[DJ_Izumi]

...So I'm now finding myself tempted to upgrade the quad core AMD box to a quad core Intel box. I actually have a P67 motherboard in the closet, all I'd need would be a Sandy Bridge CPU like a 2400, 2500 or 2500K to pop in there and I could overhaul it to be a lot more powerful. >_>

[Beer40oz]

I just love the fact that you were proud enough of your machine that you took of picture with you in it!
More people should do that,....but then again,.....with names like, "gort, beer, pirate, snake, buzzsaw, ugly,...",....maybe not!
Okay, so I made some of those names up.

Great job! the mighty socket fm1... love steam. I am in the process of doing something similar.

Gort I just had to post.

[DJ_Izumi]

Great job! the mighty socket fm1... love steam. I am in the process of doing something similar.

Gort I just had to post.

This thread is a bit out of date. Actually, the Gigabyte motherboard gave up the ghost unexpectedly in September and it's since been replaced with a Haswell i5 4590 and mATX mobo. I also have an HD 6950 ready to go into it, but it doesn't fit in that case so a case upgrade is planned as well. (Which will also allow for more drives). It was easier to just rebuild with Haswell than to source an FM1 mobo off the used market so I could use the still working CPU.

I still have the A8-3870K and the A6-3500 chips in their original boxes but no boards to install them in, so they're boxed while I go undecided as to what to do with them,

[venik212]

Some claim that AMD-based systems are not as good as Intel-based systems for using kodi. Have you run into anyy issues with that?

[DJ_Izumi]

Some claim that AMD-based systems are not as good as Intel-based systems for using kodi. Have you run into anyy issues with that?

Personally, not much issue. The worst I've had has been newer Windows AMD drivers breaking the HDMI audio and needing to roll back just the HDMI audio driver. Otherwise, everything has really been fine for me, but I'm just one person so I can't discount the experiences of others.

Any other issues I've had have just been Kodi supporting AMD's shortcomings. For example, AMD only supported 2K DXVA until recently, and Kodi would fallback to software decoding but single threaded so 4K could not happen like that, but the devs eventually addressed that. Nvidia users didn't have this issue as their chips supported 4k DXVA a lot sooner.

[DJ_Izumi]

This machine's new case is only a tiny bit larger, just a bit.

The Corsair 750D was a LOT easier to fit HDDs, cables and other components in.

[danejaho]

Some claim that AMD-based systems are not as good as Intel-based systems for using kodi. Have you run into anyy issues with that?

I think that statement is a bit mixed up. AMD processor vs. Intel processors makes no difference at all with Kodi. It could care less as long as it's got the required speed to decode video/audio. I think what you're getting at is that AMD (a.k.a. ATI) video cards are not as good as Nvidia video cards for Kodi. That's a fact, but it's not that they're not as good, it's just that it's difficult to get the ATI video card drivers to work properly. There are some ATI cards that have very well written drivers and they work in Kodi really well but others are hit and miss. Nvidia Geforce cards always work perfectly out of the box so it's in your best interests to get one of those if you have the choice and avoid some headaches.

[Ned Scott]

Holy crap, that's huge :D

[DJ_Izumi]

Holy crap, that's huge

Well, it's a server, right? Okay, it's a weird server/HTPC combo and it could fit a dozen Android Kodi boxes inside of it. Anyway, the no-name Chinese 'Senty' case had problems. the HDDs were crammed in there and it was a bit shorter than most ATX cases so the Radeon HD 6950 I had available to put inside of it couldn't fit because it was too long and the HDDs got in the way. Also I worried about heat with six HDDs crammed in back to back. So the 750D lets me put in any graphics card for gaming I want. I can fit a lot of HDDs too; It'll hold 6 3.5" bays with it's stock HDD cages, I can get two more HDD cages to double that, it also has 3x 5.25" bays I can use for drives, AND it even holds an additional 4x2.5" drives in a separate area. So this thing has a LOT of room for storage. A case this size is also a lot easier to ventilate without needing stupid loud fans or anything. It's all nice and airy. This is my server case for the next 10 years. Maybe some day I'll entirely make a separate HTPC for the bedroom and this'll become a true headless server in a corner or a closet somewhere but right now it's pulling double duty.

However I must admit that my mATX board looks rather hilarious installed in a case that can handle EATX boards.



I'll most more photos in the next month or so. Since I'll have space for drives to spare, I'll be adding in some smaller, older HDDs to expand the system so I can put off buying 8TB drives for it. That'll be funny because the HD 6950? Yeah that blocks BOTH 1x PCI-E slots. So i'm going to use a PCI-E riser cable to fit a PCI-E SATA Controller BELOW the motherboard instead. :3

[DJ_Izumi]

Got it all up and running with the extra drive cages purchased separate. So this totals 12x3.5", 3x5.25" and even 4x2.5" along it's backside. So this should be the last server case for the next 10+ years. Though those little Kodi machines you guys build, those are cute too.

[joethefox]

Please, that case deserve a better cables arrangement

[DJ_Izumi]

No GPU cooler is going to tell ME where I can and can't install my extra SATA controller cards!

[tshark2]

So jealous of all these multi screen setups...

[nooryani84]

Haha, holy crap! Nice setup! I think you need to change the thread title though... something like, "My ugly XBMC box became an awesome beast!"

In all fairness even your old XBMC box wasn't ugly

[DJ_Izumi]

Well, I'm going to finally 'seperate' this combo machine into a dedicated HTPC and a Server rather than a 2-in-1. That Gigabyte FM1 board that died? No jokes, I baked it in an oven for 8mins at 385'F and it's alive again. \o/ I might use that or I might use a Intel P67 board I have, undecided, but the P67 to be a serverboard, it'd need graphics of some kind since it has no onboard graphics. The Asus mATX board, i5 4790 and Radeon HD 6950 would go into a new case more suitable for an HTPC and I'd put a new board in the server and pull it from HTPC duty.

...And WOW have I found a lovely case for the bedroom HTPC! <3 Aerocool doesn't sell it in pink in North America, I had to pay through the nose in shipping to import it from the UK.