[Der Flatulator]

I'm looking at building my first, low cost HTPC that will also act as a NAS.

I currently am looking at: (prices are Australian dollars)

• Motherboard
  ASRock H61MV-ITX
  • USB 2.0
  • 4x SATA2
  • 1x PCIe
  • $65
  OR (preferably)
  ASUS P8H77-I
  • USB 3.0
  • 2x SATA3, 4x SATA2
  • 1x PCIe
  • $105
  
  
• CPU
  Intel Celeron G1610
  • 2 cores @ 2.6GHz
  • 64 bit
  • Intel® HD Graphics 650MHz
  • $44
  
  
• RAM
  Kingston 2GB Single DDR3 1333
  • $19
  
  
• SSD
  Kingston V300 60GB
  • $63
  
  
• Case
  BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Case Black
  • 5 drive bays
  • USB 3.0
  • $89
  
  
• PSU
  Corsair VS350 ATX Power Supply
  • 350W
  • $39
  
  
• TV Tuner + Remote
  Leadtek Winfast PxDVR3200 H PCIe
  • PCIe x16
  • $55
  
  
• HDDs
  3x 2TB HDD
  • (Already have)

I have a few questions for those more hardware savvy than I:

1. Will it (specifically the CPU) be powerful enough for 1080p video + 5.1 DD on XBMC?
   
2. Is the power supply I chose (relatively arbitrarily) sufficient?
   
3. Are there any issues with the case that I may have overlooked?
   
4. Is there a motherboard in between the two I suggested, perhaps with 1x SATA3, 3x SATA2, and USB3.0 support?
   
5. Would I be better off going for something like an AMD A6? (The propriety drivers are a deterrent for me)
   

A few points that may be useful in answering the questions:

• It will be used almost exclusively with XBMC (XBMCbuntu, or maybe Arch + XBMC)
  
• I will be using HDMI (To a 40" LED TV) and Coaxial outputs (S/PDIF to decoder to 5.1 amp)
  
• Boot time is a priority
  
• Needs to be on the low-cost side (I don't think I'll be separating NAS and HTPC, but a CPU/MB upgrade isn't out of the question)
  

Thanks to anyone who can assist.

[cwide]

I just built a Celeron G1610 based NAS. I used a G1610 in case I ever needed it to be an HTPC as well.

1. It should be good enough for anything 2D. You will need to step up to an i3 for 3D. My NAS could at times be transcoding up to 4 concurrent HD streams. I haven't heard any buffering complaints yet. The G1610 is a beast for the price.
2. I don't know how much power your tv tuner uses, but I have essentially the same setup and mine idles around 30W and max uses 80W... so I think you're good.
3. I chose a Fractal Design Node 304 after deciding between it and the Prodigy. I like it. Much smaller, sleaker, and fits one more HDD.
4. I chose the cheapest ECS ITX 1155 board with HDMI I could find and it works for me. Don't think you will notice any difference between SATA2 and 3 with consumer drives yet. Watch the Chipsets for RAID support if you are doing that. H61 doesn't do RAID.
5. I don't think the A6 is any better for the purposes you describe and since it's also a NAS lower powered is better. Intel is better for Linux.

I would personally go for 4 GB of RAM, but you might be ok with 2 GB on linux.

[SaintGermain]

I also have considered a G1610 but this thread made me worried:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=155227

[cwide]

Also, you might look into this:

http://www.amazon.com/ECS-Elitegroup-Min...s+bga+1023

Or one of the other Celeron 847 boards.

If all the machine is doing is streaming files and playing files on XBMC, you could probably get that and be OK if you want a super budget build. There is a pretty long thread about them on here if you do some searching.

[Dougie Fresh]

I've used the P8H77-I in a few server and a bunch of HTPC builds. It's a really nice board. It's more expensive but you can't go wrong with it.

[SaintGermain]

As the B75 motherboards have a similar prices as H61 motherboards, I was wondering if there are any advantages to stay with H61 ?

[Dougie Fresh]

You just have to be sure the H61 motherboard can run a Ivy Bridge CPU without a BIOS update.

[RaggSokk3n]

None what so ever. Most of the h61 are limited memory wise (1333 instead of a max 1600 on b75)

[SaintGermain]

Hum maybe I was wrong for the price difference: H61 motherboards are indeed much cheaper.
Cheap B75 motherboards (< 50€ in Europe) haven't got HDMI output.

[cwide]

Hum maybe I was wrong for the price difference: H61 motherboards are indeed much cheaper.
Cheap B75 motherboards (< 50€ in Europe) haven't got HDMI output.

Biggest H61 limitation for me is RAID, but I suppose there are software ways around that.

If just using as an XBMC client then H61 w/HDMI should be fine. Differences in memory speed won't be too noticeable for HTPC uses.

[Der Flatulator]

I just built a Celeron G1610 based NAS. I used a G1610 in case I ever needed it to be an HTPC as well.

