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eskro · 2011-09-06, 23:14

i dont suggest you get an OCZ SSD,,,
they just have very high if not the highest failure rate on the market,,,

with the Silverstone ML03B case,
i suggest you buy a ANTEC Earthwatts 380W....
it fits perfectly in it and wont get in the way of your 'maybe' optical drive in the future,,,
at least youve been warned,,,

i know RAm is cheap but, just saying 2GB is enough for Windows7+XBMC

Superorb · 2011-09-06, 23:17

^^ +1 on avoiding an OCZ drive. Not only are they unreliable, but OCZ is a shady company. They changed the makeup of their memory to slower, cheaper, and smaller sizes after formatting without changing part numbers or informing the customers.

I've run OpenELEC off of a standard SD card that came in my phone and it ran great. No need for the latest/greatest SSD.

Geran · 2011-09-06, 23:30

eskro Wrote:i dont suggest you get an OCZ SSD,,,
they just have very high if not the highest failure rate on the market...

The budget for a SSD for him is $100USD so based on your recommendations from this thread, which would be the best option:

1. Corsair Force 2.5" SATAII 40GB Trim Read:280MB/s Write:270MB/s
2. Corsair Nova 2.5" SATAII 60GB Trim Read:270MB/s Write:240MB/s

eskro Wrote:with the Silverstone ML03B case,
i suggest you buy a ANTEC Earthwatts 380W....
it fits perfectly in it and wont get in the way of your 'maybe' optical drive in the future...
at least youve been warned...

The Antec 380W has been added instead of the BP550

eskro Wrote:i know RAm is cheap but, just saying 2GB is enough for Windows7+XBMC

It will be running Win7 & XBMC and he can always upgrade RAM later if he wants.

eskro · 2011-09-06, 23:39

i would go with the
Corsair Force 2.5" SATAII 40GB Trim Read:280MB/s Write:270MB/s
cuz i know its enough for me,,,

Geran · 2011-09-06, 23:41

eskro Wrote:i would go with the
Corsair Force 2.5" SATAII 40GB Trim Read:280MB/s Write:270MB/s
cuz i know its enough for me,,,

Awesome...sounds good. I'll add it to his build. Also, he won't have a optical drive as everything will be ripped and stored on his media server.

Superorb · 2011-09-06, 23:46

I always get a laugh when people require a fast SSD when even an SD card would fast enough for most users. It's just another unneeded expense.

eskro · 2011-09-06, 23:47

Superorb Wrote:I always get a laugh when people require a fast SSD when even an SD card would fast enough for most users. It's just another unneeded expense.

well forget about Windows7 + XBMC on an SD card,,,,

Superorb · 2011-09-06, 23:53

eskro Wrote:well forget about Windows7 + XBMC on an SD card,,,,

Well yeah, that should be understood.

nikc0069 · 2011-09-07, 15:51

bluray Wrote:i know this for fact, some hdtv output only stereo through optical from external source. if you watch over the air content with dts, it'll passthrough dts but "not" external source such as bd files, recorded show, etc on your htpc.

if your motherboard included optical or coax output, you still can connect hdmi from htpc to htdv, but connect optical from htpc to a/v receiver directly. you'll need to unchecked dts support in xbmc audio output. you'll get decoded lpcm from xbmc to a/v receiver!

I believe there is a flag to just passthrough DTS which my amp handles with no issues.

Think I'm going for this with 4gb ram and a largeish 2.5inch hdd with WIN 7 as it looks like its still a little dodgy on Linux. Can always try openelec or live off a USB if I feel like it and switch later. Whole build comes in around £170 Smile

Anyone want to buy an atv2? Wink

Superorb · 2011-09-07, 17:41

nikc0069 Wrote:I believe there is a flag to just passthrough DTS which my amp handles with no issues.

Think I'm going for this with 4gb ram and a largeish 2.5inch hdd with WIN 7 as it looks like its still a little dodgy on Linux. Can always try openelec or live off a USB if I feel like it and switch later. Whole build comes in around £170 Anyone want to buy an atv2?

