2012-10-03, 22:35
Hey everyone, I've been thinking a lot lately about upgrading my main HTPC.
Currently I have a Revo in living room (XBMCbuntu), Shuttle in bedroom (OpenElec), drobo for storage and a cubox running archlinux for all backend stuff including mysql library syncing etc.
I'm looking at this case:
http://www.streacom.com/products/fc5-evo...s-chassis/
My question(s) are about what components. Ion always used to be the system of choice and everyone stayed away from ATI graphics cards last time I looked, but this doesn't seem to be the case anymore. Fanless also seems a bit daring to me, not sure if it can handle 3D 1080p bluray without getting too hot, would going up to the fc9 be better as it's less compact?
So, any advice on motherboard and graphics card to get me started (can I stick a fanless graphics card in there, or do I really need one with a fan)? Money isn't particularly an issue, I just want something that'll be powerful enough to run what I want without making much noise, but I have a tendency to go for the high specs, which I don't think I need in this case (thinking i3).
It'll run as a pure xbmc machine, probably openelec, and be in standby most of the time as I have the cubox for server stuff. Will need to run 3D 1080p mkv's with DTS-HD audio without stutter or freaking out for getting too hot.
If I'm barking up the wrong tree with fanless, please let me know and I'll start looking at a case which can house some big quiet fans.
Thanks for any advice.
Niietzshe
Currently I have a Revo in living room (XBMCbuntu), Shuttle in bedroom (OpenElec), drobo for storage and a cubox running archlinux for all backend stuff including mysql library syncing etc.
I'm looking at this case:
http://www.streacom.com/products/fc5-evo...s-chassis/
My question(s) are about what components. Ion always used to be the system of choice and everyone stayed away from ATI graphics cards last time I looked, but this doesn't seem to be the case anymore. Fanless also seems a bit daring to me, not sure if it can handle 3D 1080p bluray without getting too hot, would going up to the fc9 be better as it's less compact?
So, any advice on motherboard and graphics card to get me started (can I stick a fanless graphics card in there, or do I really need one with a fan)? Money isn't particularly an issue, I just want something that'll be powerful enough to run what I want without making much noise, but I have a tendency to go for the high specs, which I don't think I need in this case (thinking i3).
It'll run as a pure xbmc machine, probably openelec, and be in standby most of the time as I have the cubox for server stuff. Will need to run 3D 1080p mkv's with DTS-HD audio without stutter or freaking out for getting too hot.
If I'm barking up the wrong tree with fanless, please let me know and I'll start looking at a case which can house some big quiet fans.
Thanks for any advice.
Niietzshe