[Blaccko]

Hi,

I have another question though. If I want to be able to shut down completly my computer and then to start it with my remote, do I need a special kind of remote or something (I heard about CIR) special on my motherboard?

Also, what kind of remote would work?

Would an Harmony remote like the Harmony 650 work?

Thanks,

Blaccko

[Blaccko]

Ok, I've been reading a little bit about remotes and power on and off functions...

In addition to my previous question, if I want, instead of shuting down my HTPC, to use the sleep function of my HTPC (suspended to sleep state), are all motherboards supporting this wake from command function? Do I need to look out for something specific on the motherboard that indicates support for this wake on command function? Also, how is the command received from the HTPC. Does it need to have a special IR receiver or something?

Finally, when a computer is into a suspended to sleep state, does it consume any power at all?

Thanks again,

Blaccko

[Blaccko]

Hi,

Now I've started to put together a list of parts that seem to fit well together.

CPU: Intel Celeron G1610 CPU (44,79 $);

SSD: ADATA 64 Gb Premier Pro SP600 (64,99 $ + 2,99 $ for shipping);

PSU: Antec EarthWatts EA-380D Green 380 W (43,67 $) or SeaSonic S12II 380B 380W (55,49 $ + 12,99 $ for shipping) or SeaSonic SSR-360GP 360W (59,99 $ +13,39 $ for shipping);

Which one would be the most quiet PSU?

RAM: Kingston HyperX Blu 1X4GB DDR3-1333 CL9 (36,30 $);

Case: Nmedia HTPC-5000B (81,21 $) or Silverstone Milo ML03B (56,66 $) or Silverstone Grandia GD04 (92,98 $) or Silverstone Grandia GD06B (118,31 $);

Do you have any advice on these cases? Which one do you suggest me?

Motherboard: ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0 LGA 1155 (64,99 $ + 10,74 $ for shipping) or ASRock B75M-GL R2.0 LGA 1155 (69,99 $ + 7,49 $ for shipping) or ASRock H77M LGA 1155 (74,99 $ + 11,49 $ for shipping) or ASRock H77 Pro4-M LGA 1155 (99,99 $ + 7,49 $ for shipping) or GIGABYTE GA-H77M-D3H LGA 1155 (99,99 $ + 11,49 $ for shipping) or Gigabyte H77M-D3H LGA1155 (89,91 $);

Is the B75 chipset enough for my needs or would I be better with a H77 chipset? If so, which one between the B75M-DGS and the B75M-Gl do you suggest me? Otherwise, which board between the four options with a H77 chipset would you recommend and why? Are both brands (GIGABYTE and ASRock) as reliable?

Wireless adaptor (29,99 $ + 6,99 $ for shipping);

Well, that pretty much wraps it up. If you have any comments or suggestions regarding my picks, feel free to jump in. Moreover, if you see components that don't seem to fit together, please let met know. Note that I'll run Linux on this HTPC.

Thanks in advance,

Blaccko

P.-S. Questions about remote control:

If I want to be able to shut down completly my computer and then to start it with my remote, do I need a special kind of remote or something (I heard about CIR) special on my motherboard?

Also, what kind of remote would work?

Would an Harmony remote like the Harmony 650 work?

If I want, instead of shuting down my HTPC, to use the sleep function of my HTPC (suspended to sleep state), are all motherboards supporting this wake from command function? Do I need to look out for something specific on the motherboard that indicates support for this wake on command function? Also, how is the command received from the HTPC. Does it need to have a special IR receiver or something?

Finally, when a computer is into a suspended to sleep state, does it consume any power at all?

[Blaccko]

Hi all,

Sorry for the delay since my last post. There was a personnal situation I needed to deal with during the past couple of weeks; however, everything's fine now.

After all, I chose theses parts, following your advice. So, the nMEDIA 1000B case which allows me to get the Seasonic S12II 380W PSU. Before pulling the trigger, I'd like to verify a few things with you.

First of all, PC Part Picker flags one problem with this configuration:

"ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard has an onboard USB 3.0 header, but the nMEDIAPC HTPC 1000B HTPC Case does not have front panel USB 3.0 ports."

Regarding this potential problem, if I connect the USB3 headers from the motherboard in the USB2 front panel ports, will it work? If yes, will it work as USB2 or USB 3?

Also, as I want to try and see if wireless would work for streaming from my other computer, is this wireless card going to be compatible with my build?