Dodgy on Linux? Maybe with the 350, but I've been running XBMC for years, and that was on a 13 year old dinosaur. Now I'm using openELEC on a newer 330/ION box and it's still great.

eskro · 2011-09-07, 18:04

nikc0069 Wrote:Anyone want to buy an atv2?

nope

bluray · (This post was last modified: 2011-09-07, 18:53 by bluray.)

nikc0069 Wrote:I believe there is a flag to just passthrough DTS which my amp handles with no issues.

i'm not sure what you meant by this comment. you can verify your hdtv spec to see if it support passthrough dts from external source. what i mean by external source is>when you use htpc to playback bd file with dts and display it on your hdtv. if your hdtv doesn't support dts passthrough through optical, it will downmix it to stereo 2.0 instead. on the other hand, the internal source is>when you watching tv show over the air with dts audio. it'll passthrough over the air show with dts fine. i know some hdtv can only passthrough stereo 2.0 through optical from external source. i have two hdtv. one can passthrough dts from external source and the other one cannot.

nikc0069 Wrote:Think I'm going for this with 4gb ram and a largeish 2.5inch hdd with WIN 7 as it looks like its still a little dodgy on Linux. Can always try openelec or live off a USB if I feel like it and switch later. Whole build comes in around £170 Anyone want to buy an atv2?

if you're having problem passthrough dts now, 4gb of ram and new hdd is not going to fix it. the best way to enjoy all the latest blu-ray audio is to buy a new a/v receiver with hdmi input. the avr listed in my signature supports all standard audio and all the latest hd audio too for around $178 u.s.

sorry about the atv2- i never own apple and i will never buy it, because i'm very happy with all the windows stuff. with same spec, i can get windows stuff for a lot less money too.

djglenn · 2011-09-08, 13:16

Ok...

If I am going for a pre-built unit and going for a Group 5/6 then I am guessing that these are safe bets:

Zotac ZBOXHD-ND22-U
Zotac ZBOX-AD02-U

Can anyone tell me what the "U" stands for, as I can only find a AD02-B build.

Also the AD02 using the AMD 350 mobo (from what amazon.co.uk says), so will it not be able to play XBMC live via usb? (The 350 is what you deem as a Zacante build right?)

Finally, is the only thing I need to add to the Zotac units RAM, and Storage?

nikc0069 · 2011-09-08, 13:26

bluray Wrote:i'm not sure what you meant by this comment. you can verify your hdtv spec to see if it support passthrough dts from external source. what i mean by external source is>when you use htpc to playback bd file with dts and display it on your hdtv. if your hdtv doesn't support dts passthrough through optical, it will downmix it to stereo 2.0 instead. on the other hand, the internal source is>when you watching tv show over the air with dts audio. it'll passthrough over the air show with dts fine. i know some hdtv can only passthrough stereo 2.0 through optical from external source. i have two hdtv. one can passthrough dts from external source and the other one cannot.

if you're having problem passthrough dts now, 4gb of ram and new hdd is not going to fix it. the best way to enjoy all the latest blu-ray audio is to buy a new a/v receiver with hdmi input. the avr listed in my signature supports all standard audio and all the latest hd audio too for around $178 u.s.

sorry about the atv2- i never own apple and i will never buy it, because i'm very happy with all the windows stuff. with same spec, i can get windows stuff for a lot less money too.

I feel that sentence confused things a little bit. I have no problems going straight to my amp in dts or ac3 so it won't be an issue at all as long as the mobo has coax at least on it Smile

I just meant as long as I set xbmc to do passthrough of the bitstream everything is fine.

I wasn't sure about the sentence "you'll need to unchecked dts support in xbmc audio output." - as far as I can see I will need to keep the passthrough setting checked in my situation.

Counting down till I can start this build - it will blow the atv out of the water Smile

bluray · 2011-09-08, 16:37

nikc0069 Wrote:I feel that sentence confused things a little bit. I have no problems going straight to my amp in dts or ac3 so it won't be an issue at all as long as the mobo has coax at least on it

I just meant as long as I set xbmc to do passthrough of the bitstream everything is fine.

if you have no problem connecting sound output directly from htpc to avr, i'm recommending it. it's always better to connect the source directly to avr.

nikc0069 Wrote:I wasn't sure about the sentence "you'll need to unchecked dts support in xbmc audio output." - as far as I can see I will need to keep the passthrough setting checked in my situation.

Counting down till I can start this build - it will blow the atv out of the water

i though that your avr is not supporting dts. if it is not, you can get 5.1 by not selecting "dts support" in xbmc. if it is supporting dts, you need to select it.

I noitced you are trying to update your hdd and ram. let me ask you this- are you trying to playback hd audio?