[Benjigga]

Long time lurker, but I've finally decided to take the plunge into a HTPC. Right now I just run a 20' HDMI from my main PC to the receiver. 90% of the time I play 720p but I definitely want capability to play 1080p. Any suggestions would be greatly welcome! So here's my intended build.

[CPU] - AMD Athlon II X2 255 Regor 3.1GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor
[Mobo + GPU] - MSI 880GM-E41 AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard + ATI Radeon HD 4250
[Case + PSU] - APEX DM-387 Black Steel Micro ATX Media Center + Flex 275w PSU
[Memory] - PNY XLR8 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model
[Hard Drive] - Any random 32GB SSD for the OS.


I have no need for an optical drive. I'm only intending to use this for XBMC. That's all. Would you recommend an Ubuntu Lite + XBMC build or just go with W7?

Edit: The motherboard comes with an onboard ATI Radeon HD 4250 and the case has a 275W PSU. The Newegg PSU Calculator says that all that will only draw 214W. I'd love opinions on whether the 4250 is capable of full 1080p video and if 275w PSU is sufficient.

Thank you!

[AJP69]

I think the psu is just fine, and hte 4250 will decode HD content just fine. You will most likely have to do win7 because of the ati gpu, they don't play well with linux.

[wsume99]

Let me just say that there is NO WAY that your rig will be pulling 214W. I'd be willing to bet that under full CPU and GPU load that your setup would be somewhere in the low 100's if not less. You could probably use a 120w picoPSU if you wanted.

Before I switched to a zacate board I was using a HD4200 onboard GPU and it played 1080p just fine in win7. I'd say it's safe to assume that the HD4250 would handle it well since it's very similar to the HD4200. Now if you plan on using linux then you'll need to get a nvidia card. A GT210 would handle 1080p no problem. From a cost standpoint it's cheaper to get a GT210 for $30 and use linux than to purchase a copy of win 7 for $99 and use the HD4250. But the GT210 would probably use a little more power than the onboard GPU, like maybe 10-15 watts more.