[scrolling]

Finally got the thumbs up from the wife to get a HTPC and I want to make sure I on the right track. Also, this is my first PC build of any type. I have been reading through the forum her my brain is kinda fried from sorting through all the information here but this is the parts list I finally came up with.

Currently I have a case I don't know much about it other than it holds a micro ATX board and that it has a 350W PSU. I got it free from a friend of mine. I also have a Samsung 64GB FlashSSD that I''l be using. And for the operation system I would run either windows XP or windows 7.

Motherboard
ZOTAC GF9300-A-E LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 9300 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

RAM
CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

Processor
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400
or
Intel Core2 Duo E7500 Wolfdale 2.93GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E7500

My ultimate goal here is to run XBMC and play back Bluray rips (.M2TS) at 1080p.

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

[Irish2685]

I would say the parts you picked out look pretty good. The processor choice is really up to you. You shouldn't notice the .07 GHz speed difference, but if you want more cache, the go for the 8400. However, I feel that both would work just fine though, as people have been getting flawless 1080p playback with much less. As far as the OS goes, I would recommend Win7. It won't slow your system down, and you know all your parts will work out of the box. If you want to use all of the RAM you are purchasing, go for the 64-bit edition. However, XBMC is a 32-bit application, so it won't use any more than that.

As far as building the PC goes, it's actually quite simple. The motherboard should have a good detailed manual telling you where to plug various components in, etc... Otherwise, there is a plethora of information to be found in this stuff on many PC forums around the web.

[RedShift]

IMO you should go with the E7500. Cache memory is one of the components in a processor that generates the most heat and the E7500 is basically the same processor as the E8400 but half the cache.

[scrolling]

Thanks for the replies. I have decided to go with the E7500.

[scrolling]

I got my HTPC build and it runs great, however, I have a few more questions and just to make sure that I'm not misinterpreting what I'm reading.

1. From my understanding the only way to achieve 1080p play back with Windows is if you have a high end processor (ie quad core) Is that true? And is the system I build capable?

2. Where in XBMC can I view what what resolution is being played back.

Again thanks in advance.

[TugboatBill]

If all you're going to use the system for is XBMC I'd recommend one of the Zotac IONITX motherboards that use the Nvidia GPU. They come with the CPU and (from what I've read) many of the developers use this platform.

I'm using the IONITX-F-E w/2G RAM and XBMCLive. 1080p is stunning with no stutter. XBCMLive uses the VDPAU processing built into the Nvidia GPU so a fast main CPU isn't needed.

The GUI is fast and because the motherboard doesn't generate a lot of heat I don't have to deal with noisy fans.

Oh, and suspend as resume are instantaneous (well actually about a second).

If you already have a MB you may be able to use the CrystalHD HD processor (check it out on the xbmc.org front page).

[scrolling]

Thanks for the reply, however, I all ready have my system up and running (spec listed above) using Windows 7. I tried XBMCLive and like it but was unsuccessful with installing it to my SSD HDD even with all of the documentation here. I mean I know enough about Windows to be dangerous and that’s scary but with Linux I’m just out in left field wondering around.

So how can I confirm that it’s playing at 1080p or not. And if it's not than yes I will be getting a Crystal HD card.

[TugboatBill]

Strange that you had a problem installing to a SSD. I'm using a PQI S525 and the install went off without a problem.

[TugboatBill]

So how can I confirm that it’s playing at 1080p or not.

There's a key on the remote (Start maybe?) that will show the framerate/etc while a video is playing. It's the display you see at the top of the screen as seen here:
http://xbmc.org/davilla/2009/12/29/broad...its-magic/

Sorry, I don't know which key it is, I have everything programmed into my remote and haven't used a MCE remote/keyboard for a while.

EDIT: the example above doesn't show everything I see when I display the data, such as the frame size.

[humferier]

it's the 'o' key

1080p play fine on my setup (zotac 9300 + E7300 + 2Gb)

[FuzzeWuzze]

Interested to see if Scrolling has it working at 1080p and if hes able to play the M2TS files like he hoped with the system..

[scrolling]

it's the 'o' key

1080p play fine on my setup (zotac 9300 + E7300 + 2Gb)

Thanks for the tip I'll try it when I get home tonight.

[scrolling]

OK. So it looks like I'm out putting 1080p and the rest of the stuff I'm not really sure what it is. The movie format is a .M2TS file.