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+--- Thread: Best XBMC HTPC Hardware with HDMI / HD / 1080p + HDMI Audio (/showthread.php?tid=34235)
- BLKMGK - 2008-12-23
Davo - the processing right now is being done on the CPU right now. That said, when VPAU is available the 8400 has plenty of power for 1080 processing. There may be other boards suitable as well if yuo do not want onboard video processing. However what you give up is HDMI audio it seems, the add-on cards won't do it.
- davo600 - 2008-12-23
hi,
Good point - thanks for that!
Cheers Dave
- pork - 2008-12-23
I've been reading through this thread and several other boards today trying to determine what mobo I should use in my new build.
I want to build an ubuntu box for xbmc that will play all 1080p flawlessly and support audio over hdmi (dolby true hd and dts-hd).
It seems only mobos with IGP will support true hdmi audio, can anyone confirm this?
If this is the case, I had the GIGABYTE GA-E7AUM-DS2H in mind. I am somewhat concerned because other posters in this thread using integrated graphics are getting dropped frames with high bitrate 1080p material.
Anyone know if this board with an E8400 will be able to handle any 1080p I throw at it? How about the G45 boards?
- ziro - 2008-12-23
@pork: a standalone video card (latest series 9xxx for example) with an hdmi output should be able to handle the audio (you basicly need to look at the specs of the chipset). There's a few posts in this thread about the topic but basically it's a matter of video driver versions. The thread has focused on IGP mostly because the 730i chipset is affordable and it's always nice to have a slimmer case.
Concerning the drop frames, all you have to worry about is your CPU power, therefore the afford mentioned chipset is not very relevant for video processing (just some post processing stuff if i remember well).
If you plan to use a E8400 there's no doubt you'll be able to play 1080p content but remember that we are testing setups against the Killa sample which is poorly encoded and very demanding thus requiring more processing from the CPU. If you are able to play the Killa sample even with a few dropped frames, any 1080p content should work flawlessly.
@BLKMGK: how's it going with your overclock tests ?
- joflow - 2008-12-23
BLKMGK Wrote:So, here's my build -> http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=9999386 If someone decides to duplicate it let me know and I can explain exactly what I had to do software wise although honestly it's detailed in this thread pretty well. Right now sound not working in desktop apps and I just tried an MP3 file - not working there either so a little more tweaking left to do!
Do you have any suggestions for another case? under $100 maybe.. The one on your wishlist is out of stock.
- BLKMGK - 2008-12-24
Ziro, are you sure the new add-on cards can handle HDMI audio? If so first confirmation I've heard of this and it would be good news indeed. As for my testing, as posted at stock speed (2.66ghz) it was dropping frames with the C2D. At 2.7xghz is still dropped some frames on Killa'. After that I just bumped it to 3ghz and it's fine although I see some stuttering in SD DVD I need to figure out and some odd playback which I popsted about in a new thread - do not think it is CPU related.
joflow - it's a microATX board as I recall. Just goto NewEgg and do an Advanced Search. Look for say minitowers that have power supplies included and try to find one with a 24pin power connector - a 20pin worked fine for me though. For that matter the small desktop cases ought to be fine too since there are NO expansion cards needed with this case. Let your wallet guide you! Right now that case is the only one I've had my hands on so perhaps others can provide feedback on some other cheap ones...
- spozen - 2008-12-25
Okay people best remote to use with XBMC? So far i found a remote called "Fractal Design Shape" i searched the forum for it and it seems like it was pretty hard to config? How good is the remote control support in Linux can i buy a unknown remote or is the MCE remote the way to go?
- BLKMGK - 2008-12-25
Probably ought to do another thread for remotes IMO. My quick advice would be to look for something LIRC compatible first and foremost. The MCE remotes of XP were awesome and work PnP but are now much harder to find. There are newer Vista MCE remotes that work apparently and MAY have mouse functionality but I do not know which of those suck and which work. The LIRC Wiki might be a good place to investigate....
- spozen - 2008-12-25
This thread covers everything remotes are hardware right?
Care to link that wiki? Because i've look everywhere for it LIRC homepage, XBMC wiki etc...
- BLKMGK - 2008-12-26
Heh guess it wasn't Lirc but close enough
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/MCE_Remote
I'd be interested in some of the Vista MCE remotes that have a mouse touchpad - there are tons of clones on eBay. The DiNovo in my sig works except at desktop I have issues with the touchpad. I may upgrade to 8.1 Ubuntu one of these days to see if it works out better as I've had less issues than I expected when I used it for this last build. <shrug>
If we're going to discuss ALL hardware how about a nice PnP LCD display that doesn't require funky patched drivers - grr!
- spozen - 2008-12-26
Thanks for the link I'm going for the MCE vista remote, it seems to be well supported.
How much are you willing to pay for a nice LCD display?. I'm looking to buy one from http://www.crystalfontz.com/ anyone bought a display from them?
- BLKMGK - 2008-12-26
Please give us feedback on the exact remote you get and how the install goes as this is a frequent question. As for the LCD, I have looked at their displays but nto yet jumped on one - sort of a bad taste after my last two display attempts. My XBOX has an LCD display that worked well but was hard to read and would sometimes display garbage. My existing case has a display that is likewise hard to see but was at least good for displaying time - the one time I managed to get it sorta' working but not with XBMC. <sigh> I might yet try that again one day but ti was a ton of work for somehting not really easily seen but neat to say I had I guess. The latest build I did sort of sits in a corner where it cannot be seen and speaks for itself onscreen
- spozen - 2008-12-26
Will report back when i get it but that might take a while as i will be using keyboard & mouse for some time now as i am running low on cash unfortunately (have even got all the parts yet the E8400 is out of stock everywhere). Im also considering dumping the LCD what do you really need it for? CPU temp and movie duration?
- dbldown768 - 2008-12-30
I am looking to replace my xbox machine with a new xbmc linux box. I saw your post about this configuration here: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=9999386
I would like to create a new box that will run all my old wmv and avi files as well as 1080p mkv bluray or hddvd rips. I do know that it is recommened to get a C2D E8400 3.0ghz processor, which i would change in this configuration. I did not see a power supply as well. I expect this would be needed and is not included? Also, a few posts back you mentioned there was problems getting MP3s to work. Was this problem ever resolved? Was it only specific to this configuration and why? I would like to connect this new box to my tv using the hdmi output and run a separate toslink output to my reciever.
- spozen - 2008-12-30
dbldown768 Wrote:I am looking to replace my xbox machine with a new xbmc linux box. I saw your post about this configuration here: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=9999386
I would like to create a new box that will run all my old wmv and avi files as well as 1080p mkv bluray or hddvd rips. I do know that it is recommened to get a C2D E8400 3.0ghz processor, which i would change in this configuration. I did not see a power supply as well. I expect this would be needed and is not included? Also, a few posts back you mentioned there was problems getting MP3s to work. Was this problem ever resolved? Was it only specific to this configuration and why? I would like to connect this new box to my tv using the hdmi output and run a separate toslink output to my reciever.
Just ordered a E7300, it was 60$ cheaper than the E8400 so if you want the HTPC cheaper i can recommend E7300 well i can't really recommend it yet becasue i have got my hands on it yet, but im pretty sure it will play the killa sample if i overclock it a little bit.
MP3's on ASUS P5N7A-VM will work over SPDIF/Toslink atleast according to this post in this thread.
Can't wait till i get my stuff
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