Dear XBMC Community,
Hello to everyone! a little introduction to myself: I'm a movies/gamer/PC passionate from Italy and I'm posting here after days of reading, searching, googling, to seek for your wisdom and help for a solution tailored to myself and my needs/wants.
After hearing a LOT about XBMC and having tried the very first version on my Xbox back in the day, I kinda departed from it, not keeping myself updated, but always reading sometimes about it.
Since I had an HDTV I sought the need to have an easy capable solution for viewing 1080p content and lately even 3D (SBS for now) content, as I recently moved to a Sony Bravia KDL-50W828B (the US version ends with a 9) but, being also a gamer myself, with a deep passion for movies and TV shows, which I share with my 14 years younger brother, I am undeniably attracted by the Streaming option of Steam, having a powerful rig cabled in my gigabit lan environment.
The solution I adopted since my "HD Era" with the Philips 42" LCD was the WD TV line, and I actually own a WD TV Live SMP to access via WiFi (unfortunately Wireless N as the Ethernet nic on that thing is a 10/100) my WD MyBook Live Duo 6Tb nas + 2tb WD USB hdd.
I'm looking for a new alternative since the WD TV Live SMP lacks support for Gigabit, Hi10p decoding, and is having some minor sluggishness issues and recurrent video hangs if the video+audio bitrate is too high or if the WiFi has a lil hiccup with the amount of devices, not all in Wireless N, connected (I moved to an Asus RT-N66U which handles everything as a beast compared to my previous Technicolor, stock from Fastweb, my ISP. The ASUS is itself connected to a NETGEAR Gigabit Switch behind the TV, where everything is located)
Trying out XBMC, the latest Gotham beta, on my Windows 8.1 PC and on my Android Nexus 7 tablet, I deeply fell in love with it, despite the fact that I'll have to tinker a lil on my TV Shows organization as it didn't recognized them, but that's something that can be easily solved and/or looked into.
What I want now is building a small box capable of running XBMC and Steam seamlessly, to be controlled via FLIRC and a wired Xbox Controller for Steam, and wanted to have some tips from who knows better than me (you, the community), on the best way to do it.
Steam will be needed only for streaming and maybe small games not heavy on cpu/gpu, also considering that I might add a small NVIDIA Gpu when the next series will be released, and with an eye on upgradeability on the CPU side if it will be needed.
As for FLIRC I've ordered it and I have no knowledge about it, but it seemed to be pretty simple to use. (any tip is welcome).
My Home Setup:
First and foremost, to have you understand my needs and advise me better, you need to understand how my system is wired, so here's a small schematic:
The XBMC + Steam would substitute the WD TV Live SMP, sending audio through HDMI to the TV, which passes it through SPDIF to my old Home Threatre System which supports PCM, DD5.1 and DTS5.1.
Apparently tho, DTS doesn't seem to be passed through, while it did on my old Philips and while it does on cheaper/older TV models, also considering that this TV is DTS certified, that baffles me, still I will need the option to passthrough DTS and DD on the HDMI from this Box I'm building, and in case things won't work for DTS, have a backup plan to recode it to DD before being sent (only if possible)
HTPC/Steam Hardware:
Let's start with the Hardware specs I identified so far, after following threads here, looking on internet, for about a week.. This build keeps the budget on EUR € 400,00 (circa 535$), having already a couple of components on my own:
Considering the hardware build described there, will it be powerful enough to run any Full HD movie I have, streamed over gigabit ethernet from my WD MyBookLiveDuo NAS?
I don't have nor want for now any BR iso (they take up too much space, I can play them with the Xbox One/PS4 if needed) and I'm fine with MKVs for now.
Further considering, I want to have it coexist with Steam, so your tips and options will be precious.
GPU wise: I have an Nvidia GTX 460 lying around, but I don't want any noise.. I was considering to get a fanless low range (on the *50 series) NVIDIA card in the future, of the next series which would support hardware decoding of H.265 and be "future proof" on 4K.
Requests from the System:
I think I made a pretty comprehensive summary, in case it wasn't, please ask and I'll answer, as I'm asking for your support/tips/wisdom, based on my needs, any kind of help is highly appreciated.
As for now, I wish all of you the best!
Cheers from Rome,
Alberto
TL;DR Version: First time HTPC Build to be used for XBMC and Steam Streaming, details in the Wall Of Text.
Edit: Small disclaimer, I take responsibility on the hardware I'll buy and the tinkering I'll do with the system, as I'm only seeking your advice and your share of knowledge to help a newbie to this world overcome or better undestand the best solutions for my needs.
Hardware wise, if for your experience it could work good enough, I'll proceed with buying it, as I was holding on to check whether it met the requirements for my needs, based on your experience. As said before and after, any help is appreciated.
Hello to everyone! a little introduction to myself: I'm a movies/gamer/PC passionate from Italy and I'm posting here after days of reading, searching, googling, to seek for your wisdom and help for a solution tailored to myself and my needs/wants.
After hearing a LOT about XBMC and having tried the very first version on my Xbox back in the day, I kinda departed from it, not keeping myself updated, but always reading sometimes about it.
Since I had an HDTV I sought the need to have an easy capable solution for viewing 1080p content and lately even 3D (SBS for now) content, as I recently moved to a Sony Bravia KDL-50W828B (the US version ends with a 9) but, being also a gamer myself, with a deep passion for movies and TV shows, which I share with my 14 years younger brother, I am undeniably attracted by the Streaming option of Steam, having a powerful rig cabled in my gigabit lan environment.
