Inherited a heap of cash - best HTPC to build ?
#1
Smile 
Hey guys,

I've just been lucky enough to inherit a heap of cash and my dream has always been to build the absolute best XBMC HTPC that money can buy.

The Home Theater itself is currently under construction so I'm looking to get the HTPC built asap so i can hook up my snazzy new B&W's Smile

I'd prefer to build myself as opposed to buying one of these ready built mini itx types that i have seen so what do you guys recommend ?

best options for case, motherboard, cpu, video, boot hard drive, master storage (I want to have at least an 8TB tank with a fast wireless option), remote, audio card, amplifier/receiver/pre-amp etc etc

I currently have a HT OMEGA CLARO HALO audio card from my old box - would this be suitable for a new-gen system that can handle the highest bit rates / true hd etc ?

this will be 100% dedicated XBMC - so would prefer not to mess around with windows etc - im assuming my best bet is XBMC Live ?

I will update this thread with the complete build process for those that are interested

I appreciate your input and many thanks in advance ! Smile

#2
Buy a 2010 (with DVD) Mac Mini from ebay.
It's expensive, but then the best usually is :-)
#3
Like I said i'm not interested in buying anything like that, I want to custom build a system far more powerful than any Mac Mini. I also don't think that's expensive my budget for the HTPC alone can go up to $5000.
#4
All the money in the world doesnt make one HTPC better then the other. Its not just the money. Think more in the line of accessoiries maybe? Perhaps a cec module and stuff?
#5
perhaps take a look through the hardware forum here?
#6
Assuming you really want an HTPC, and not a gaming machine, why on earth would you want to spend $5000 on it? The 2010 Mac Mini is perfect for running XBMC, and by "perfect" I mean that you won't get XBMC to run better by spending more. All you'll do is make the hardware noisier and more power hungry.

The only thing I'm tempted to do with my Mac Mini is buy an external DAC (for music not films), but the built in DAC is pretty good and I think you'd need to spend more than the price of the Mini to significantly improve the sound quality.
#7
To say that money doesn't make a difference in quality and performance of a computer system is crazy talk Smile

I want a system that can handle DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD. For starters the Mac Mini can't handle that from what i've read - so that's out of the equation (correct me if im wronf)

And I didn't say I was going to spend $5k - I said I could if I wanted to. I already stated this is a 100% XBMC HTPC Smile

if the Mac Mini is something i should buy - then if it handles True HD audio and everything else that can be possibly thrown at it then i will consider it - if it can't then i'd like to hear about what i can build that can.

Thanks Smile

You also say 2010 Mac Mini. Whats the difference between that and the latest i7 version ?
Just read this link: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=105915

It seems bit streaming is possible over HDMi - so now my interest is piqued

if I went for the Mac mini what would be the very best version to get (i see ati and intel GPU's)

How would you recommend storage is handled (over lan or thunderbolt)

Thanks
#8
psst... i'll mention again to have a look at the hardware forum here for tons of info if you want to look at anything in addition to jhsrennie's suggestion:

http://forum.xbmc.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=112
#9
to be fair I thought that someone here would have fun with getting someone to build a wet dream machine

I'll wait until there are users who want to help me with building the best of the best. The forum you linked me doesnt really do any of that - many of the guys seem to be on a budget - im not on a budget. My inheritance was over 350k - so im giddy to rock with this.

thanks
although this seems to be a good thread to at least start with http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=94199

in the meantime if anyone wants to help me spend a ton of cash - chime in. if all you have to say is tell me why waste my money - don't bother as i don't care about anyone's opinions regarding that.

Thanks
#10
My point was that is the particular forum on this site that is for hardware so will be the best place to start. No you aren't on a budget but you have to understand that for strictly a HTPC, you don't NEED to spend a whole heap of cash. Most of the systems I've seen over in the hardware section that can do pretty much everything range from ~$700-$1200 (spending more than that on a custom built system isn't going to get you much anything more but less money leftover, unless you know you have specific requirments). And if the plan is to bitstream HD audio, what would you be accomplishing by necessarily spending more?

