Kodi Community Forum

bluray Wrote:either one of these will serve you well-

Zotac WIFI AMD 880G SB850 Chipset Mini-ITX

it has no PCI-EXPRESS 2.0 x16 slots....

bluray Wrote:ASUS P8H61-I (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel H61

this seems good,
and like i already suggested too,
this boards good too --> GIGABYTE GA-H67N-USB3-B3

eskro Wrote:it has no PCI-EXPRESS 2.0 x16 slots....

you're right, but this one do- ASUS M4A88T-I Deluxe AM3 AMD 880G HDMI USB 3.0 Mini ITX AMD Motherboard

but why buy an OpenBox at $117??

your suggestion was ok here
http://forum.xbmc.org/showpost.php?p=879...stcount=91

eskro Wrote:but why buy an OpenBox at $117??

your suggestion was ok here
http://forum.xbmc.org/showpost.php?p=879...stcount=91

or for $7 more, you can get a new one- Asus M4A88T-I DELUXE Socket AM3/ AMD 880G/ USB3.0. i listed both am3 and lga1155 boards because he has not decide which route to go.

Ok guys, sorry for all the confusion, and thanks for all the help.

What I need is a machine capable of:

Playing 1080p movies (mkvs mostly)
Playing 720p movies (again mkvs)
Playing 3D movies (don't know if they are 1080p or 720p)
Emulators and some gaming (mostly MAME, so the most processor for the buck the better).
Finally the machine would probably be on 24x7, mostly downloading/streaming.

I have NO processor/motherboard preference.
I do know that I need one of the 3D capable cards.
I rather have mini itx than micro atx, but is not that big deal.

I was thinking about 200 for mother/proc, about 50 for the case, about 30 for the memory, and about 50 for the 3D card.

That said, I found this on Amazon (I rather avoid newegg, but if there is a really good option there, I can try newegg).

The AM3 Options:
GIGABYTE GA-E350N-USB3 $120
Asus M4A88T-I DELUXE $125
Zotac 890GITX-A-E Socket AM3 $126

If I'm not mistaken, with either, I can fit:
AMD Athlon II X2 250 $60
AMD Athlon II X2 255 $65
AMD Phenom II X2 555 $88
AMD Phenom II X2 560 $90

So there is a 30 bucks different there, but the phenoms apparently are much faster. So I would *tend* to like them more.

On the LGA1155 front, I see:
ASUS P8H61-M $80 THIS IS MICRO ATX
Asus P8H61-I LGA1155/ Intel H61(B3)/ DDR3/ A&GbE/ Mini ITX Motherboard $80
Gigabyte GA-H67N-USB3-B3 $99

Procesors I only see:
Intel Pentium G620 Dual Core 2.6 $75
Intel Pentium G840 Dual Core 2.8 GHz $85
Intel Core i3-2100 Processor 3.1GHz $125

As far as I see, the best option is:
Asus P8H61-I LGA1155/ Intel H61(B3)/ DDR3/ A&GbE/ Mini ITX Motherboard $80
Intel Core i3-2100 Processor 3.1GHz $125
Total 205.

What do you think guys? THANKS!

by the way, ESKRO, you said you would choose the Asus HD6450 Silent and not the Sapphire Radeon HD 6450. Both are $50, but the Sapphire has 1GB RAM vs Asus 512MB. What is your reason?

sometime you just have to bite the bullet and take a plunge!

these might be your best choice, and it'll be your complete mini-itx htpc (it'll do everything in your list with ease):

1. APEX MI-008
2. Intel BOXDH67CFB3 LGA 1155
3. Scythe SY1225SL12M 120mm
4. LG Black 12X BD-ROM
5. HP OEM Windows 7 Vista XP Media Center MCE PC Remote Control
6. SAPPHIRE 100324L Radeon HD 6570 2GB
7. Intel Core i3-2100T Sandy Bridge
8. Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500)
9. Corsair Force CSSD-F40GB2-A 2.5" 40GB

bluray Wrote:these might be your best choice, and it'll be your complete mini-itx htpc (it'll do everything in your list with ease):

Thanks, do not take offense, but I rather understand here.

Intel BOXDH67CFB3 LGA 1155 $130
Intel Core i3-2100T Sandy Bridge $135
Total: $265.

Why would you choose that over my $205 configuration? (it is a honest question)

SAPPHIRE 100324L Radeon HD 6570 2GB
Again, any particular reason on choosing this over the others?

Thanks.

EDIT 1:"The Radeon HD 6670 and 6570 deliver good performance in games in the 720p mode even if you turn on FSAA, so such cards are going to be interesting for a casual gamer. The cheap Radeon HD 6450 cannot be expected to be fast in today’s games but it is functional enough (DirectX 11, OpenCL 1.1, hardware HD video decoding, etc) to surpass a mainboard-integrated graphics core." So basically, is a matter of what performance I want them for. I assume that the 6450 is good for 3D and 1080p videos anyway.

