[hick]

I will never build another HTPC without an SSD, when you have over a few hundred movies you really notice an SSD when browsing.

[tman12]

633 Movies here with 50 TV shows and my setup hums along very snappy on a 3.5" Hitachi 250GB SATA drive using Aeon Nox. I would say practically identical speed on my HTPC in the bedroom using Kingston USB 8GB thumb drive with the same amount of movie/tv. I guess every build has their differences but I really can't see any speed increase or decrease with my large collection. Now the Raspberry Pi on the other hand... is a snail.

[cwide]

I think I'm on board with tman..

The minor differences in fluidity (depending on device) is not really worth the difference in price. I used to have a i3-3225 based HTPC/Server running Aeon MQ4 and now I have traded that for a NAS and an Arctic MC001 with 2 GB ram and a 8 GB USB 3 flash drive. I play all the same media as before just fine. Granted, I am using a different skin on the MC001, but the difference in browsing fluidity is minor and the price points are $400 different. There is a difference (probably because the Atom in the MC001 is really slow), but it's not like I get to movies any slower than before.

If you have the budget and want the best experience possible, then go for a powerful CPU and an SSD.... but you won't see much of a difference compared to most other Openelec clients.

[Dougie Fresh]

I think Windows is where you see a HUGE difference with SSD. It sounds like for OpenELEC most are not seeing a difference. Plus, a USB stick is cheap enough you can try it and if it's not to your liking then get an SSD. You can always use a USB stick for something.

I also want to echo that the Celeron 847 works REALLY nice for OpenELEC. This board would work really nice in the HT-80: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813128585 (even if they just raised it from $69.99 to $79.99) $59.99 after rebate. 2GB + USB stick + HT-80 (or E-i3/i5 if you don't need the ODD) would be super sweet.

[vdsilva]

You will simply get better video from the nvidia card, but intel%

Hi nickr,

Can you explain why you state nvidia will be better than intel for video? Everything I read in forums does not seem to indicate this but there is usually so much information out there that I have probably missed something.

I am not that sure you should use an SSD cache as an operating system SSD. It might be ok for OpenELEC but you're in uncharted territory.

Thanks for pointing that out! I think this one should be a better option Adata 32GB

I also went with the ML03B and looking back I wish I would have went smaller. I understand that whole upgrade theory but in reality stuff gets cheaper and you most likely won't need to add a discrete card if your only using it for HTPC. If your looking at running Openelec why not look into a Zbox from Zotac? Nice cheap boxes that power on/off and come with remote. That is most likely what I would look at if I were in the market today. Good luck, this can be the most difficult part of the process!

You do make a good point tman12. I was also considering one of Dougie Fresh's barebones boxes instead of building one and those are all mini-itx boxes.

Can I ask when I would ever need a discrete GPU (if I am not doing gaming)? I thought with XBMC's Audio Engine for HD audio that the best support for Linux based systems (Openelec) was with nVidia cards but it now seems that Intel HD works just as well for HD audio. I think your answer is that I will never need a discrete GPU unless I get into some heavy gaming.

I can't see the real advantage of putting a discrete graphics card in an HTPC, and I bought one for my build when I first started out After completing two other builds with AMD APU's and no discrete card I have seen no real advantage in having one, but I'm using Windows on those builds so I still get the HD audio. I was a huge Openelec fan but after doing some comparisons with Windows I find the PQ to be better in Windows. With Openelec you have to edit the Xorg file to set the correct colorspace and range or the picture is horrible in my experience - way too dark. After using XBMCLauncher with Windows I haven't looked back. I still get the STB feel and if I ever need to make changes it is easier to do, plus I find that xbmchub addons work better in the Windows build. If you require HD audio I'm assuming you have a decent setup like I do so I can just say from my experience going the Windows route has been a better experience after the release of Frodo.

You can see my setup in Post 6 http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=148739

tman,

I came across this in the openelec wiki Custom xorg.conf (Openelec wiki). Did you try this and still have problems? I might have to do some more research on this topic

Hi Dougie,

I'm looking at the HT-80 or E-i5 cases to complement the mini ITX Mobo cwide referred me to. I'm leaning to the HT-80 as the cost includes a receiver and remote that works. I know from another thread that you stated openelec supported this remote out of the box with no config which is great.

To get the functionality of power on from S5 with Mobo do I just need to buy a CIR compatible mobo?

Thanks

For the HT-80, the IR receiver is a USB IR receiver so there's no way to hook it up to a CIR. However, the power button and +5VSB power are routed to the receiver so it will support power on from S5 as long as the motherboard supports Wake from USB in S5.

I don't know much about the ASRock cir headers, but I thought it was only there so you could plug a USB connection to it and have it be able to power on from S5 or complete off? I was under the impression that you just take your normal front USB connection from whatever case and plug it in a certain way to the CIR and USB ports on the mobo. That way you can plug your USB receiver to the front USB connector and be able to power on from S5. Any enlightenment?

I found this thread in XBMC where someone figured out ASROCK boards can work with wake from S5 if they have his BIOS configuration option (no need of CIR)ASROCK USB Mouse wake up. I checked the ASROCK mITX board recommended to me and that option exists in the ACPI (APCI?) configuration

I think Windows is where you see a HUGE difference with SSD. It sounds like for OpenELEC most are not seeing a difference. Plus, a USB stick is cheap enough you can try it and if it's not to your liking then get an SSD. You can always use a USB stick for something.

I also want to echo that the Celeron 847 works REALLY nice for OpenELEC. This board would work really nice in the HT-80: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813128585 (even if they just raised it from $69.99 to $79.99) $59.99 after rebate. 2GB + USB stick + HT-80 (or E-i3/i5 if you don't need the ODD) would be super sweet.

Thanks Dougie, tman and cwide. You have convinced me to try USB flash drive first. I like that super small USB stick and its available for not too much more at newegg.ca. If I upgrade to SSD then my unraid server needs another backup flash drive

Dougie does the HT80 and E-i5 both accept a full size CPU cooler or do I have to get a low profile one?

I'll update my original post with the new parts. Posting on here does pay off big time, I think I dropped quite a bit off the cost of my system without sacrificing too much!!

[Dougie Fresh]

If you use a USB stick instead of standard 2.5" mounted under the ODD, you have 37mm of clearance in the HT-80 and 45mm in the E-i5. So, yes, you will need a low-profile cooler. Last time I looked for a low-profile cooler for someone in Canada, NCIX.ca has the Silverstone NT07-1156 at a pretty good price. If you do go for the HT-80 or E-i5, shoot me an email and I can help you find a cooler. Just to be sure you know, while the E-i5 has a window for an IR receiver it does not come with one.

[tman12]

@vdsilva I used that Wiki as a guide to edit the Xorg file and yes the picture is a lot better after setting the correct colorspace and range (YCbCr444, Limited) but I found the color to be slightly better in Windows. Granted, this is a very minor difference and only bothersome if you are picky. My setup display is calibrated using a colorimeter and I have an iScan Duo for processing so it might be more noticeable for my setup than others. However, I can't imagine using Openelec without making the colorspace/range changes. I noticed that Gotham will have an option for these in the video settings so maybe Openelec will include this as well to make things easier. Never understood why a HTPC software would default to RGB Full in this day in age when most people are no longer using PC monitors with XBMC.

P.s. I don't want to start a big argument or debate regarding full vs limited. This is of course my opinion, and correct lol