I'm looking at building a machine solely for XBMC. I want the ability to also use it as a PVR, replacing my Sky box and ATV2 (which I love).
It will be predominately for movies, PVR and poss music, definately no gaming and will be attached to my Yamaha DSP Z7 Amp via HDMI.
For software i'd like to go Linux to save cost but have little experience and don't want the nightmare of struggling with drivers so may go Windows...
I don't need to go fanless nor is a small footprint essential as it will sit in a wooden cabinet (with an open rear), .
I'm thinking of using just an SSD as all the media files will sit on a NAS.
For TV tuner I like the look of the four tuner Black Gold BGT3600 though I'm not certain if there are limitations with this in terms of what they will run on also understand they run quite warm so question whether I should be going for a two tuner external USB option. The BGT3600 also has great flexibility which may suit any moves I make..
I'm thinking of a board with built in HDMI and audio.
As a background to this I built a machine some two years or so ago, went top end throughout, It was noisy, ran too hot and kept shutting down and generally was a frustration. I took it out and went the ATV2 route, I am keen not to make the same mistakes.
My questions therefore with those of you who have some more up to date experience is what way should I go.
Large box or small? I'd prefer something that looks good and isn't too large.
Motherboard with on built Video or separate card?
Does the SDD only option correct?
What OS?
Any and all advice greatly appreciated.
OK Spent a number of hours looking at this now here's what i'm thinking:
Mobo - AS Rock H77 PRO M - £55
Processor - i3-3220 (Ivy Bridge ) £95
TV Tuner - Black Gold BGT3600 £175
Mem - HyperX Blu 4gb £25
Drive - SDD £60
Case - Thermaltake Armor A30 Micro ATX £85
Cooler - Please help £50
Windows.OS £75
Total spend £600 +
Any and all advice greatly appreciated.
I would take the i3-3225 instead because it has the hd4000 instead of hd2000 graphics and it is not really more expensive.
Everything else is cool in Davidjas post
I would change the motherboard
DH77EB
Can have a internal CEC HDMI chip and a internal onboard IR receiver, if your planning on connecting everything with HDMI then thats the way to go, it works with linux ... I wish I could help you with the TV tuner part I never used one with a linux based version of XBMC but I would love to here what you say
That's really very useful advice. I had'nt seen that board and also the upgrade in processor makes great sense.
I'm a little concerned by the case though as there appears to be little headroom to fit a decent cooling device any advice on cooling (which made my last HTPC experience hell) and appropriate chassis
Bearing in mind this is going in a cupboard and i'm not short of space but dont wish to go the tower route and the smaller the better (given in future it may be on show) would be greatly appreciated.
The Sandy/Ivy Bridge chips run pretty cool, especially for HTPC duties so it's not as much of a issue to cool them. It'd be worth figuring out if you have room for something like the Scythe Big Shuriken in that cube case.
You also need a power supply. In a case that size look for an SFX power supply with an ATX adapter plate. Something 300W or so will do very nicely, even if you later decide to add a HTPC-class video card or even a medium gaming card. Otherwise, something modular would be a good idea.
Regarding the CPU, if you do not plan on playing any games then stay with the i3-3220. The i3-3225 is nice, but the HD 4000 won't make your media playing experience any different than HD 2500. If you do plan on doing serious gaming then you are better off with a discrete GPU anyways. But, if the price difference is very minimal then the step-up might be warranted, I wouldn't suggest spending extra money for the sake of spending extra money though.
As for the motherboard, if you will be connected the HTPC to an AV Receiver then IMO CEC is useless. To use the IR receiver it will most likely require some modding of your case. As a alternative I suggest getting a Flirc to use with whatever IR remote you chose to use.
If you chose Windows then a 64Gb SSD is the minimum I would suggest. Either the Crucial M4 or the Samsung 830 are great SSD's to choose.
If your case has ample ventilation and will not be in an area that will restrict airflow then the Intel stock cooler will be sufficient, if you really need an aftermarket cooler then I agree with Dougie, the Scythe Big Shuriken 2 Rev.B is a great cooler, but while it is low profile it is very large width/depth wise. Depending on the motherboard it will leave very little clearance over the DIMM slots so RAM with no or low profile heatspreaders would be needed.
(2012-10-02, 16:21)Davidja Wrote: [ -> ]That's really very useful advice. I had'nt seen that board and also the upgrade in processor makes great sense.
I'm a little concerned by the case though as there appears to be little headroom to fit a decent cooling device any advice on cooling (which made my last HTPC experience hell) and appropriate chassis
Bearing in mind this is going in a cupboard and i'm not short of space but dont wish to go the tower route and the smaller the better (given in future it may be on show) would be greatly appreciated.
The mobo in your list should be fine. It is definitely worth it to go for the HD4000 iGPU in i3-3225. For HTPC, the Intel CPU cooler included in the box should be fine. Intel CPU cooler is fairly silent too......
Hi Are you suggesting the AS Rock in the list or the Intel DH77EB?
To overcome the potential issue of the Ram getting in the way of the Cooler can you advise on what Ram I should look for?
Thanks
The Kingston HyperX won't interfere with the stock CPU cooler or the Shuriken as long as you don't get the crazy ones that look like someone stuck a comb on top
.
Hi Guys,
Great recommendations above.
I have a very similar question, as I am not really any good with Linux and would like to use XMBC to watch video's, recorded programmes and also Live TV (Freeview) in the UK.
I need it to be quite simple, with little or no config required to setup TV cards, and other components.
I was thinking about a Nettop PC, like a Revo, which includes a ATOM processor and so on.
Is there something that some one already uses, with a Freeview USB stick, which I can copy, which also means I could re-use the config/set-up used?
Any help will be much appreciated.
Thanks
Just realised the Intel board doesnt come with the IR reciever - its an add-on. May revert to AS Rock option. Opinions??
Well, I currently have an ASRock board, in a box I built in 2007. It has never worked properly, the onboard graphics is slow beyond belief, and putting in an external graphocs board has just resulted in crashes and instability. I'm now looking for cheap recommendations of replacing it. I'll never buy ASRock again.
Just my two cents.