EDIT2: So I would probably be getting either of this, mostly because both are ASUS, and so far it looks like the mother would be ASUS also.
Asus ATI Radeon HD6450 Silence 1 GB $60
ASUS EAH6570/DI/1GD3(LP) Radeon HD 6570 DDR3 1 GB $80

Should would be checking if 3D does works with this two, or is a standard function of the ATI Radeon 6450/6570 lines?

kwanbis- better cpu will give you smoother xbmc ui manuever and better gpu will give you smoother playback experience.

here are hd 6450 vs hd 6570 comparison- Radeon HD 6450 (OEM) vs Radeon HD 6570 (OEM) 2GB

Yes, thanks, I know about that. I even edited myself. Don't worry, I know computer hardware, problem is that I'm kinda lost with all the new options (chipsets, processors, gpu, etc) since I last assembled a PC (i think last one I did was a Pentium 2 or 3, go figure).

So far, the options I like the best are:
Asus P8H61-I LGA1155/ Intel H61(B3)/ DDR3/ A&GbE/ Mini ITX Motherboard $80
Intel Core i3-2100 Processor 3.1GHz $125
ASUS EAH6570/DI/1GD3(LP) Radeon HD 6570 DDR3 1 GB $80
Kingston ValueRAM 4 GB Kit (2x2 GB Modules) 1333MHz PC3-1066 DDR3 $28
Apex MI-100 4BAY Desktop Blk/Silver 250W ATX12V Mitx $55
Scythe Slip Stream SY1225SL12SL $12
Total $380.

Do any of you see any incompatibilities or problems with this setup?

khanbis- your latest list should work, and you'll enjoy it!

if you care for graphic card benchmark, you can see all of it here- High End Video Card Chart

Great! Considering I would NOT have any type of optical drive, do you think having 2.5 vs 3.5 inch HD would make any difference in heat?

Ok wait!
Why an $80 GPU card in an HTPC!?
And specially, why the ASUS EAH6570??
This is all you need --> PowerColor HD6450 1GB DDR3 64-bit Low Profile ($47 + $0)
it'll playback 3D 1080P movies + bitstreams HD-Audio, it'll just does it all!!
and if you wont play PC games,
you wont even notice a performance drop by going with the HD6450!!

Keep the $ difference an invest in an SSD!!
there you'll see some difference!!

Also, that 2000RPM CoolerMAster fan might be noisy when running at %100 speed!
check if you can at Least plug it in your motherboards Fan Header...
then, you'll be able to use SpeedFAN application to reduce its speed....
If not, go with the Scythe SY1225SL12L like suggested in my guide....

~hope this helps~

eskro Wrote:Why an $80 GPU card in an HTPC!? And specially, why the ASUS EAH6570??
This is all you need: PowerColor HD6450 ... and if you wont play PC games, you wont even notice a performance drop by going with the HD6450!!

Well, thing is that I want to do some games (emulation like MAME mostly), and while at first I also thought about the 6450, reading information lead me to believe that the 6570 price difference ($30) is justifiable.

I choose the ASUS EAH6570 in particular because when I searched more or less where all the same price, and since ASUS is my motherboard, I assume there should be less chance of incompatibility.

Since 6450 do 3D 1080P movies + bitstreams HD-Audio, I assumed that 6570 would also do them, correct?

About the SSDs, I'm very interested, but since I would be installing emulators and such, I need at least 500GB, and so an SSD is rulled out.

eskro Wrote:Also, that 2000RPM CoolerMAster fan might be noisy when running at %100 speed! If not, go with the Scythe SY1225SL12L like suggested in my guide.

I tried to purchase the Scythe, but amazon does not sells it, and looking there, the CoolerMaster seemed like an option. I would look for other if it turns out to be too noisy.

yes, the 6570 will do 3D 1080P movies + bitstreams HD-Audio

Finally settled on this:

Asus P8H61-I LGA1155/ Intel H61(B3)/ DDR3/ A&GbE/ Mini ITX Motherboard $80
Intel Core i3-2100 Processor 3.1GHz $125
ASUS EAH6570/DI/1GD3(LP) Radeon HD 6570 DDR3 1 GB $80
Kingston ValueRAM 4 GB Kit (2x2 GB Modules) 1333MHz PC3-1066 DDR3 $28
Apex MI-100 4BAY Desktop Blk/Silver 250W ATX12V Mitx $55
Scythe Slip Stream SY1225SL12SL $12
Total $380.

I would now have to choose the HD. I'm debating between a Western Digital Scorpio Blue 500GB or a Western Digital 1.5 TB Caviar Green for around $60.

I rather have 1.5TB, but since this is a 24x7 system, would the 1.5TB make too much heat over the 500GB?