Linux Which hardware components? (preselection inside)
#1
Question 
Hello all,

as a birthday present I'm going to build a linux (OpenElec) based XBMC appliance for a buddy of mine. His girlfriend will pay the bill for the setup. ^^
I really could need some hints and/or recommendations in regards to hardware components. Basically I know what I need and want but I find it hard to tell which parts to choose since I didn't follow the evolution of hardware closely during the last ~24 months.
I do have a deadline around mid April 2014 - therefore only recommend hardware already available on the (european) market please. Anything else simply doesn't make any sense in that situation because there is no way for me to delay the purchase of the necessary parts. Ideally I'd like to order most of it during the current week. So let's get straight into the topic. Smile

Main use cases (*probably* in that order):
- Playback of lossless audio (m4a)
- Playback of HD video (*probably* and mostly uncompressed bluray inside mkv containers)
- A/V streaming via addons
- Picture viewer

General requirements:
- As silent as possible
- As powerful as needed
- As low powered as possible
- As passively cooled as possible
- As reliable and robust as possible
- Excellent driver support and interoperability with Linux and XBMC
- Support for HD audio formats (e.g. Dolby TrueHD, DTSHD, HRA)

Motherboard requirements:
- Mini ITX, since I need enough space for a DAC and maybe an Arduino board inside the case
- Fully working ("unquirky") ACPI/Power Management
- Fully working ("unquirky") Wake-On-Lan
- Onboard USB 2.0, better USB 3.0 pinheaders (at least two)
- Onboard SPDIF pinheader
- Two SATA2, better three SATA3 ports
- USB 3.0 ports
- GBit Ethernet
- HDMI port
- SPDIF or TOSLink port
- UEFI
- Optional:
- WiFi
- mSATA port, if number of regular SATA ports is smaller than three
- PCI or PCIE port, if I'd need a dedicated VGA card

CPU requirements:
- x86
- As powerful as needed

Ssd requirements:
- As fast as possible, see the SATA3 motherboard requirement
- As stable as possible
- As small as possible, I think 4GB are more than enough

Optical device requirements:
- Slot In, dependent on the case type
- As silent as possible
- DVD and CD playback is sufficient

Case requirements:
- no bells and whistles
- "Standard" HiFi measurements
- Black color
- Minimal front face
- Optional:
- Slot In for optical device

Remote control:
- That's a hell of a topic

Best matches so far:
Case: Streacom FC10 / FC5 Evo OD (Cheaper alternatives are welcome)
Motherboard: ZOTAC D2550-ITX WiFi Supreme
Ram: Some 2x1GB kit, probably good old Kingston
Psu: Pico PSU 60 or 90 Watts
Hdd: WD RED 2TB for now
Ssd: Not quite sure, just have experience with Intel and Samsung devices
ODD: Given a Streacom case, then maybe a OD from Streacom, too?
Remote: iOS based "soft remotes" so far, but some kind of "hard remote" would be fine. Maybe Streacom, too?

For a long time Nvidia has been the number one choice on linux based systems in order to achieve an uncomplicated and reliable playback of 1080p/24 material. Is this still the case or do we have alternatives being on par with Nvidia nowadays?

On the wiki Nvidia seems to be still a good recommendation in regards to HD video playback: http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Supported_hardware

That's it for now. I hope I didn't forget anything in my requirements...

Cheers

EDIT:

Preliminary final selection:

BOARD:
ZOTAC D2550-ITX WiFi Supreme
~ 130 €

RAM:
2 x Kingston ValueRAM SO-DIMM 2GB, DDR3-1066, CL7 (KVR1066D3S7/1G)
~ 40 €

SSD:
Plextor M5M 64GB, mSATA 6Gb/s (PX-64M5M)
~ 60 €

HDD:
Western Digital WD Red 2TB, 3.5", SATA 6Gb/s (WD40EFRX)
~ 80 €

ODD:
LiteOn DS-8ATSH-01-T Slimline DVD
~ 50 €

PSU:
picoPSU-80 DC/DC (80 Watt) + AC/DC 90W Adapter + power cord [Bundle]
~ 60 €

CASE:
Streacom FC5 Evo ODB
~ 250 €

REMOTE (IR vs RC?):
- IR - Apple Remote (favorite)
- IR - Logitech Harmony Smart Control (pricy)
- RF - Mele F10 PRO

DAC:
- Offer pending

CABLES/CONNECTORS:
SATA 2 Adapter
~ 4 €

Neutrik NYS367-2 Cinch Connectors
~ 5 €

Sommer Spirit XXL 0,75m - 1m + Neutrik NF2CB2
~ 23 €

NZXT IU01 USB-Hub
~ 17 €

Total: -
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