[misterpink]

New project, budget conscious - here we go:

XBMC box:


$149.99 - Asus at3iont-i MB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813131653
$39.99 - Apex MI-008 Case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6811154091
$66.99 (AR) OCZ Onyx 32G SSD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6820227510
$29.99 - 2GB Kingston DDR3 2x1 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6820134793

Total: $286.96. Probably a few ways to go cheaper, but atom+ssd+2G under $300 is fine with me. Any thoughts on potential weaknesses here? Should I be considering an ion2 based solution for *possible (in progress apparently)* future HD bitstreaming support in linux? I don't even have a capable receiver at the moment, and don't care what the light says as long as it sounds good. (read: im fine with batch converting audio tracks to 7.1 flac, etc.)


NAS + Backend processing (usenet dls, various scripting and file processing functions, very occasional transcoding (speed not a big issue due to frequency - plus I can always upgrade the AMD proc later)

$69.99 - Coolermaster 590 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6811119152
$36.99 - AMD Sempron 140 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6819103698
$29.99 (AR) - Antec NEO ECO 400 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6817371029
$49.99 - MSI 740GM-P25 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813130288
$48.99 - 4G Muskin Enhanced DDR3 (2x2) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6820146740

Total - $235.95. Potential weakness here is the MSI MB with 6 sata but only a single x16 slot. Also people are all over the map in terms of reliability - some swear by it, some say its crap. I just don't feel like plunking down more right now so we'll see how it goes. Current plans are a windows based OS and flexraid, but that could change. Enough unix experience to go other routes. Not really into unraid, but I appreciate why people are.

For remote control, I have an iPad laying around the house so I'm going to see how far that gets me. For now I'm going to stick a bunch of spare 1TBs I have lying around in for storage, and add/migrate to 2GB WD greens as necessary.

General thoughts/opinions from the masters? Am I making any huge mistakes here?

Thanks in advance gents.

[poofyhairguy]

Overall it looks really good. The ONLY suggestion I have is that if you want a TV tuner one day get a mobo with a PCIe 1x slot instead. If not (and you are willing to convert to FLAC) you are set...

[misterpink]

Thanks poof - plenty of info gathered from your posts over the months so no surprise

Since this is a step towards getting rid of conventional subscription tv, no tuner support is more than fine by me. Id prefer to try and integrate something like a homerun anyway.

I'm going to assume tho that it is fairly certain at this point that linux bitstreaming will be strictly ion2? (I'm still not sure I even care)

[poofyhairguy]

I can't say yet. It might end up working with ION1. Technically it isn't supposed to work with ION2 and it does. Linux developers are magic for getting the max out of hardware, despite what the media overlords have "licensed to work."

The way you have this thing setup though down the road if you really want it you could throw in a guaranteed compatible GPU if ION doesn't bitstream. I haven't seen any ION2 mobos I like (and honestly ION2 is a hack as is), so I think you are doing the best you can.

In fact, this build is an outright compliment to me in a way, and I appreciate it!