[asphinx]

I am thinking about building a dedicated HTPC, with Windows OS and XBMC as the obvious choice for the front-end. I've already searched and read most of the threads about this.. And there's plenty of them, but just to be certain I would very much like someone's input on the choices I have made for hardware. I originally thought about using the AMD 4850E (CPU), which with it's 45W could be awesome for a silent/cool yet Full HD-capable HTPC, but it seems that opinions were rather parted as to whether it would suffice for HD. Hense the "upgrade" to 5600+. Though I am still a bit uncertain it it's good enough.

And so I ask you, the people of XBMC.. opinions regarding my choice of hardware?

AMD ATHLON 64 X2 5600+ AM2 (65W) BOX
CORSAIR DDR2 2X2GB 1066MHZ DIMM CL7 XMS2 7-7-7-20
GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H
SAMSUNG 8X DVDRW SLIM BLACK WO NERO


Still not sure about the HDD, toying with the idea of using a SSD instead.
SMG F1 1TB 3.5" SATA2 7200RPM 32MB

No graphics card you say? Well no, as I have understood XBMC does the rendering via CPU alone, ergo I'm thinking no need for a GFX card at all.

[rbonon]

I am in the same situation, considering an HTPC, and after trawling for several days, several different forums, including this one, my conclusion is that I will wait for NVidia ION platform machines to be released this summer.

They will deliver most of what I am looking on an HTPC, namely:

- Small (actually extermely small, pico-ITX form factor)
- Silent (possibly fanless with some "bricolage)
- Powerfull Nvidia graphics embedded (suitable for 1080p on standalone players)
- Hopefuly capable of also working with GPU offloading with XBMC, as the developers are actively exploring the new Nvidia drivers.

Google Nvidia ION. Looks very promising to me.

Regards

[asphinx]

Sounds like I should wait awhile and see what happends with Nvidia ION then. Not that I necessarily need a pico-ITX size, the case I have my eyes on fit a m-ATX, but all the other perks seem almost too good to pass up on. Checks Nvidia ION on wiki.

[hoborg]

I think nVidia have no DXVA support for VC-1.
But maybe CUDA can handle VC-1, not sure...

More info: http://www.missingremote.com/index.php?o...mitstart=1

[asphinx]

Honestly.. I don't even know what DXVA and VC-1 is..

[ashlar]

DXVA is DirectX Video Acceleration. Something which won't be used by XBMC, at least according to everything known as of today.

VC-1 is the advanced profile of Windows Media Video and one of the two formats in which video is encoded for BluRay (the other being H.264 aka AVC).

As far as I know, Ion will use one of the new generation graphic chipsets, capable of offloading both formats from the CPU.

Bear in mind that, for XBMC, this is likely to happen only in its Linux incarnations, through VDPAU (use Google for this). There are already VDPAU enabled builds being tested, again only for Linux.

In case you prefer to stay on Windows, you'd probably be better off with a Core2Duo, as those are supposedly more efficient in decoding video.

I'm sure others will pipe in with more options and opinions.

[quake101]

I would buy the AMD 7750 vs the X2 5600. (Newer core, 2MB L3 Cache, unlocked)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6819103300

I've had good results with the 7750.

[LaTropa64]

...
Bear in mind that, for XBMC, this is likely to happen only in its Linux incarnations, through VDPAU (use Google for this). There are already VDPAU enabled builds being tested, again only for Linux.
...

If gpu acceleration isn't likely to happen on Windows, what about the possibility of one day changing the windows build so that it uses system codecs instead of the xbmc dvdplayer? Or is that basically not possible because of the whole directx vs. opengl thing?

I just use the externalplayer option right now but really miss having access to all the extra playback features XBMC gives you like being able to pull up the library info during playback, resuming the video, bookmarks, automatically marking it as watched, etc.

[asphinx]

quake101 --> I did actually consider AMD black edition at one moment, but I can't say that I'm a huge fan of the 95W that it is supposed to use. Also, as far as I have understood it, the larger L3 Cache is pretty useless from an XBMC viewpoint.

So you've had/have the 7750 yourself? How does it handle Full HD videos?

[clckwrkorange]

But what do you guys think of these (recertified builds):

http://www.ecost.com/Detail/Desktops/Hew...px?navid=0

http://www.ecost.com/Detail/Desktops/Hew...px?navid=0

[tcman47]

But what do you guys think of these (recertified builds):

http://www.ecost.com/Detail/Desktops/Hew...px?navid=0

http://www.ecost.com/Detail/Desktops/Hew...px?navid=0

Price wise they are ok but if they are for xbmc only, they could be kind of big and loud and kind of overkill but thats just my two cents.

I built something on my own for around $500, small, quiet with plenty of cpu which xbmc tends to favor.

[cascius]

Here's what i got inside my system:
AMD Phenom x3 8650 with Scythe Ninja Mini
GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2HP
2 gigs ram
2x 1TB HDDs (maxtor)
Antec Fusion case

This build works extremely well so far. Decoding 1080p mkv takes around 30-35% cpu. It only drops frames while loading the movie (first half a second or so, and it usually only drops 1-6 frames).

The system is extremely quiet. the only fans are coming from the power supply (included in fusion) and the 2 120mm cases fans (also included in fusion). The cpu heatsink is fanless, and runs at around 35 degrees celsius while decoding 1080p content. The flow in the case is terrific and keeps all of my components cool (including HDDs.) Also, the HDDs are so quiet that I didn't even bother lowering their speed.

The onboard graphic card (HD3200) does a nice job with XBMC.

I bought an external 2TB hard drive from Maxtor to use as a backup system. It was dirt cheap at $199 and I love it. It's a bit noisy, but I only use it from time to time to backup everything and then power it off.

Some numbers:
CPU + Mobo + Ram should run you around $250 (@ Fry's Electronics)
HDDS: up to you really
Heatsink: ~$35
Case: $70-150 depending on which Fusion model you pick.

Hope this helps,

- Cas

[vskatusa]

you are better off buying a laptop which will double up as htpc - advantage... silent and readymade.

I have such a setup with sony FW series and connected to my reciever with a hdmi cable (video and 5.1 dolby digital)

[asphinx]

Awesome input so far, thank you very much!

-->vskatusa, I too much in love with this case to go laptop..



But I am starting to think that maybe I should go for an Intel based CPU instead, the biggest reason why I chose AMD is that I like their CPU's otherwise.

[clckwrkorange]

I've been tooling around on NewEgg and have configured this system any ideas of what should be paired down or ramped up?


OKGEAR 18" SATA II cable with metal latch,UV BLUE Model GC18AUBM


SYBA 6 ft. IEEE 1394a 4-pin to 4-pin Firewire cable Model SY-CAB-F4

LIAN LI Lancool PC-K7B Aluminum/ SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive


Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 1800 MCE Kit 1128 PCI-Express x1 Interface


CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply



Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound


CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5

Scythe SCMNJ-1000 80mm Sleeve "NINJA MINI" CPU Cooler


LITE-ON Black 6X Blu-Ray DVD ROM & 16X DVD±R DVD Burner SATA Model iHES106-29

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.5GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80580Q8300

ASUS P5N7A-VM LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 9300/nForce 730i HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard



Subtotal: $863.87