Kodi Community Forum

So, my brother-in-law stopped over and was blown away with my A6 Build.
When I showed him my unRaid Server, you could see the wheel's turning in his head.
So he says, "I want one". So I showed him the different choices and he's basically given me free reign and a nice budget.

Here's the list of parts purchased for the A8-Build:

[CPU]
AMD A8-3850 APU Quad-Core Processor $108.99

[CPU Cooler]
Scythe BIG SHURIKEN 2 Rev B. 5-Heatpipe Universal Low Profile CPU Cooler (SCBSK-2100) $46.95

[MotherBoard]
ASRock MB-A75M Socket FM1/ AMD A75 FCH/ SATA3&USB3.0/ A&GbE/ Micro ATX Motherboard $74.99

[Case]
SilverStone Aluminum/Steel Micro ATX Media Center/HTPC Case ML03B (Black) $59.99

[Power Supply]
SilverStone Strider 400W, 80 PLUS, Active PFC Power Supply ST40F-ES (Black) $48.99

[RAM]
Kingston Hyper X 8 GB Kit (2x4GB Modules) 1866MHz DDR3 Desktop Memory $59.88

[SSD]
Crucial 64 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT064M4SSD2 $68.99

[BD-ROM]
LG UH12LS28K LightScribe 12x SATA Blu-Ray Combo Internal Drive, Bulk (Black) $56.95

[OS]
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack $99.99

[Keyboard]
IOGEAR Multimedia Keyboard with Laser Trackball and Scroll Wheel, 2.4GHz Wireless GKM561R (Black) $39.00

[Remote]
Windows 7 Vista XP Media Center MCE PC Remote Control and Infrared Receiver for Home, Premium and Ultimate Edition $15.00

[HDD]
Western Digital Caviar Green 3 TB SATA III 64 MB Cache
$159.99


and for the unRaid Server (now this is where I'm jealous since mine is scraping by on 1TB until I can afford to buy more HDs)
He will be buying me a 3TB drive as a way of saying thanks.

[Case]
Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $54.99

[Mother Board]
ASRock 880GM-LE FX AM3+ AMD 880G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard $59.99

[CPU]
AMD Sempron 145 Processor $36.30

[RAM]
Kingston ValueRAM 2 GB (1x2 GB Module) 1333MHz DDR3 DIMM Desktop Memory $12.88

[Power Supply]
Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply $78.71

[HDD]
Seagate Barracuda 7200 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal
Supply $157.99

[Flash Drive for unRaid]
SanDisk Cruzer Fit 16 GB Flash Drive $12.89

Plan on building this as soon as the parts arrive! Can't wait.

Oh and did I mention that he also brought these (now my mouth is watering):

[LED HDTV with 3D]
LG Cinema Screen 55LM7600 55-Inch Cinema 3D 1080p 240 Hz LED-LCD HDTV with Smart TV and Six Pairs of 3D Glasses


[Surround Sound System]
Yamaha YHT-895BL Complete 7.1-Channel Home Theater System

Maybe I won't tell him when I'm done building it until next year.

Very very cool...!!!! Hey Gort.... I have a Antec Three Hundred Illusion case for sale! just like new!
I guess it will be better I sell it in the area....

I tried to PM you but you have disabled your PM's


You have the building bug now!!!!

Try out the Crucial Ballistix Tactical RAM... just got my second pair in and they are wonderful......

In BIOS they show up as 1066 but then change it to 1866 and everything else on AUTO is perfect to what the specs are..... voltage and everything.

I'm in the process of building an unraid server for myself.. so I'm interested in what parts other people are using..

so which motherboard/cpu are you using for the unraid server?

(2012-06-04, 15:25)jangjong Wrote: [ -> ]I'm in the process of building an unraid server for myself.. so I'm interested in what parts other people are using..

so which motherboard/cpu are you using for the unraid server?

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=104489

(2012-06-04, 15:18)Beer40oz Wrote: [ -> ]Very very cool...!!!! Hey Gort.... I have a Antec Three Hundred Illusion case for sale! just like new!
I guess it will be better I sell it in the area....

I tried to PM you but you have disabled your PM's


You have the building bug now!!!!

Try out the Crucial Ballistix Tactical RAM... just got my second pair in and they are wonderful......

In BIOS they show up as 1066 but then change it to 1866 and everything else on AUTO is perfect to what the specs are..... voltage and everything.

ahh,..thanks for letting me know about the PM. I'll change it now.
As far as the case,..let me think about it, because I have a neighbor that is about to ask me to build a system for him.
He wants two systems, one like your system (small and usign the pico psu), and another more robust system.
And he also wants an unRaid server.
First he has to sell the idea to his wife,.......don't we all. Haha

I went through PC building spree for friends and neighbors several years ago. You have to remember one thing. When you build it, you have to be ready to provide tech support. It'll take a while for them to stop rely on you.

