[SimonV]

Hello all, new member here... Been dying to get myself an XBMC device and now there's finally some spare cash. Which place better to find some advice than XBMC central

Now, I'm on a pretty tight budget of € 300.

The only thing the device will be used for is XBMC (linux edition) on an LG full HD TV. Also necessary will be FTP access but since it's linux, I figure that won't be too hard to set up.

- First criteria is the dimensions: it has to fit in my TV furniture which has space for 490 x 105 x 345 mm (W x H x D)

- Second is the hard drives, preferably 3.5" so I can put in at least 1 or 2TB.

I've stumbled upon the following case: Gigabyte MIB T5142

http://be.gigabyte.com/products/product-...id=3110#kf

This one would definitely fit in there, and have some spare space for the airflow. It doesn't look that bad either and it costs only 50 €. The downside is that it only has a 90W PSU...

Now, I'm a bit lost in choosing a motherboard. I've seen tons and tons of Atom/ION motherboards by ASrock, ASUS and ofcourse Zotac but of all these models, the reviews are already dated 2009-2010 so I'm wondering if they will still be able to keep up...

So, first question... What low-energy motherboard would be advised for someone on a budget, with a low-profile case? Is ION + Atom still powerful enough or are there already better chipset + cpu combinations out there?
Maximum price for the mobo would be around 140.

Second is the power supply, will 90W be sufficient to power one of these motherboards + HDD?

Thanks for any feedback!

[darkscout]

Now, I'm on a pretty tight budget of € 300.

You have a funny definition of 'low budget'.

90W is more than plenty.

[SimonV]

Haha, well, looking at what the price for the high end mediaplayers or HTPC's is, I found that pretty decent

Was going to order the xtreamer ultra at first, but in the end it would've cost lots more and you still don't have a HDD then...

[eskro]

hi SimonV, have you read my little HTPC starter guide?
http://ow.ly/1s4Jcf

[SimonV]

hi SimonV, have you read my little HTPC starter guide?
http://ow.ly/1s4Jcf

Yes, I have. It's what made me decide to go DIY :-)
But the cases you mention in the mini-itx builds aren't available over here I think.

Any recommendations on a current mini-itx motherboard that will handle full-HD well?
What do you think of the Zotac IONITX-P-E board? Will it be powerful enough or is there something better on the market already?

[SimonV]

*edit, double post*

[eskro]

the cases you mention in the mini-itx builds aren't available over here I think.

well, arent they other cases!?

[SimonV]

well, arent they other cases!?

Case is already sorted, the Gigabyte should be enough...

Finding the right cpu/motherboard is what's bugging me

[eskro]

XBMC (linux edition) = Nvidia video chipset...

CPU = CELERON E3400 http://ow.ly/1uw8rI

MOBO = ZOTAC GF9300-K-E http://ow.ly/1uw8uk

[SimonV]

Thanks, looks like it will be a bit cheaper then

90W probably won't be enough to power this one I think?
Maybe I should look into those silverstone cases...

[eskro]

very using this http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psuca...orlite.jsp

but yeah, u need at least 250W

[SimonV]

Alright, ordered this yesterday:

1 x Be-Quiet Pure Power L7 300W
1 x Western digital Caviar Green 2TB
1 x Kingston 2GB DDR3 1333 MHz Kit
1 x Intel Celeron E3400
1 x Zotac GF9300-K-E
1 x Silverstone ML03