htpc use...
- sidewinder - 2011-05-24
Think i might wait for the intel g620 to become available, seems that it'll be pretty quick. How would the intel 2000 gpu handle video?, image quality, 24p etc....
Again, thanks for the advice, built quite a few pc's but htpc seems to be another world!.
- sidewinder - 2011-05-28
Just in case anybody is interested I decided to go with these components:
Asrock e350
4gb DDR3 Ram
Intel x25-v 40gb ssd
Thermaltake element q case
samsung f4 2tb
Will build it this weekend, should be a nice media player. Thanks to those who chipped in with advice.
- eskro - 2011-05-28
if u plan on trying AEON MQ2 skin, let us know how smooth it runs
thx
- sidewinder - 2011-05-28
Will do
- sidewinder - 2011-05-31
aeon mq2 runs pretty well in lite mode with 1080p backgrounds. occasional stutters but i can live with it.
BTW, the asrock board I got has broken power LED headers, this is apparently a common issue with these boards.
However, I have been very underwhelmed by the performance of the ssd, doesn't boot any faster than my desktop raid. Don't know if this is a problem with the mobo or drive, but kinda wish I hadn't bothered with it