Apologies if this is a bit of a repeat from older posts but after spending a lot 3-4 weeks trying to decide what PC to buy, I am now more confused than every and wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction.
I've got a 3T Server running Xubuntu, xbmc, Samba, etc. As it's clunky and noisy I keep it in a spare room so am looking for a HTPC to act solely as a receiver (either via stream or NAS).
Here's my priorities:
- Low Cost
- Very Quiet
- HDMI output
I've considered the Acer Revo 3700 (
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/261508) but the HDD is a little unnecessary as I can boot from a usb stick if needs be to reduce size, noise, etc.
Then I came across the following DIY kit
http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=53#ION-...009-bundle, this seems to tick all my boxes, but I'm unsure as to the quality.
Finally I've had a good trudge through these forums and found some really good posts but now I'm even more confused ... ready built, DIY Kit or complete DIY.
I don't really need dvd drive, wifi or hdd. Instead I will use USB stick and ethernet.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Forgot to add I'm considering using xbmc live as I dont really want the pc doing anything except run xbmc but will it wipe the stored movie links every time it reboots?
feeblminds Wrote:Forgot to add I'm considering using xbmc live as I dont really want the pc doing anything except run xbmc but will it wipe the stored movie links every time it reboots?
No, the USB stick is still writable so you should be fine there.
Buy prefab vs build yourself... Any previous experience building a system? Willing to learn?
Either way you have to get familiar with the parts and specs because you must know what you are actually buying. For me, prefabs or combo sales seem to skimp on some specs here and there. I've built many systems so I may as well simply get the parts with the specs I want.
Thanks for your reply. I built a couple of 486s when I was younger so I'm a little out of date but Im sure I'll be fine building as long as I buy compatible parts! My main issue with building is choosing case and motherboard as I just want small quiet and relatively cheap. I figured self build might be best after reading this forum. Any suggestions for a reasonable motherboard to get me started. Doesn't need to be mega powerful, quiet is more important to me.
Wow fanless PC and I then all I need is some RAM and an OS on my memory stick and I'm good to go.
Just been having a look at UK prices for the shuttle, I'm looking at £210 here or £160 for the 1st version. I like the idea DDR3 ram upto 4gb and the better processor.
Thanks for the tip Eskro, I think this is my choice.
I might consider adding bluray and SSD at later date, do you know if most slimline versions will fit this case?
Thanks for help guys, just orders the shuttle v2, love the idea of it being fanless. Got 4gb ram, might even get a ssd at some point but for now I think it'll do. Hopefully all will go well when I get it running.
congratz, shuttles are dead silent
feeblminds Wrote:Thanks for your reply. I built a couple of 486s when I was younger so I'm a little out of date but Im sure I'll be fine building as long as I buy compatible parts! My main issue with building is choosing case and motherboard as I just want small quiet and relatively cheap. I figured self build might be best after reading this forum. Any suggestions for a reasonable motherboard to get me started. Doesn't need to be mega powerful, quiet is more important to me.
wowow.. 80486.. you go back as far as me
My first system was an 80286 running at a blazing 16Mhz
feeblminds Wrote:Apologies if this is a bit of a repeat from older posts but after spending a lot 3-4 weeks trying to decide what PC to buy, I am now more confused than every and wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction.
I've got a 3T Server running Xubuntu, xbmc, Samba, etc. As it's clunky and noisy I keep it in a spare room so am looking for a HTPC to act solely as a receiver (either via stream or NAS).
Here's my priorities:- Low Cost
- Very Quiet
- HDMI output
I've considered the Acer Revo 3700 (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/261508) but the HDD is a little unnecessary as I can boot from a usb stick if needs be to reduce size, noise, etc.
Then I came across the following DIY kit http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=53#ION-...009-bundle, this seems to tick all my boxes, but I'm unsure as to the quality.
Finally I've had a good trudge through these forums and found some really good posts but now I'm even more confused ... ready built, DIY Kit or complete DIY.
I don't really need dvd drive, wifi or hdd. Instead I will use USB stick and ethernet.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Heres my mini build. Might give you some ideas..
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=104468
This is what you have the freedom do if you decide to build it.
prongATO Wrote:wowow.. 80486.. you go back as far as me My first system was an 80286 running at a blazing 16Mhz
Them were the days!! My 486 didn't crash once, then again it ran dos and win3.1 so there wasn't much challenging the 66mhz processor.
80286 running at a blazing 16Mhz, O.O wild!!
So everything arrived Thursday:
- Shuttle XS35GT-V2 Barebone - Intel Dual Core 1.8ghz + NVidia ION
- 4GB Kingston DDR3 RAM
- OCZ Vertex 60GB SSD
Overall cost about £300.
Put together fine, looks great and is dead silent. That's where the fun ended though...
Put lightweight Ubuntu on (no Compiz, Unity, etc.) and connected to my Toshiba HDTV via HDMI.
First problem was that the screen was overscanned on my TV, managed to get this fixed on day 1. Second problem was the WIFI through Linux was very sporadic but I overcame this by using ethernet. Third problem was getting sound over HDMI, this was a nightmare!!! Finally managed to get working by following multiple online guides but settled for creating a .asoundrc file and replacing the drivers that Ubuntu chose for me. So all working now apart from the following two issues:
- When I run XBMC through gnome (even as standalone) it is very choppy, it struggles to even print scrolling RSS feed. Not what I expect from quite a powerful little machine. I can solve this by booting direct to XBMC and just skipping the normal GDM and it runs really sweet.
- Now I am really stuck... Videos play fine if booted direct to XBMC but whenever I try and play a film/show with 5.1 digital dolby it says Audio not initilized... This one I just can't lick.
I know this is a post for another section of the forum but thought I would mention here in case anybody has had similar issues with this hardware. Maybe I should be scrapping Linux and going to Windows but feels like a backward step.
i dont use linux but, i beleive OpenELEC could be a good choice because its be used many times on SHuttle NEttops...
I think you'll encounter less issues...