[stinkbud]

This will be my third PC build. I may be building my first HTPC, but I am capable enough to know what I am doing off the bat.

I just got a Samsung 720p 3d plasma and would love to upgrade from the Patriot Box Office I have on it now. I miss my XBMC in the living room, but since that was on an old XBOX with no HD support, that went upstairs. The PBO can play MKV files with little issue, but some half-SBS mkv files have been stuttering.

So I am debating between a simple budget setup with a Foxconn Atom D425 single core barebones with a 4gb stick and a 60gb SSD I already have, and couple it with a broadcom hardware accelerator (total price on Newegg $180) or really do it up with a group 7 build with a AMD A6-3650 Llano 2.6GHz Socket FM1 quad chip and 8gb RAM which will set me back about $300. I figure the 4 core chip would give me a decent gaming rig to keep with the TV. But am I going to be giving up the relatively low power consumption on the smaller Foxconn barebones? And if I do go with the Foxconn, how will it preform for 3d with the accelerator chip (granted, its probably NOT HDMI 1.4 so I am probably out of luck in that regard)

TIA

[baldmosher]

720p gaming isn't too intensive, so yes, you should get decent gaming performance from that rig. Just don't expect to play Crysis in high quality.

The A6-3650 should have similar TDP to the A6-3500 in general use. It has a higher maximum throughput - so if you're not gaming or encoding you shouldn't notice too much difference in power consumption. The AMD chips are pretty efficient anyway because of the built in GPU.

From what I've seen the dedicated HTPC boxes e.g. Zotacs aren't much cheaper than your own ION build, but they are pretty neat devices.

[stinkbud]

I really was considering one of those zotacs. I really love the nano one with the AMD Fusion chip. In the end, 4 cores with 8gb of ram supporting them won out. 3D is important to me, hey I have the TV so I may as well use it. Plus I love portal on my desktop its gonna be fun on the tv

[bluray]

) or really do it up with a group 7 build with a AMD A6-3650 Llano 2.6GHz Socket FM1 quad chip and 8gb RAM which will set me back about $300. I figure the 4 core chip would give me a decent gaming rig to keep with the TV.
TIA

If you can build a 2.6GHz 4-core HTPC with 3d capability for $300, I am suggesting to go for it. If you want the low power APU, just look for A6-3600 and A8-3800. Oh, you don't need to waste money on 8GB of RAM for HTPC!

[baldmosher]

BR is right as regards HTPC builds, but if you only have 2 RAM slots in the mobo, 2x4GB will only cost an extra 30% or so on top of 2x2GB, and you might find you need the extra one day, if you're gaming. Or you could even set up a RAMdisk for ridiculously quick XBMC menus (cheaper than an SSD if you don't mind 2min boot times). But if you have 4 DIMM slots on the mobo, I agree, there's no point rushing, 2x2GB now and another 2x2 if you ever need it. Although if you have a spare $15 anyway.... it's your cash!

[stinkbud]

In the end I went with the 8gb of RAM. I will be playing games on this so I figure that its not much of an expense. Cannot wait for this all to come in. I am a bit concerned that the case I ordered will be too big for my tastes...but I guess time will tell.

[bluray]

In the end I went with the 8gb of RAM. I will be playing games on this so I figure that its not much of an expense. Cannot wait for this all to come in. I am a bit concerned that the case I ordered will be too big for my tastes...but I guess time will tell.

How about this one- APEX MI-100BK Black Steel Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 250W Power Supply. It's slightly narrower and shorter. It's equipped with 250W PSU too!

[stinkbud]

The case came in ahead of the rest of the parts. I guess they all have a similar footprint in the end. I actually like the look of this case so I will work with it. Of course I would prefer a VESA mountable case but outside of pre-built machines and the few ones I have seen that look like they would be too thick behind my wall-mount, its slim pickins. I like the components I have bought for my system so I will make do with the nice looking case I have now, even if it is larger than I wanted.

[bluray]

I like the components I have bought for my system so I will make do with the nice looking case I have now, even if it is larger than I wanted.

I'm glad that you like your case. If you want to bitstream with XBMC, you might be interesting in this external player solution: Another External Player Code, but Very Simple to Setup

Good Luck!