[chris_huh]

Hi all,

I've currently got a NAS I built earlier in the year with the following specs:

• Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 AMD Socket AM3+ 8 Channel HD Audio mATX Motherboard
  
• AMD Athlon II X3 450 3.2GHz Socket AM3 95w 1.5MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor
  
• Kingston 4GB DDR3 1066MHz Memory Non-ECC CL7 1.5V
  
• 2x Caviar Green 3TB 7200PRM SATA 6Gb/s
  
• EAP 550W ECO and Power Quiet PSU
  

I've got that set up next to the router and was just streaming via DLNA to my PS3, but after it started struggling with HD video and being able to get an old HTPC working I've started using XBMC... And. Am. So. $%£@&*&. PLEASED!!!!

Anyway, the HTPC i'm using is old and only just works so I have been thinking I might as well just convert my NAS into one instead. I've drawn up a list of components I think I'll need and was wondering if you lovely people could pass an educated eye over it:

• New case: Silverstone LC10 USB3.0 (1x5.25”, 7x3.5”, Micro-ATX, 2xUSB3.0 front I/O, 2x92 or 80mm front fan slot, 2x 80mm exhaust rear fans 2050rpm 21dBA, 1x80mm side fan slot, supports graphics cards up to 8.75”, 135mm limitation of CPU cooler)
  
• Graphics card: Asus HD 6450 SILENT EDITION 1024MB GDDR3 Low Profile PCI-Express
  
• SSD drive: Corsair Nova 2 30GB SSD
  
• Windows 7 Home Premium
  
• ODD: LG BH10LS38 SATA Blu-Ray Optical Drive
  
• Dual Freeview HD (DVB-T2) tuner card 6280 Dual Freeview HD Low-profile PCIe TV Tuner Card DVB-T2
  

I like the idea of this case because it has plenty of room to expand with extra HDD bays, which I'm sure I'll use soon enough.

A few questions come to mind regarding the specs:

1. My motherboard only has USB3 ports on the back; the case has some USB3 ports on the front. Is there any way I can get those front USB3 ports to be USB3 with this motherboard? Is there some internal port i can use or an added PCI card?
   
2. Is a 30GB SSD enough to hold Windows 7 along with XBMC and other small programs i use for downloading and ripping. For reference i am currently using Windows Home Server and it takes up 30GB with my programs. So i guess what I'm asking is, does Windows 7 use less space than Windows Home Server?
   
3. Is the HD6450 video card going to be enough for 1080p video playback. I won't be likely to play many games (i may be tempted to play some old SNES/Sega emulators) but might like the idea of having HDMI 1.4 for future 3D capabilities.
   

I like the idea of using Windows as I have Plex installed for streaming to my mobile devices remotely and just find it much easier for all the other programs such as utorrent/Sab/sickbeard etc. At the moment i remote desktop into it if i ever want to do anything on it (file management, copying files to a memory stick, etc). Does anyone know if i can remote desktop into a second users account? By this I mean if XBMC is running and i remote desktop into it can i do things on my remote desktop session without taking control of the XBMC session, perhaps on a second screen?

If you've made it this far, thanks.

[Dougie Fresh]

>2.Is a 30GB SSD enough to hold Windows 7 along with XBMC and other small programs i use for downloading and ripping?

In my experience, 64GB is the minimum for Windows 7. Anything less and you're constantly watching, hacking and whacking at it.

[Beer40oz]

>2.Is a 30GB SSD enough to hold Windows 7 along with XBMC and other small programs i use for downloading and ripping?

In my experience, 64GB is the minimum for Windows 7. Anything less and you're constantly watching, hacking and whacking at it.

30 gigs is plenty for win 7 and xbmc... but downloading and stuff you need something bigger... this days you can find deals on 120GB SSd's they do the trick.

The more the better....

Yes this days 64GB is best for an HTPC since the prices went down...

[chris_huh]

So I'll look at getting a 60GB SSD then, maybe the OCZ 60GB Agility 3 SSD. My motherboard is only Sata-II so won't be able to take full advantage of the speed of these SSDs, but they should still work right?

Any views on the graphics card?

[Beer40oz]

So I'll look at getting a 60GB SSD then, maybe the OCZ 60GB Agility 3 SSD. My motherboard is only Sata-II so won't be able to take full advantage of the speed of these SSDs, but they should still work right?

Any views on the graphics card?

Yes any SSD will work.... I would get Crucial or Patriot.... I would stay away from OCZ from reviews...

[eskro]

for SATA-III SSD's, i say CRUCIAL or SAMSUNG!

[chris_huh]

Ok, with two recommendations for Crucial I'll go with them, 64GB M4.

I suppose Windows 7 Home Premium is going to be fine for this? No need to go ultimate or anything? Although i suppose at this point it might be worth waiting a few weeks for windows 8.

[Sir_Meowsalot]

I would get a minimum of 64gb ssd. Only get Samsung/Crucial/Intel. For whatever reason, the C;\windows folder grows and grows as you do more windows updates. As for the gpu, a 6450 will be fine. I have a stinky E-350 in my htpc and its perfectly fine playing 1080p content and zsnes.

I dont think you need 3 fans in your htpc, especially 80mm fans. An 80mm fan at 2100rpm is going to get annoying as hell. Another thing - are you aware of how big that case is? I have a Silverstone GD05b (which looks similar) and its like the size of a Onkyo receiver. If I could go back I would def get a Silverstone low-profile case. I only have 2 120mm fans on either side of the case and it keeps things cool and quiet.

[chris_huh]

Great, so that video card sounds fine.

As for the case size, yeah, I can see it being big. I have a AV receiver which should be a similar size. My current NAS case has four 3.5" drives and two 5.25" which would be the bare minimum for any future HTPC case. I think i'm going to want to have at least four hard drive bays for storage, one for a system SSD and one 5.25" external drive for bluray. So the LC10 is a bit more than this (with 6 storage HDD bays). Looking through the silverstone website, among others, I couldn't find one that fitted that exact description, so the LC10 seems to offer all that, as well as providing for two more bays if needed. The case will fit under the TV ok, so should be ok.

And the fans, I only listed them there as a reference (mostly for me) for what fan slots were available. I think it comes with the two 2050rpm fans built into the case, and then provides slots for 3 more. I've got a few fans lying around so will see how many i need without needing to buy some more... at least that's the plan.

thanks for your input