[iainmacleod]

I was wanting to basically through a post out there to get the opinion of the scene.

I am considering building my second HTPC, I want to be able to play my HD content, but also want something small. I stream all my content, so I don't require a large hard drive.

Here is what I found from a few hours searching online (I have read some of the suggestions on this forum also):

CPU & On-board Video:
Zotac IONITX-A-U
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813500027

Harddrive:
Seagate Momentus 80GB 2.5"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6822148444

RAM:
A-DATA 2x1GB DDR2 800MHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6820211066

Remote:
Anyware HA-IR01SV
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6880121001

Case:
M350 Universal Mini-ITX
http://www.mini-box.com/M350-universal-m...-enclosure

Current Bundle deal on RAM & Remote
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealD...20-211-066

Total price, comes to around $360... any thoughts?

[snoxbox]

any thoughts?

Ditch the 80gb hdd and boot off a USB stick. Cheaper, quieter, cooler.

[Frozone]

I have the Zotac ION A Board, and HD works perfect. Aeon ShowMix as well runs great. So go for it.

[iainmacleod]

Ditch the 80gb hdd and boot off a USB stick. Cheaper, quieter, cooler.

That is an awesome idea, why didn't I think of that

[Evin]

Enough power for handling m2ts-Files, ripped (untouched) from BluRay-Discs? :?

[domi55]

Enough power for handling m2ts-Files, ripped (untouched) from BluRay-Discs? :?

The answer is: YES

[Evin]

The answer is: YES

ENDLICH! Zeit wird's.

Time to build a nice HTPC with a Zotac-Thingy.

[Frozone]

Enough power for handling m2ts-Files, ripped (untouched) from BluRay-Discs? :?

The Killa Sample plays fine. So I guess it will work.

[iainmacleod]

Ditch the 80gb hdd and boot off a USB stick. Cheaper, quieter, cooler.

Would you suggest a full install of Ubuntu on the flash drive, with XBMC on top? Or are you talking about XMBC live, if so how does library data get saved?

[iainmacleod]

Ok I did it, but I ditched the 80gb drive and went for a flash drive, I also went for a newer remote:

Antec Multimedia-Station EZ External IR receiver
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6811999190

Don' know if anyone is using it, but I will give it a whirl.

[Kieron]

Hey guys I don't mean to hijack your thread OP but I was intending on doing almost the same, xbmc-live off usb, need 1080p h.264. But some in my thread suggested against going for the Zotac N330 and suggested a seperate mobo and cpu because the n330 would struggle with the GUI of XBMC... I also want to use Aeon. Is this true, what do you think I should do?

This is my first build and I'm on a pretty tight budget and I don't want to buy the wrong things etc.

Thanks so much if you do reply and help.

Orig thread was here:
http://www.xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=56069

[iainmacleod]

Well you can hang on and I can let you know how it all goes when I get round to building the thing - it has not been shipped yet.

With respect to the XBMC GUI, I wonder what the problem is? Do skinners need to perform more optomization? Why can we play HD content, yet have issue with the skin? I guess it is 3D processing.

My issues is getting the content, there are a lot of crisp skins out there that give you nice looks without the overhead of others.

I will definitely check out the Aeon mod, but will also be looking forward to getting a MediaStream mod up and running - I'm a Redux fan personally.

The whole idea about this small unit it portability, I can take it to my neighbors and hopefully access my content from there too.

[Kieron]

Okay, thanks a lot - do tell when it arrives and how everything goes.

This is going to be used as my main HTPC for me, do you suggest I go for a different motherboard or something? I don't want to be tight with my cash and bodge together a system that just about works, I want something capable if you get what I mean.

[snoxbox]

. But some in my thread suggested against going for the Zotac N330 and suggested a seperate mobo and cpu because the n330 would struggle with the GUI of XBMC... I also want to use Aeon. Is this true, what do you think I should do?

This is my first build and I'm on a pretty tight budget and I don't want to buy the wrong things etc.

I'm running the Zotac N330 and using the Aeon skin (Hitchers Mod), and it is reasonably responsive. From what I hear, Aeon runs slower than other skins in general. What I notice is the occassional 1/2 second wait between button presses and action. All other skins run fine.

You could build a different mini-itx PC, running a dual core 775 processor, which would have absolutely no trouble with skins, for about the same price or less. The reason I went with the ION was the low power/heat/noise.

[snoxbox]

Enough power for handling m2ts-Files, ripped (untouched) from BluRay-Discs? :?

Enough power; yes. The best container (M2TS) for it; no.

Half of my rips would not play as M2TS. They just caused xbmc to reboot. And then they completely crashed the movie library, to the point where I could not enter it. I've since converted them all to mkv's and they all run fine.

It may have been another problem with the files (permissions or something), but I was planning on moving to mkv for everything anyway.