The solution I adopted since my "HD Era" with the Philips 42" LCD was the WD TV line, and I actually own a WD TV Live SMP to access via WiFi (unfortunately Wireless N as the Ethernet nic on that thing is a 10/100) my WD MyBook Live Duo 6Tb nas + 2tb WD USB hdd.
I'm looking for a new alternative since the WD TV Live SMP lacks support for Gigabit, Hi10p decoding, and is having some minor sluggishness issues and recurrent video hangs if the video+audio bitrate is too high or if the WiFi has a lil hiccup with the amount of devices, not all in Wireless N, connected (I moved to an Asus RT-N66U which handles everything as a beast compared to my previous Technicolor, stock from Fastweb, my ISP. The ASUS is itself connected to a NETGEAR Gigabit Switch behind the TV, where everything is located)
Trying out XBMC, the latest Gotham beta, on my Windows 8.1 PC and on my Android Nexus 7 tablet, I deeply fell in love with it, despite the fact that I'll have to tinker a lil on my TV Shows organization as it didn't recognized them, but that's something that can be easily solved and/or looked into.
What I want now is building a small box capable of running XBMC and Steam seamlessly, to be controlled via FLIRC and a wired Xbox Controller for Steam, and wanted to have some tips from who knows better than me (you, the community), on the best way to do it.
Steam will be needed only for streaming and maybe small games not heavy on cpu/gpu, also considering that I might add a small NVIDIA Gpu when the next series will be released, and with an eye on upgradeability on the CPU side if it will be needed.
As for FLIRC I've ordered it and I have no knowledge about it, but it seemed to be pretty simple to use. (any tip is welcome).
My Home Setup:
First and foremost, to have you understand my needs and advise me better, you need to understand how my system is wired, so here's a small schematic:
The XBMC + Steam would substitute the WD TV Live SMP, sending audio through HDMI to the TV, which passes it through SPDIF to my old Home Threatre System which supports PCM, DD5.1 and DTS5.1.
Apparently tho, DTS doesn't seem to be passed through, while it did on my old Philips and while it does on cheaper/older TV models, also considering that this TV is DTS certified, that baffles me, still I will need the option to passthrough DTS and DD on the HDMI from this Box I'm building, and in case things won't work for DTS, have a backup plan to recode it to DD before being sent (only if possible)
HTPC/Steam Hardware:
Let's start with the Hardware specs I identified so far, after following threads here, looking on internet, for about a week.. This build keeps the budget on EUR € 400,00 (circa 535$), having already a couple of components on my own:
- Case: Coolermaster ELITE 110 - EUR 57,56 from Amazon.it
- Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI - EUR 115,33 on Amazon.it
- CPU: Intel i3 4330 BX80646I34330 - EUR 123,75 on Amazon.it
- RAM: Kingston HyperX Fury 8 GB, 1600 MHz, DDR3 - EUR 68,70 on Amazon.it
- PSU: Corsair CX430 - EUR 40,58 on Amazon.it
(cause the spare one i have would have way too many cables inside, and this is modular)
- SSD: Crucial M4 64Gb - preowned
- HDD: WD Green 3Tb Drive - preowned, brand new, unused
- ---------------------------
- Total (5 pieces to buy now): EUR 405,92
Considering the hardware build described there, will it be powerful enough to run any Full HD movie I have, streamed over gigabit ethernet from my WD MyBookLiveDuo NAS?
I don't have nor want for now any BR iso (they take up too much space, I can play them with the Xbox One/PS4 if needed) and I'm fine with MKVs for now.
Further considering, I want to have it coexist with Steam, so your tips and options will be precious.
GPU wise: I have an Nvidia GTX 460 lying around, but I don't want any noise.. I was considering to get a fanless low range (on the *50 series) NVIDIA card in the future, of the next series which would support hardware decoding of H.265 and be "future proof" on 4K.
Requests from the System:
- Having it boot up and off, or suspend/resume fast (instant is better
), through my Logitech Harmony Smart Control via FLIRC
- Having it to pass through multi channel audio, AC3 and DTS via HDMI to the TV for both XBMC and Steam.
- Run XBMC and Steam seamlessly. Which OS would you suggest?
- SteamOS + XBMC?
- OpenELEC + Steam?
- Windows 8.1 with XBMC and Steam? (I will have a license for this last one later this month)
- Ubuntu with Steam and XBMC?
- SteamOS + XBMC?
- Which version of XBMC to use? Gotham stable or beta? (i always lean forward to the latest additions)
- Will it be powerful enough to play any video/audio file I throw at it and decode Steam streams through GigE?
- Have the lowest idle power consumption for my needs, as keeping it power efficient is better.
- Most silent as possible (considering future aditions for passive cooling).
- Sharing the 3Tb HDD content via SMB on my network (useful for the system local media files or Steam games installs)
- As per your experience, this setup is "upgrade ready" if I would like to throw a more powerful CPU (Broadwell, considering the H97 chipset) at it somewhere in the future?
I think I made a pretty comprehensive summary, in case it wasn't, please ask and I'll answer, as I'm asking for your support/tips/wisdom, based on my needs, any kind of help is highly appreciated.
As for now, I wish all of you the best!
Cheers from Rome,
Alberto
TL;DR Version: First time HTPC Build to be used for XBMC and Steam Streaming, details in the Wall Of Text.
Edit: Small disclaimer, I take responsibility on the hardware I'll buy and the tinkering I'll do with the system, as I'm only seeking your advice and your share of knowledge to help a newbie to this world overcome or better undestand the best solutions for my needs.
Hardware wise, if for your experience it could work good enough, I'll proceed with buying it, as I was holding on to check whether it met the requirements for my needs, based on your experience. As said before and after, any help is appreciated.
