Your Very First HTPC? But Where do You Start?

Your Very First HTPC? But Where do You Start? - Printable Version

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+--- Thread: Your Very First HTPC? But Where do You Start? (/showthread.php?tid=94199)

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- nowisn - 2012-01-01

Any suggestions on whats the best small form factor laptop that would make a great little htpc plugged into hdmi in the back of the TV and when i need to use it on the go i just unplug and run

reason i ask is the lappies seem to be pretty cheap compared to what i could build in such a small size

any suggestions?

- bluray - 2012-01-01

nowisn Wrote:reason i ask is the lappies seem to be pretty cheap compared to what i could build in such a small size

You don't have to build it, because you can buy this little guy- Asus EeeBox PC EB1021. It'll be hard to find a laptop with these options at this price.

- nowisn - 2012-01-01

So i guess there's not really an option in one of those small nettop lappies then

great little box but i was looking for a dual option for the kids as there needing lappies now for home work and small kids games on the go

thank you

- bluray - 2012-01-01

nowisn Wrote:So i guess there's not really an option in one of those small nettop lappies then

great little box but i was looking for a dual option for the kids as there needing lappies now for home work and small kids games on the go

thank you

There is, but you have to pay a little more for one- Sony VAIO E Series VPC-EL22FX/B.

- svtfmook - 2012-01-03

what about this? i think this is what i'm going to do in my kid's rooms and my room
i3 2100 http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0359809
gigbyte h61 board ($50 off with cpu at MC) http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0371994
2GB ddr3 1333 ram http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0307438
nmedia 1080p case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811204040
32gb SSD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227510
psu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171046

all under $300 with hdd and ram!

Got it! - Dragonlance - 2012-01-04

Hi Eskro! This morning i sent the order for my htpc.

-Case HTPC MS-Tech MC-380 ATX Black with remote 63,20€.
-Mobo Asrock A75M Socket FM1 AMD A75 Llano DDR3 SATA3 USB3 MicroATX 62,80€.
-CPU AMD A-Serie A6-3500 2.1GHz 65W Socket FM1 Llano GPU HD 6530D Boxed AD3500OJGXBOX 73,29€.
-RAM DDR3 Kingston HyperX KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G 1600MHZ 4GB (2x2GB) €24,39€.
-Power supply PC Kiss Quiet KS-420W ATX 15 cm 18,69€
GT 238,90€.

Just one answer... what do u think about liquid cooling like this?

http://www.corsair.com/cpu-cooling-kits/hydro-series-water-cooling-cpu-cooler/hydro-series-h40-high-performance-liquid-cpu-cooler.html

- eskro - 2012-01-04

Love liquid cooling!
but for your situation, dont really needed.

- bluray - 2012-01-04

svtfmook Wrote:what about this? i think this is what i'm going to do in my kid's rooms and my room
i3 2100 http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0359809
gigbyte h61 board ($50 off with cpu at MC) http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0371994
2GB ddr3 1333 ram http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0307438
nmedia 1080p case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811204040
32gb SSD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227510
psu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171046

all under $300 with hdd and ram!

I thought that you might like AMD A6-3500 and HD6530D iGPU more than i3+iGPU:

1. AMD A6-3500 Llano 2.1GHz (2.4GHz Max Turbo) (it'll playback all BD files in full 1080P video with DTS-HD/TrueHD audio)
2. ASRock A75M FM1 AMD
3. G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB)
4. SeaSonic SS-300ET Bronze 300W

The case in your link will work!

- bluray - 2012-01-04

Dragonlance Wrote:Hi Eskro! This morning i sent the order for my htpc.

-Case HTPC MS-Tech MC-380 ATX Black with remote 63,20€.
-Mobo Asrock A75M Socket FM1 AMD A75 Llano DDR3 SATA3 USB3 MicroATX 62,80€.
-CPU AMD A-Serie A6-3500 2.1GHz 65W Socket FM1 Llano GPU HD 6530D Boxed AD3500OJGXBOX 73,29€.
-RAM DDR3 Kingston HyperX KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G 1600MHZ 4GB (2x2GB) €24,39€.
-Power supply PC Kiss Quiet KS-420W ATX 15 cm 18,69€
GT 238,90€.

