[fekker]

I'm a hardware nut, even more so then software and movies.

For Full HD Playback (1080p)
For case - I like these two
This one's awesome (also in silver)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6811204035
(cheaper case that's ok - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6811108058)

Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 (2.8ghz, fast enough for 1080p using nothing but the cpu, 45nm, lower power use chip.)

For a mobo, GIGABYTE GA-E7AUM-DS2H, awesome little board with everything, and a fast enough gpu to play some new games as well.

4gb of ddr2 (corsair) for $30, might go with 8gb, a 32gb solid state drive and lite-on dvd burner/ blu-ray reader drive rounds out the system.

pico psu and scyth mini-ninja cooler will keep it silent, 60mm case fans will be removed and mesh installed in there place.

To me, that's my ultimate xbmc machine (for power use, noise level, and overall cost).. it's also got room to put in a bunch of drives and act as the file server as well as a frontend machine.

For 720p Playback (or re-compressed 1080p with a modified x264 main profile for less cpu usage, with a hit to the overall bitrate, but still looking great)
Atom 330 board, some ram, a different northbridge cooler as the stock one is a touch loud, and a ssd drive.
when gpu decoding gets working, add an nvidia 8400 pci card to it (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814187042)

When the new atoms come out, or the Ion hits the market, both will be awesome with gpu assisted decoding for 1080p

[dtviewer]

One last question. (ok, maybe 2)

Which xbmc? Live, or for windows?

And would a striped down operating system such as TinyXP be enough?

[TomJensen]

Well, if you have to ask which OS, then you should probably run Windows. Seriously, XBMC uses the same FFmpeg engine on all platforms, so I doubt you'll see any performance difference. Running the Live version saves on use of a HD, but if you are a tech dude, you should have plenty of old HDs around. I'm running on an nLited version of XP (which I assume is similar to TinyXP), and total disk space used is about 1.5GB, with the compressed image about 500MB. XBMC is a self-contained app, and doesn't need many OS services.

Another consideration is that many of the supporting software run on Windows, eg Eventghost & Media Companion. No doubt there are Linux alternatives around, although you have to look for them.

@fekker: Yeah, the fan on the Atom 330 NB chip is seriously horrible. I bought this speed control ($3)

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13913

and now the fan runs on 5V, fast enough to cool the fan, but slow enough to quiet the fan to a whisper.

[realjobe]

despite all the hype, I have this now
http://fit-pc2.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
with 8GB CF-SSD disk.

I will install Live 9.x XBMC and test the hell out of it. hope it works. Accelerated GFX chip utilize would be dream..

[Naser]

The problem with that setup is the single core Atom, it "will" decode 1080P very well "BUT" 2D accelaration inside windows and Heavy skins aka Aeon will make it laaag until they release the full DX version of XBMC.

[quintixbox]

despite all the hype, I have this now
http://fit-pc2.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
with 8GB CF-SSD disk.

I will install Live 9.x XBMC and test the hell out of it. hope it works. Accelerated GFX chip utilize would be dream..

That's a pretty little box, but I'm wondering how it'll ever be able to play any HD contents under Linux? VDPAU is an NVIDIA only feature and the Atom CPU is way to slow....

[spiff]

that's gonna be a real hog

[realjobe]

.."BUT" 2D accelaration inside windows and Heavy skins aka Aeon will make it laaag until they release the full DX version of XBMC.

Windows? Isn't this Live suppose to be linux-based? I have no intress for using windows based XBMC with this HW. FullHD isn't so much to aim for, 720p could be nice also.