Kodi Community Forum

Im looking to build the cheapest xbmc that can
1. play 1080p media
2. play streaming media from the net
3. play hd iptv media

What is the suggested hardware? Im thinking of ion. Not sure about intel atom. is intel atom enough?
What is the cheapest remote that have keypad? logitech is insanely overpriced.

your suggestion is highly appreciated.

Here's the cheapest possible build for you! (windows OS only)


[MOBO+CPU+iGPU] ASRock E350M1 Zacate Dual-Core 1.6Ghz HD6310 ALC892 Mini-ITX ($110 + $7)
[CASE+PSU] Apex MI-008 Black mini-ITX 250W ($40 + $0)
[FAN] SilenX IXP-74-09 120mm 800RPM 38CFM 9dBA ($13 + $0)
[SSD] Kingston SSDNow 30GB 2.5" SATAII Trim Read:180MB/s Write:50MB/s ($56 + $0)
[RAM] CORSAIR 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 DDR3 1333 ($22 + $0)
TOTAL: ($248)

Yepp, believe it or not, this $248 HTPC will do all you want!
*PLay 1080P
*BitStream HD-Audio
*Play Netflix-HD
*Stream Server Files at Gigabyte Speed
*Can accommodate a Regular 5.25" Optical Bluray Drive

Enjoy your new HTPC
Don't forget to show us some pics and a small video

I can vouch for that build, i have it running, and it works well,

And if you want a smaller solution the Zotac AD02 is an option. Stats are similiar to what Eskro posted.

This is not (yet) recommended for linux builds though, so if you wanna run Windows this is great.

Zotac ZBOX-AD02-U is a good small pre-build alternative but costs $233 shipped...

and you still have to buy 2GB of Laptop Memory and a normal Hard Drive or SSD...
which will set you back at around --> $311....
but you do have WiFi N 150 MB/s built-in and like i said, its very small form factor,,,

So my $248 suggested build up there + a $26 ASUS WiFi N 300MB/s card = $274
using my build, you save $37 overall even if u buy that WiFi card!
or you save $63 if u dont need WiFi at all!!

So you see, i still have the cheapest price

thanks for the suggestion. i was thinking to go with linux(spare few bucks from windows). why is that build does not support linux?

what im trying to do is to sell preconfigured htpc. thats why linux is essential.

thanks.

because of driver issues regarding ATI + Linux,,,
for Linux, its Nvidia chipset that works best driver wise...
all you have to do is, get the $50 Celeron E3400 CPU
and buy the $100 Zotac 9300-k-e motherboard...
so remove the $117 Zacate motherboard from there...


[CPU] Intel Celeron E3400 Dual-Core 2.6GHz LGA-775 65W ($50 + $0)
[MOBO+iGPU] ZOTAC GF9300-K-E LGA-775 WiFi Mini-ITX ($100 + $0)
[CASE+PSU] Apex MI-008 Black mini-ITX 250W ($40 + $0)
[FAN] SilenX IXP-74-09 120mm 800RPM 38CFM 9dBA ($13 + $0)
[SSD] Kingston SSDNow 30GB 2.5" SATAII Trim Read:180MB/s Write:50MB/s ($56 + $0)
[RAM] CORSAIR 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 DDR3 1333 ($22 + $0)
TOTAL: ($281)

there you go, $281 is the cheapest LINUX build one can get!!!

actually, not totally true...
there's a version of XBMC for Linux called OPENELEC....
its meant to be run'ed from a USB stick or CF card!!!
so u could remove that $56 SSD drive,
and sell your build with a USB stick with OPENELEC already installed on it!!!
http://www.openelec.tv/

wow. thanks for the info. i didnt even know that it can totally run from cf cards.

thanks.

[CPU] Intel Celeron E3400 Dual-Core 2.6GHz LGA-775 65W ($50 + $0)
[MOBO+iGPU] ZOTAC GF9300-K-E LGA-775 WiFi Mini-ITX ($100 + $0)
[CASE+PSU] Apex MI-008 Black mini-ITX 250W ($40 + $0)
[FAN] SilenX IXP-74-09 120mm 800RPM 38CFM 9dBA ($13 + $0)
[USB] Patriot Xporter XT Ready Boost 8G Flash Drive Read:30MB/s ($11 + $1)
[RAM] CORSAIR 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 DDR3 1333 ($22 + $0)
TOTAL: ($237)

Take a look at thism, my next system:

Zotac zbox ad02 about 240$ (ex memory & harddrive)
Zotac zbox ad02 plus about 320$ (with 2Gb mem & 250Gb harddrive)
I suspect the price will go down.

The driver issue is been solved:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=81286&page=16


CPU AMD E-350 APU Platform (1.6 GHz, dual-core)
GPU AMD Radeon HD 6310
HDCP Yes
Display HDMI (w/audio), DVI-I, VGA (with included adapter)
Memory Card Reader 6-in-1 (SD/SDHC/MMC/MS/MS Pro/xD)
WiFi Onboard 802.11n WiFi
Ethernet 10/100/1000Mbps
USB Ports 2x USB 3.0 (back panel)
4x USB 2.0 (2 on back panel, 1 on front panel, 1 on top panel)
Audio Onboard analog stereo high-definition audio
7.1-Channel digital audio (LPCM and Bistream capable via HDMI)
Optical Digital S/PDIF audio output

sokolum Wrote:The driver issue is been solved:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=81286&page=16

well, its more like in testing phase...
its not as stable as Nvidia .......
but if u trust ATI + Linux, for $248 you can get these

[MOBO+CPU+iGPU] ASRock E350M1 Zacate Dual-Core 1.6Ghz HD6310 ALC892 Mini-ITX ($110 + $7)
[CASE+PSU] Apex MI-008 Black mini-ITX 250W ($40 + $0)
[FAN] SilenX IXP-74-09 120mm 800RPM 38CFM 9dBA ($13 + $0)
[SSD] Kingston SSDNow 30GB 2.5" SATAII Trim Read:180MB/s Write:50MB/s ($56 + $0)
[RAM] CORSAIR 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 DDR3 1333 ($22 + $0)
TOTAL: ($248)

eskro,

Thanks for the reccomendations. I chose the first setup (windows as the base OS). Your research really helped me out.

Also, the only reason why I'm running Windows and not Fedora 16 is that I plan on making the htpc integrate with Advanced Launcher as an emulator machine using the xbox360 as the primary controller (and the setup will be faster if I do it in Windows -> xbox360 controller driver had issues in Fedora last time I used it)

But XBMC on the whole is best ran on top of a Linux platform in my opinion!

lightshow12, show us pics and a small vid if u can, once its up and running

To come back to linux being fixed... Having a non- upgradable pre installed xbmc which can play a video doestnt give linux full ati support

how much disk capacity is required for linux build? I want to build a htpc using no hard drive but compact flash card. is 8 gb enough?