Finally, does the Seasonic S12II 380W come with a power cord? I know some PSU don't come with one, and I didn't manage to find this information for the PSU i chose.

Any other thoughts about my configuration are more than welcome! ; )

Thanks everyone for your help and your time. I'm eager to strat building my HTPC. Order is complete from different marchants, only need your green light to go ahead and buy!

Blaccko

[Dougie Fresh]

The H77M motherboard has both a USB3 and a couple/few USB2 headers. You would connect the 1000b's front panel connectors to the USB2 motherboard headers and just leave the motherboard USB3 header unused.

That wireless card would fit into one of the two PCI slots on the motherboard.

The EA380D does not come with a power cord, at least the last time I bought one.

Bonne chance!

[Blaccko]

Hi Dougie Fresh,

Thanks for the informations.

That's what I thought about the USB ports of the nMEDIA case, but I don't mind USB 2.0 for my HTPC, so I'm ok with it (there's still USB 3.0 ports in the back, so...).

I chose the Seasonic S12II 380W PSU over the EA380D as I was told it would be quieter. Is that also your opinion or would you suggest me more the EA380D? Also, does the Seasonic S12II come with a powercord?

Thanks again,

Blaccko

[Dougie Fresh]

Right, the Seasonic (great choice) not the EA380D. Sorry about that. The Seasonic S12II 380W is a "retail" power supply so it should come with a power cord. Seasonic is always a good choice. Having used both, I would say both are very quiet and the one EA380D I had a fan go bad in, it was easy to replace. Either way, you can't go wrong.

[Blaccko]

Thanks!

Blaccko

[Blaccko]

Hi,

One more thing. I'm planning on installing XBMC's version of Ubuntu on my HTPC. Will all those pieces be ok for it? I just want to make sure there won't be problems with some of the parts I chose and Linux, especially regarding drivers.

So, here's the list of the parts of my build. Do you see any potential problem that could occur with Linux?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Celeron G1610 2.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($45.40 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($87.05 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: G.Skill 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.83 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: A-Data Premier Pro SP600 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($78.32 @ TigerDirect Canada)
Case: nMEDIAPC HTPC 1000B HTPC Case ($74.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 380W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($64.88 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $397.47
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-04 18:06 EDT-0400)

Finally, if I want to use my Harmony 650 remote to control my HTPC and to turn it on from S5 state and to turn it back to S5 state, which IR receiver should I be looking for? I was reading that guide and the autor mentinoned to pick a receiver that would work easily with Linux regarding the drivers and everything.

All I can do if that if you are still planning to buy an IR receiver, make sure it is compatible with Linux out-of-the-box, meaning that the driver should be included in the vanilla Linux kernel. This will make life a lot easier for you.

How can I know if a receiver is compatible with Linux out of the box? Are this and this receivers compatibles with Linux (XBMC Ubuntu)? Otherwise, which ones are?

Also, to power my HTPC from S5 state, is a USB IR receiver able to do so or if I should instead buy a CIR IR receiver (I have a CIR header on my ASRock motherboard)?

Thanks in advance,

Blaccko

[Dougie Fresh]

You want the CIR receiver. I think there are drivers on the ASRock site. It's worth a Google.

[Blaccko]

Hi,

Thank you for your answer. So the CIR receiver would allow me to wake up my HTPC from S5 state, but the USB one wouldn't? Also, the only CIR drivers for Linux I found on ASRock website are the ones for the ION. Do you think they would work nonetheless with the ASRock H77M motherboard?

Does this quote from the guide I cited above mean that the Linux drivers for the receiver should ideally be available or the ones for the CIR header on the motherboard?

All I can do if that if you are still planning to buy an IR receiver, make sure it is compatible with Linux out-of-the-box, meaning that the driver should be included in the vanilla Linux kernel. This will make life a lot easier for you.

Finally, I'm planning on installing XBMC's version of Ubuntu on my HTPC. Will all those pieces be ok for it? I just want to make sure there won't be problems with some of the parts I chose and Linux, especially regarding drivers.

So, here's the list of the parts of my build. Do you see any potential problem that could occur with Linux?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Celeron G1610 2.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($45.40 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($87.05 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: G.Skill 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.83 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: A-Data Premier Pro SP600 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($78.32 @ TigerDirect Canada)
Case: nMEDIAPC HTPC 1000B HTPC Case ($74.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 380W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($64.88 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $397.47
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-04 18:06 EDT-0400)

Thanks again,

Blaccko