1. It should be good enough for anything 2D. You will need to step up to an i3 for 3D. My NAS could at times be transcoding up to 4 concurrent HD streams. I haven't heard any buffering complaints yet. The G1610 is a beast for the price.

Only using max 1 stream at a time, and whilst I have a 3DTV, I'm not really a fan of it.

2. I don't know how much power your tv tuner uses, but I have essentially the same setup and mine idles around 30W and max uses 80W... so I think you're good.

I actually already have a WinFast DTV2000H, and I believe I could use that.

3. I chose a Fractal Design Node 304 after deciding between it and the Prodigy. I like it. Much smaller, sleaker, and fits one more HDD.

I've just spent the last few hours reading and watching reviews and builds with various Mini-ITX cases, and have came to the same conclusion, plus I love the look of the 304.

4. I chose the cheapest ECS ITX 1155 board with HDMI I could find and it works for me. Don't think you will notice any difference between SATA2 and 3 with consumer drives yet. Watch the Chipsets for RAID support if you are doing that. H61 doesn't do RAID.

To be honest, I haven't decided yet. I'm about 60/40 in 3x2TB RAID-5, or 3x2TB as regular disks.
USB 3 is pretty important, as I use my portable 1TB HDD quite a lot. SATA 3 isn't such a big deal, but would be a plus for the SSD to minimise boot time.

5. I don't think the A6 is any better for the purposes you describe and since it's also a NAS lower powered is better. Intel is better for Linux.

Thanks for clarifying that

I would personally go for 4 GB of RAM, but you might be ok with 2 GB on linux.

At $20 bucks, probably, but I thought I'd go for 1x2GB, and add another one if needed.

UPDATE:

Here's what I've got now:

Motherboard: ASUS P8H77-I (purely because I cannot find a cheaper version that has USB3.0... (Australia))
CPU: Intel Celeron G1610
RAM: Kingston 4GB Single 1600
SSD: Kingston V300 60GB
Case: Fractal Design Node 304
PSU: Corsair VS350 ATX Power Supply

[cwide]

I think that mobo is probably your only choice. You can add a few more HDDs and not have to completely change your setup. Most ITX boards only come with 4 SATA connections, so that is probably the best choice given the case. Probably more expensive than you want, but it's worth it.

You can always upgrade to an i3 if you want 3D in the future or trade your TV tuner for external and slap in a video card.

I looked up your TV tuner and it looks like it is PCI while the mobo is PCIe. You will need to get a PCIe TV tuner or buy an external one.

[Der Flatulator]

I think that mobo is probably your only choice. You can add a few more HDDs and not have to completely change your setup. Most ITX boards only come with 4 SATA connections, so that is probably the best choice given the case. Probably more expensive than you want, but it's worth it.

You can always upgrade to an i3 if you want 3D in the future or trade your TV tuner for external and slap in a video card.

Sounds good to me.

I looked up your TV tuner and it looks like it is PCI while the mobo is PCIe. You will need to get a PCIe TV tuner or buy an external one.

Oh, of course it is. What do people recommend? USB (~$25) or PCIe (~$50).
I suppose if I grab a USB dongle, then I'll have the only PCIe port free for things like a potential SATA Controller or Graphics card in the future.

Just curious. What would be an approximate boot time for XBMCbuntu, with the OS installed on the SATA 3 SSD, and 4GB of RAM?

[Der Flatulator]

Ok, just a few more questions, now that I've had time to think things through:

• Using the Node 304, will default fans without any other cooling means be sufficient? (remember I have 4 drives in there)
  
• How loud will that case be? (running 3 Silent Series R2 fans)
  
• Estimated boot time? (With Minimal Ubuntu + XBMC, or OpenELEC)
  

1. Yes. The case has a fan controller. I have mine on the lowest setting. Pretty quiet and moves a lot of air. HDDs should be fine.
2. Depends on your controller setting and your CPU fan. I can hear mine, but it's not loud or anything. I think if I upgraded CPU fan it would be quieter overall.
3. Can't comment accurately on boot time. I would guess 15-20 seconds.

Thanks. Still going to consider some alternatives first. Ideally, I would have NAS and HTPC separate, with HTPC in a small quiet case, but this would be at the extra costs monetarily and extensibility.

Think that processor will go off the market any time soon?

[cwide]

Ok, just a few more questions, now that I've had time to think things through:

• Using the Node 304, will default fans without any other cooling means be sufficient? (remember I have 4 drives in there)
  
• How loud will that case be? (running 3 Silent Series R2 fans)
  
• Estimated boot time? (With Minimal Ubuntu + XBMC, or OpenELEC)
  

1. Yes. The case has a fan controller. I have mine on the lowest setting. Pretty quiet and moves a lot of air. HDDs should be fine.
2. Depends on your controller setting and your CPU fan. I can hear mine, but it's not loud or anything. I think if I upgraded CPU fan it would be quieter overall.
3. Can't comment accurately on boot time. I would guess 15-20 seconds.