Just one answer... what do u think about liquid cooling like this?

http://www.corsair.com/cpu-cooling-kits/hydro-series-water-cooling-cpu-cooler/hydro-series-h40-high-performance-liquid-cpu-cooler.html

Great choice, and you'll enjoy it!

- Dragonlance - 2012-01-05

Tnx Bluray i hope get it soon Nod

- eskro - 2012-01-05

keep us up2date Dragonlance!

- Dragonlance - 2012-01-06

Guys what about a PCI DvB-T receiver / pvr that works out of the box?

Tnx! Wink

- Dragonlance - 2012-01-08

I guess... may u suggest me a pci dvb-t board with hardware encoding (I don't want to load the cpu) that works ootb under xbmc/openElec Huh

Tnx!

- Mufasa - 2012-01-10

So I am trying to find a box to run Linux, XBMC.
I went through the groups, and was heading towards these because they have a great form factor:

Zotac ZBOX-AD03BR-U
I found only 1 person who seems to have run Linux on it, but it doesn't seem as though he really put it through the paces
http://www.amazon.com/ZOTAC-ZBOX-AD03BR-U-PC-Barebone-System/dp/B004NBZ8C2
Then I found the NewEgg review, and it was less than spectacular
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856173020

Zotac ZBOX-AD02-U
There is a youtube video of this not being able to handle 1080p videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0MMwjtxH6k

Zotac ZBOXHD-ND22-U
NewEgg says it is out of stock & deactivated.
Is this an end of life product that has been replaced with something better?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856173012

Foxconn NTA350-0H0W-B-A-NA
New egg reviews: 1 Positive, Several not, "need to blacklist radeon kernel module", "not so much for linux", "Tried for about 2 weeks to get the AMD video drivers to work in Ubuntu (tried 10.4 and 11.11) but no avail. No 3D acceleration in Ubuntu or XBMC Live."

So that takes 4 of the higher end machines, and some fairly recent feedback, and says that the systems aren't optimal (out of the box, or sometimes at all) or are discontinued / being phased out.

eSkRo, that is an awesome list that you put together, and I almost jumped for joy when I saw it, but researching some of these systems for use with Linux & XBMC, it seems the video hardware isn't up to the challenge.

Am I missing something more recent that makes these issues invalid?

Thanks much! I'm running XBMC on a Mac Mini at the moment, and loving it. I'm just looking to get back to something more familar to me (Ubuntu and/or Mint).

I loved the fact the Mac Mini was plug and play. It has some quirks (like volume settings, size of fonts from a distance, etc.) But I never had an artifact, and the thing is dead silent. I just wish it ran Ubuntu/Mint/Debian/heck, even Fedora.

--Mufasa

P.S. In reality, I'm a group 3, but I'm not interested in jailbreaking a device, I heard the AppleTV1 can be a bit slow, and I'd rather pay a little extra on the front end for something that I KNOW is going to handle the files I ask it to play. (Which is why I was jumping to Group 6)

P.P.S. I realize your list of groups is done on your own time, and totally voluntary. And I'm not here to shoot 'em down or anything like that. The fact you took the time to do the testing is awesome. Just trying to vet the info before I plunk down the cash & spend the time trying to get it to work. If any of those systems used an NVIDIA chipset, looks like I'd be good to go, but it seems I'll probably have to build something to get that recipe.

Again, thanks a lot. It really is a great list, and your other lists are a great resource.

- eskro - 2012-01-10

hello Mufasa, usually, i suggest users to create their own thread Tongue

you'd get better help by having your own one.

that being said, if i had to go LINUX route as of today,
and had to buy a pre-built system,
i'd get a nettop based on the E350 AMD FUSION platform.
i know i know, u read that AMD/ATI and linux dont play well, and its true.
but, there's a special version of XBMC, called openELEC, which is based on LINUX,
but contains only XBMC and thats it!
check out their website http://www.openelec.tv/

these guys made a version for the E350 AMD FUSION platform specifically!
which means it works!