My suggestion is follow some of the advice of the members here on systems and then put money into something for your storage like a NAS. I believe that it's better to have storage separate from one's HTPC.
#11
(2012-05-29, 10:59)RaptorDF Wrote: to be fair I thought that someone here would have fun with getting someone to build a wet dream machine

I'll wait until there are users who want to help me with building the best of the best. The forum you linked me doesnt really do any of that - many of the guys seem to be on a budget - im not on a budget. My inheritance was over 350k - so im giddy to rock with this.

thanks
although this seems to be a good thread to at least start with http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=94199

in the meantime if anyone wants to help me spend a ton of cash - chime in. if all you have to say is tell me why waste my money - don't bother as i don't care about anyone's opinions regarding that.

Thanks

not sure if you expected us to be impressed with you wanting to spend $5k on a HTPC or what but what jhsrennie said still stands.

I have MacMini 2009 c2d as a dedicated machine and I am still to run into something that cant be handled by it. it does boblight and plays any form of 1080p that you can think of.

you can get i7, that has 8 cores, but since you would be doing HW decoding of most of the HD files, all 8 cores would be idling while GPU does all the hard work... i'd call that a waste.

cheers,
amet

EDIT: I missed the $350 k bit... I am even less impressed now... just shows that money doesn't buy you everything Smile
#12
Of course, if you do wanna spend that sort of cash, you could build me a shiny new machine to my spec. I'll even pay for the postage.
#13
You may want to check out the HTPC forum over at avsforum.com. Lots of advice to be given over there as well.
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#14
(2012-05-29, 10:34)RaptorDF Wrote: 1. You also say 2010 Mac Mini. Whats the difference between that and the latest i7 version ?
Just read this link: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=105915

2. It seems bit streaming is possible over HDMi - so now my interest is piqued

3. if I went for the Mac mini what would be the very best version to get (i see ati and intel GPU's)

4. How would you recommend storage is handled (over lan or thunderbolt)

1. I use Win7/Bootcamp on my Mac Mini, and in Windows the NVIDIA GPU in the 2010 model is better than the Intel HD3000 GPU in the current versions. If you plan to use OSX I guess it makes less difference. The current models don't have a DVD drive. This wouldn't make any difference for me since I rip everything and I haven't played a CD or DVD for ages; well, not since I started using XBMC :-)

2. Actually I'm not sure if bit streaming is supported in the 2010 model, so maybe you're better sticking with the current model.

3. XBMC doesn't need anything beyond the entry level Mac Mini. Getting a more powerful model will make no difference to how well XBMC runs. Having said that, the AMD GPU is better than the Intel one and I think you only get the AMD GPU on the top end models.

4. I use a 4TB NAS for storage. The NAS sits in the cupboard under the stairs where it's out of site and out of mind. I've used both CAT5 cabling and wireless, and both seem to work fine though I don't play any really large files. There have been reports of problems playing high bitrate 1080p over wireless, though this may just be cheap nasty wlan cards.

A final note: building an HTPC is different from building a games machine. You don't want to sit in your armchair and watch the PC, you want to watch a film/listen to music. The perfect HTPC would be invisible, and indeed some people have mounted them on the back of the TV. The Mac Mini is pretty small: I'd say it was about as small as it's possible to get for such a powerful machine, and if you have to put it somewhere visible at least it's a nice piece of design and won't jar the eye too much.
#15
A powerful PC will also run hot which means more fans, which means more noise.

I have experimented with using fancy gaming rigs in my theater, but ultimately it's a waste of space and the noise is irritating. I have a fanless i3 system that I built for about $600 that works just fine. The case blends with the rest of my A/V gear.

You will want a dedicated NAS or file server, and don't bother with wireless. CAT 5 cable is very cheap, and gigabit ethernet is much faster and less hassle than wi-fi.

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