2013-01-06, 11:20
Back when MCE first came out I ran it for a while and thought it was a bit rubbish. Since then I've always used dedicated players from Dune and Buffalo. With the new range of 3D enabled players starting to come out (Dune Base 3D, Popcornhour A400, Mede8er 600/1000 etc), I feel the time has come to upgrade again and I'm thinking of XBMC (on Windows 7) for two reasons: 1) future hardware upgrades will be evolutionary (ie. not everything again at one) and 2) I need to be able to play sports streams using Flash players (hence Windows 7). I've installed XBMC on my PC and have to say I'm impressed.
My media is stored on a HP N40L Microserver which currently has 4 x 2TB drives for media only using Flexraid so usable space is around 5.5TB.
So my immediate needs are:
1) Play 1080p MKV's (some 30GB+ which are containers of the main feature of a Blu-ray "ripped" using MakeMKV)
2) Bitstream to my Arcam AVR350 amp
Future needs (3 - 6 months):
1) Play 3D as I have a Sony HX850 series TV which can handle 3D
2) Play Blu-rays so that I can remove my Sony S790 Blu-ray player from my setup
3) Play CDs so I can remove my Arcam DV137 DVD/CD player from my setup
My amp (Arcam AVR350) cannot decode 7.1 from digital input but has 7.1 analog inputs. Also it cannot decode TrueHD, DTS-HD nor audio over HDMI. To this end I was also considering the new Oppo 103 and 105 players but they cannot play Flash streams to had to rule them out.
For hardware I've come up with a few choices...... I'd prefer to run an Intel system over AMD. While price right now is not a massive issue, the less I can spend the better.
CPU: i3-3225 (£98), i3-3220 (£88), G550T (£33 - same price for a G550 either)
i3-3225 vs i3-3220. Only a difference of £10 between those processors so I'd go with the i3-3225
i3-3225 vs G550T. Massive difference here of £65
Motherboard: Asus P8H77 M Pro (£86) or ASRock H77M (£60)
Although I always buy Asus motherboards, the ASRock is £26 cheaper and has all the ports I need (HDMI, Optical out).
Case: Silverstones ML03 (£48) or GD04 (£72)
£24 price difference with the ML03 being cheaper. Although the GD04 is more expensive, I'm leaning in this direction to better fit full sized expansion cards down the line and once the Arcam DVD/CD and/or the Sony Blu-ray players have been moved on there will be loads of room in my cabinet.
PSU: SST-ST40F-ES (£35)
The Silverstone 400w PSU to match either of the cases.
RAM: Kingston 4GB (KVR16N11/4) (£17)
HDD: 320GB Spinner (free) or Sandisk 64GB SSD (£40)
Already have a few (well) used spinners but might spend the extra to have an SSD.
So that's where my research has brought me so far.
My current thinking today is to go with the G550T CPU and add a graphics card down the line when I actually need to play 3D material. The same goes for a Blu-ray ROM. As my amp cannot decode digital 7.1, audio over HDMI, DTS-HD etc, I will be seriously considering one of the Asus Xonar cards which have analog 7.1 out with onboard Burr-Brown DAC's. But again that will be a few months down the line.
So my questions:
1) Any glaring ommissions?
2) How will the G550T + graphics card compare to the i3-3225? Should I just try and force the budget now or can wait until I have the cash to add the extra card? How is the 550T with bitstreaming audio?
3) Anyone have experience with the Asus Xonar cards?
4) Any other motherboard suggestions? The board must have digital audio out (optical or coax) to feed my receiver.
My media is stored on a HP N40L Microserver which currently has 4 x 2TB drives for media only using Flexraid so usable space is around 5.5TB.
So my immediate needs are:
1) Play 1080p MKV's (some 30GB+ which are containers of the main feature of a Blu-ray "ripped" using MakeMKV)
2) Bitstream to my Arcam AVR350 amp
Future needs (3 - 6 months):
1) Play 3D as I have a Sony HX850 series TV which can handle 3D
2) Play Blu-rays so that I can remove my Sony S790 Blu-ray player from my setup
3) Play CDs so I can remove my Arcam DV137 DVD/CD player from my setup
My amp (Arcam AVR350) cannot decode 7.1 from digital input but has 7.1 analog inputs. Also it cannot decode TrueHD, DTS-HD nor audio over HDMI. To this end I was also considering the new Oppo 103 and 105 players but they cannot play Flash streams to had to rule them out.
For hardware I've come up with a few choices...... I'd prefer to run an Intel system over AMD. While price right now is not a massive issue, the less I can spend the better.
CPU: i3-3225 (£98), i3-3220 (£88), G550T (£33 - same price for a G550 either)
i3-3225 vs i3-3220. Only a difference of £10 between those processors so I'd go with the i3-3225
i3-3225 vs G550T. Massive difference here of £65
Motherboard: Asus P8H77 M Pro (£86) or ASRock H77M (£60)
Although I always buy Asus motherboards, the ASRock is £26 cheaper and has all the ports I need (HDMI, Optical out).
Case: Silverstones ML03 (£48) or GD04 (£72)
£24 price difference with the ML03 being cheaper. Although the GD04 is more expensive, I'm leaning in this direction to better fit full sized expansion cards down the line and once the Arcam DVD/CD and/or the Sony Blu-ray players have been moved on there will be loads of room in my cabinet.
PSU: SST-ST40F-ES (£35)
The Silverstone 400w PSU to match either of the cases.
RAM: Kingston 4GB (KVR16N11/4) (£17)
HDD: 320GB Spinner (free) or Sandisk 64GB SSD (£40)
Already have a few (well) used spinners but might spend the extra to have an SSD.
So that's where my research has brought me so far.
My current thinking today is to go with the G550T CPU and add a graphics card down the line when I actually need to play 3D material. The same goes for a Blu-ray ROM. As my amp cannot decode digital 7.1, audio over HDMI, DTS-HD etc, I will be seriously considering one of the Asus Xonar cards which have analog 7.1 out with onboard Burr-Brown DAC's. But again that will be a few months down the line.
So my questions:
1) Any glaring ommissions?
2) How will the G550T + graphics card compare to the i3-3225? Should I just try and force the budget now or can wait until I have the cash to add the extra card? How is the 550T with bitstreaming audio?
3) Anyone have experience with the Asus Xonar cards?
4) Any other motherboard suggestions? The board must have digital audio out (optical or coax) to feed my receiver.
