New HTPC feedback Plz
#1
Question 
G'day fellas (and ladies),

Due to my laptop having no grunt for H264 at 1080p, I'm looking to put together a HTPC at minimal cost. This is what I've come up with so far:

Zotac H55-ITX WIFI LGA1156 - Motherboard - This comes with a 150W power supply. Is this sufficient?
Antec ISK300-150 -Mini-ITX Desktop - Case
Kingmax 4G PC-10600 1333MHZ DDR3 Single Stick - Memory
Intel Core i3 540 - Processor

$461

I have numerous sata hard drives so will use one of them to install the OS on.

This will be running XBMC 10.0, Girder 5.0 and access all video content off a NAS (hopefully off WiFi-N).

Any suggestions before I go out and buy this? Good? Bad? Better out there? Not good enough?

Thanks in advance.

...DJVege...
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#2
Rainbow 
After reading through many posts and seeing many users HTPC builds, I've now decided to use an AMD solution. Thanks to Eskro for the many builds you've put up as the information helped a lot.

I'm now looking at this for my HTPC:

Antec Minuet 350 Slimline case with 350W PSU $119.00
Netgear WNDA3100 Wireless-N USB Adapter 802.11 $72.00
Samsung 22X DVDRW Black SATA $29.00
AMD Athlon II X2 CPU AM3 3.1GHz (65W) $64.00
Asus GF GT430 PCI-E2.0 LP $72.00
Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P $66.00
Total $422.00

Any suggestions on improvements are appreciated. My requirements are:

* able to handle 1080p, H264
* HDMI bitstreaming of HD audio
* Wireless-N
* Fairly quiet

This will be a dedicated HTPC running XBMC.

I'm thinking of putting a 2.5" HDD in it... any drawbacks with that? Bad idea?

And I haven't quite decided on whether I'll use a bluray player instead of the DVDRW...

Thanks.

...DJVege...

Edit: Apologies: Tried to delete and repost in the HTPC forum, but can't see a delete/move option. If a mod could move/delete, please.
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#3
I have a suggestion for you:

Don't go wireless! At least trying to play 1080P video. It won't work good and you'll be troubleshooting more than you watch movies.

These forums are filled with people who have had wireless problems. Don't do it. Go wired Gigabit or you'll be sorry.

Mark
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#4
Yes wireless blows 10/100 at a minimum, gig if you got it.
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#5
I am streaming 1080P wirelessly on an 802.11n network without any issues at all. No buffering. It's impossible on 802.11G though.

One question -- Why switch to AMD? The Sandy Bridge processors are great for HTPC.

$99 - i3-2100 (Microcenter)
$89.99 - MSI H67 mATX MB (microcenter)
$45 - 4GB dual channel g.skill memory (newegg)
about 100 bucks for a case and psu together (I got the nMedia 5000B with PSU for 109).

$334 plus any harddrive/optical drives you want.
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#6
Rainbow 
Firstly, apologies for the multiple threads. I thought this one might've been deleted by now. The other is in the HTPC forum.

Secondly, appreciate all the suggestions.

mwkurt: Yes, I have seen a few people with wireless issues. I'm actually just hoping the wireless works as I'm 5m from my modem/router and only giprock in between. Running a cable would go across my front entrance, so cleaner would be to cable the house properly (so I figured i've try the $60 cheaper option and pray wireless-N does the trick).

Guys, I forgot to mention that my prices listed are in AUD, as I live in Australia. Which is why I figured AMD would be a cheaper solution. However I'll research what you've suggested and see what price I come up with. Will post back my findings.

Thanks again.
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#7
DravenGSX: I read about some tiny fps issue with 23.97 for the Sandy Bridges. Although I'm fairly certain I won't notice any difference as I watch everything at 60Hz on a 55" Samsung LCD tv, I thought AMD would come out a cheaper option. Once my HTPC is bought, it will be time to upgrade my gaming PC. So savings here get added to that project. Smile

Costs for Draven's suggestions:

MSI H67MA-E35B3 - $117.50
Intel Core i3 2100 CPU - $122.00
G Skill 4G 1333MHz - $45.00
nMedia 5000B - $100 delivered from the states (can't find it in Oz)

US gets computer parts at better prices still, compared to us. The difference has come down over the years, but you still get better prices. Smile
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#8
AUD dollars makes a difference. Smile It is my understanding that the stand alone GPUs also have the 23.97 fps issue in most cases.

I have not noticed it with my Sandy Bridge but I am, admittedly, not a video-phile.
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#9
Yes, AUD definitely makes the difference. If it was a few years back, it would NOW be cheaper to buy the parts from the US and ship them over. However our local prices have come down considerably over the past few years. We're also not as far behind with the latest models. Still behind, mind you.. just not as far. Smile
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