2008-10-25, 16:12
Guys and gals,
I believe I built the ultimate media-phile machine for XBMC. Let me know what you think. I was pondering hawking it on eBay for my cost (indicated below) + 30% (is that a reasonable margin?). Here it is:
The machine sports everything out of the box. HDMI output, digital coax and optical output, VGA connector (if you really want), 8 channel audio (per miniplugs, six USB ports. Really just an 'On switch', no gadgetry about CPU speed or other useless info). Cool 'n quiet architecture (AMD). This system plays everything you throw at it, the CPU is definitely powerful enough. With XP, Media Center, Vista it also plays HDCP. I have only been able to locate the Sony Bluray slimline for $340, which is hefty. You can get an external Bluray for $130.
The total dimensions of the case are 390 x 68 x 348 mm. If you know of a smaller case (multiply all dimensions), let me know. Notice this case has a fanless power supply.
I bought a Silverstone LC19 case (comes in black or silver, I got black) for $200,-, an ASUS M3N78-EMH (NVIDEOA 8200 onboard, no fan necessary) for $85, open box items for $20 less), 2GB or memory for $20,-, and AMD 4050e CPU (notice the e for heat and wattage) for $70 and a Silverstone SST-NT07-AM2 CPU cooler for $29,-. You can add a 500GB drive for $51.
AMD does not sell the wires from the motherboard to optical and coax out, so I bought them off eBay for $20,-
Cost of total system: $529,- rock bottom, add 30%=$690,-.
I understand that a significantly cheaper system can be built but certainly not this small and quiet. Considering the power of this system (the only multimedia box that supports just about anything you throw at it, including VFR - my main reason for building it, there is no set-top box on the market today that supports it). There is no existing set top box that supports the variety of video and audio. Forget Popcorn and Tvix (I am selling mine on eBay).
Notice I actually built and tested this system. Besides the necessity to Flash the motherboard first thing to get it working right it went in a hitch. I'd say it can be put together in an hour if you know what you are doing.
This would be an XP machine running XBMC, vanilla. You would have to get an IR least a remote for $30,-. So add that for the price.
I added some more goodies to my machine, i.e. running XP instead. ($85). If you really, really want media center, it's $110 or you can get a Vista edition (not recommended) for about the same price. SP 1 is so-so and I understand a new service pack is in the works and I bought one but went back to XP.
I also put in a 1TB drive for $50 more. I also got the Microsoft remote with their wireless keyboard which adds $80,-. One could offer a standard keyboard and optical mouse (generic stuff) for $25,-.
I also added a wireless N AP for $50,- (external). I guess you could go for an internal card at about the same price but I wanted to be able to plug in more devices since it is somewhere totally different in the house. The connection is rock-solid through many walls.
I ditched the XBMC FTP and run Filezilla server which is extremely powerful, reliable and feature rich. I need to sync the content between the box and some local drives and the only way to use a good piece of software for FTP syncing requires a rock solid FTP server.
I know the vanilla Tvix 4100SH sells for $370 but it does not support a fraction of the formats, has no DVD ROM player, it's FTP server only supports one connection and constantly craps out, does not support remote desktop, does not support VFR, does not support DRM (my configuration supports wired Ethernet Internet access but as I suggested I got the Access point instead). Tvix only supports two external USB drives, this box supports at least six directly off the case and however many you want off a USB hub. You also have to add the cost of a hard drive to the Tvix if you actually want it to be a media server. If you manage to play an ISO on this box without it hanging up at least once, you are lucky. It does not play six channel AAC either, in any container, only AC3.
Popcorn plain sucks.
Feedback? Is this something you think someone could sell?
Note I am not trying to peddle the box here and will not sell it here (I'll tell you where to get the parts).
I believe I built the ultimate media-phile machine for XBMC. Let me know what you think. I was pondering hawking it on eBay for my cost (indicated below) + 30% (is that a reasonable margin?). Here it is:
The machine sports everything out of the box. HDMI output, digital coax and optical output, VGA connector (if you really want), 8 channel audio (per miniplugs, six USB ports. Really just an 'On switch', no gadgetry about CPU speed or other useless info). Cool 'n quiet architecture (AMD). This system plays everything you throw at it, the CPU is definitely powerful enough. With XP, Media Center, Vista it also plays HDCP. I have only been able to locate the Sony Bluray slimline for $340, which is hefty. You can get an external Bluray for $130.
The total dimensions of the case are 390 x 68 x 348 mm. If you know of a smaller case (multiply all dimensions), let me know. Notice this case has a fanless power supply.
I bought a Silverstone LC19 case (comes in black or silver, I got black) for $200,-, an ASUS M3N78-EMH (NVIDEOA 8200 onboard, no fan necessary) for $85, open box items for $20 less), 2GB or memory for $20,-, and AMD 4050e CPU (notice the e for heat and wattage) for $70 and a Silverstone SST-NT07-AM2 CPU cooler for $29,-. You can add a 500GB drive for $51.
AMD does not sell the wires from the motherboard to optical and coax out, so I bought them off eBay for $20,-
Cost of total system: $529,- rock bottom, add 30%=$690,-.
I understand that a significantly cheaper system can be built but certainly not this small and quiet. Considering the power of this system (the only multimedia box that supports just about anything you throw at it, including VFR - my main reason for building it, there is no set-top box on the market today that supports it). There is no existing set top box that supports the variety of video and audio. Forget Popcorn and Tvix (I am selling mine on eBay).
Notice I actually built and tested this system. Besides the necessity to Flash the motherboard first thing to get it working right it went in a hitch. I'd say it can be put together in an hour if you know what you are doing.
This would be an XP machine running XBMC, vanilla. You would have to get an IR least a remote for $30,-. So add that for the price.
I added some more goodies to my machine, i.e. running XP instead. ($85). If you really, really want media center, it's $110 or you can get a Vista edition (not recommended) for about the same price. SP 1 is so-so and I understand a new service pack is in the works and I bought one but went back to XP.
I also put in a 1TB drive for $50 more. I also got the Microsoft remote with their wireless keyboard which adds $80,-. One could offer a standard keyboard and optical mouse (generic stuff) for $25,-.
I also added a wireless N AP for $50,- (external). I guess you could go for an internal card at about the same price but I wanted to be able to plug in more devices since it is somewhere totally different in the house. The connection is rock-solid through many walls.
I ditched the XBMC FTP and run Filezilla server which is extremely powerful, reliable and feature rich. I need to sync the content between the box and some local drives and the only way to use a good piece of software for FTP syncing requires a rock solid FTP server.
I know the vanilla Tvix 4100SH sells for $370 but it does not support a fraction of the formats, has no DVD ROM player, it's FTP server only supports one connection and constantly craps out, does not support remote desktop, does not support VFR, does not support DRM (my configuration supports wired Ethernet Internet access but as I suggested I got the Access point instead). Tvix only supports two external USB drives, this box supports at least six directly off the case and however many you want off a USB hub. You also have to add the cost of a hard drive to the Tvix if you actually want it to be a media server. If you manage to play an ISO on this box without it hanging up at least once, you are lucky. It does not play six channel AAC either, in any container, only AC3.
Popcorn plain sucks.
Feedback? Is this something you think someone could sell?
Note I am not trying to peddle the box here and will not sell it here (I'll tell you where to get the parts).
thats not something I would boast about 
Regarding noisy hard drives, I'm very familiar with silentpcreview.com and I'm a silence freak 