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danik56 · 2014-11-10, 07:36

I'm planning a new build for my living room for running Kodi (not for gaming). it would connect to my HT receiver via HDMI.
What would be the ultimate hardware configuration for an ITX enclosure that would run smooth and ultra quiet and look nice.
(I am not trying to save on budget but also not over-kill)

**Dougie Fresh** · (This post was last modified: 2014-11-10, 14:47 by Dougie Fresh.)

Have you chosen a case? If you have a particular model in mind, that will probably dictate your build. Also, if you need an optical drive, wireless, local storage, those will be determining factors as well.

You could purchase or DIY a J1900-based system along the lines of this if it will fit all your needs.

danik56 · 2014-11-10, 22:57

I was thinking about this case: Antec ISK600 Mini-ITX

MatteN · 2014-11-11, 00:16

My latest HTPC
http://www.in-win.com.tw/Corporate/en/go...w&id=BQ656
http://www.msi.com/product/mb/J1900I.html#hero-overview
RAM: Kingston KTH-X3B 2x4GB
SSD: Kingston 60GB
Windows 7 x64 and XBMC 13.2

danik56 · 2014-11-12, 09:00

One more question relating to audio output.
If the receiver does not support HDMI, can I feed the video only via HDMI to the TV and digital audio to the receiver
via optical or coax ?

Stereodude · 2014-11-13, 03:47

Yes that's easy to do.

**Dougie Fresh** · (This post was last modified: 2014-11-13, 04:35 by Dougie Fresh.)

(2014-11-12, 09:00)danik56 Wrote: One more question relating to audio output.
If the receiver does not support HDMI, can I feed the video only via HDMI to the TV and digital audio to the receiver
via optical or coax ?

It will work but you'll likely only get stereo. Most TVs don't passthrough 5.1, even over optical.

You'd be better off going S/PDIF or analog to your receiver directly from the HTPC.

As for hardware, I just built a FM1 mini-ITX system with AMD 5350 for a customer and it's really, really nice.

danik56 · (This post was last modified: 2014-11-13, 08:02 by danik56.)

I was planning to connect the SPDIF from the HTPC directly to the AV receiver.
Is that going to configure the HTPC player (XBMC) to route multi-channel audio via SPDIF and video only via HDMI?

tavoc · (This post was last modified: 2014-11-13, 15:22 by tavoc.)

yes that will work for stereo. As far as I know SPDIF cannot transfer 5.1

I am using SPdif for sound and HDMI to TV.

danik56 · 2014-11-13, 15:24

I have an old streamer that transfers 5.1 over SPDIF to the receiver.
Are you saying that an HTPC computer can't do that ?

**Dougie Fresh** · (This post was last modified: 2014-11-13, 17:27 by Dougie Fresh.)

(2014-11-13, 15:24)danik56 Wrote: I have an old streamer that transfers 5.1 over SPDIF to the receiver.
Are you saying that an HTPC computer can't do that ?

S/PDIF can bitstream compressed audio DD5.1/DTS5.1 from HTPC to receiver. PCM is limited to two channels.

What S/PDIF cannot do is bitstream lossless HD audio formats like Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio.

http://en.wikipedia.org/?title=S/PDIF

And, yes, that's something you configure in XBMC.