I finally got off of the tech support list this year........

(2012-06-04, 15:27)Beer40oz Wrote: [ -> ]

(2012-06-04, 15:25)jangjong Wrote: [ -> ]I'm in the process of building an unraid server for myself.. so I'm interested in what parts other people are using..

so which motherboard/cpu are you using for the unraid server?

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=104489

Oh i know that thread and read it many times lo

and i already got my parts. but i'm just wondering what HE is getting since he didnt specifiy mb/cpu for the server

One way to either get off that list or make money on it is to charge for tech support . For family, of course not, but for neighbors if I have to come to your house I am charging and you know what, the busy dentist is SO happy to have me come and do something in 45min it would take him 6 hours to learn and figure out and still have to call me .

Remember, we aren't Dell. Offer a premium service -- best parts, best customer service, best support and charge for it because it's premium. If you're the best people will pay for your service happily and be even more satisfied than if it were free or cheap. When they pay and you provide the best they feel like they've gotten good value for their money.

This looks like great builds though I wonder why the A8 when the A6 would have sufficed, thrown less heat, etc.? What is the real gain?

(2012-06-04, 15:25)jangjong Wrote: [ -> ]I'm in the process of building an unraid server for myself.. so I'm interested in what parts other people are using..

so which motherboard/cpu are you using for the unraid server?

Duh,..in my excitement,...I forgot to describe those parts in the unRaid server.
I've updated the original post with the unRaid's MOBO, CPU, and RAM.
Hope this helps!

(2012-06-04, 15:58)Dougie Fresh Wrote: [ -> ]This looks like great builds though I wonder why the A8 when the A6 would have sufficed, thrown less heat, etc.? What is the real gain?

If it is their first HTPC, A8 is more superior for multi-task. I'm sure they have plenty of blu-ray discs to rip/transcode.......

(2012-06-04, 16:39)bluray Wrote: [ -> ]

(2012-06-04, 15:58)Dougie Fresh Wrote: [ -> ]This looks like great builds though I wonder why the A8 when the A6 would have sufficed, thrown less heat, etc.? What is the real gain?

If it is their first HTPC, A8 is more superior for multi-task. I'm sure they have plenty of blu-ray discs to rip/transcode.......

Right, this is what I want to know -- what else besides basic HTPC duties will this be used for. If it's just runing XBMC then the A8 is overkill. If it's also ripping/transcoding then that's a different story. We don't know what the BIL will use this system for so it's not possible to give input -- not so much for the OP since the parts are purchased -- but for lurkers and such who come by later and see this build and wonder if it will work for them (under/overkill).

(2012-06-04, 16:36)GortWillSaveUs Wrote: [ -> ]Duh,..in my excitement,...I forgot to describe those parts in the unRaid server.
I've updated the original post with the unRaid's MOBO, CPU, and RAM.
Hope this helps!

the classic sempron. good good. thanks!

(2012-06-04, 16:47)Dougie Fresh Wrote: [ -> ]

(2012-06-04, 16:39)bluray Wrote: [ -> ]

(2012-06-04, 15:58)Dougie Fresh Wrote: [ -> ]This looks like great builds though I wonder why the A8 when the A6 would have sufficed, thrown less heat, etc.? What is the real gain?

If it is their first HTPC, A8 is more superior for multi-task. I'm sure they have plenty of blu-ray discs to rip/transcode.......

Right, this is what I want to know -- what else besides basic HTPC duties will this be used for. If it's just runing XBMC then the A8 is overkill. If it's also ripping/transcoding then that's a different story. We don't know what the BIL will use this system for so it's not possible to give input -- not so much for the OP since the parts are purchased -- but for lurkers and such who come by later and see this build and wonder if it will work for them (under/overkill).

Yes, exactly and good point.
I walked him through a bunch a scenarios such as ripping and also the whole usenet thing, and told him that the A6 is more than perfect for the XBMC task, but he wanted to keep his options open, so I suggested the A8. I figured the A8 would be more than capable for the "other things" he might consider.
I even described the Intel chips, but he backed off of those since I sold him on the A8.

I'm just wondering what "other" toys he'll want when this is done.

Cool. In the end, what the customer wants rules all, as long as it will work as good or better in their mind .

(2012-06-05, 01:31)Dougie Fresh Wrote: [ -> ]Cool. In the end, what the customer wants rules all, as long as it will work as good or better in their mind .

Agreed! Should know his reaction in the next week or two.
He should be ecstatic, since he was starry-eyed over my system.