[Aether]

Greetings, forum!

This is my first post here. I've done a lot of reading around the past couple days, and I believe I'm ready to build my own XBMC rig.

I'll likely be buying parts in the next day or so, so quick feedback is preferred! I'm going for a Group 7 build. Netflix streaming would be nice, but I refuse to buy Windows for a single feature.

I originally planned to base my build off eskro's build here, however, some of the parts are not available on Newegg, so I had to make substitutions. Specifically, the power supply and motherboard are different from what he recommends.

I really want this to "do it all". I don't currently have a 3D TV but I want to make sure it's future proof for when I do have one. I'd also like to be able to run the really cool themes (Aeon?) I see people post about.

I'll probably be going for that XBMCbuntu build that I saw on the main page. Please let me know what you think.

CASE:
SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum skin reinforced plastic front panel, 0.8mm SECC body MILO Series ML03B Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6811163174
Price: $59.99

MOTHERBOARD:
GIGABYTE GA-H61M-S2H LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813128524
Price: $69.99

PROCESSOR:
Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I32100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6819115078
Price: $124.99

MEMORY:
G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBSR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6820231417
Price: 42.99

VIDEO CARD:
ASUS ENGT430/DI/1GD3(LP) GeForce GT 430 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814121397
Price: $59.99

POWER SUPPLY:
Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6817371033
Price: $44.99

SSD:
Patriot Torqx 2 PT232GS25SSDR 2.5" 32GB SATA II Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6820220580
Price: $49.99

HARD DISK:
Seagate Barracuda Green ST2000DL003 2TB 5900 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6822148681
Price: $129.99

HEATSINK:
Scythe SCSK-1100 100mm Shuriken Rev. B 3 Heat Pipes CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6835185097
Price: $34.99

FANS:
SilenX IXP-54-14T 80mm Case Fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6835226021
Price: 4 x $9.99 = 39.96

Total: $657.87

[TeKo]

I dont really like the PSU try to get one with a 120mm fan.
And you dont really need 8gb ram.

Everything think else looks good.

[eskro]

what i suggest is in my HTPC guide

[Aether]

I did read your guide, eskro. I mentioned it a couple times in my first post.

Some of the parts you recommended have been discontinued on Newegg, and I'd prefer to do my shopping there. So I was hoping someone could 'yay' or 'nay' my selected alternatives.

Teko, thanks for the advise. I picked 8 gig of ram because it was barely more than 4 gigs. And thanks for the PSU advise. I kept looking on Newegg and couldn't find one I really liked for the same price, but I picked a new one for $20 more. I also changed the fans since the SilenX are sold out.

Here are the changes:

POWER SUPPLY:
SeaSonic S12II 430B 430W ATX12V V2.3/EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6817151074
Price: $64.99

FANS:
ENERMAX UC-8EB 80mm Case Fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6811999199
Price: 4x $8.99 = $35.96

Any other recommended changes?

[jackh]

You can save yourself quite a few bucks using a G530 processor (same 1155 socket). This is the processor I bought and man, it kicks ass!
I'm running on Linux Mint, XBMC skin is Aeon Nox, and I'm even hosting a VM on top of it. Runs 24x7, low power consumption, CPU usage rarely reaches 20%.

Heatsink, not really necessary, unless you are a noise fanatic. The stock cooler that came with the G530 is silent enough -for me-. Let me stress this machine is on 24x7 on our family room, and my wife does not complain!

SSD: I have the exact same one! It rocks. Just remember to set the partitions to "noatime" in fstab AND not to set up any swap space. Heck, with 8GB of RAM you'll never need it.