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+---- Thread: I need a decent build for next to no money... (/showthread.php?tid=34008)
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I need a decent build for next to no money... - MikeBeecham - 2008-06-13
So, I want to look at building or getting a linux box...making the leap from xbox to linux.
I really dont have a lot of money, but I have the hardware know-how, so I dont mind building. Sourcing the parts, however seems a bit of hard work...it's an area I've not looked into before.
The end result has to be pretty small or at least tidy looking, and I'm not sure about having a keyboard and mouse lying around in the living room...so anything around that would be great.
Any thoughts or advice would be gratefully received.
Mike
- icekiller - 2008-06-13
i'm not going to do all your work sorry,
but i'll tell you what to look for
motherboard with onboard HDMI && gbit, spdif out is a plus.
CPU: E8200, some people like the AMD BE serie because of the powerconsumptie, but the intel E8x00 series is nice too (if your low on money you can always buy a e6750 cheap now a days, second hand)
case... thats the prob.. Most 'good' cases start at around 120euro.. and some of the nicer ones will put you back 200euro. It depens on how much you care about it...
If your not going to use the box as a storage unit then go for an usb stick instead of a harddrive or a 16gb SSD hd (50a60euro the cheaper ones) these are quiet.. and fast.
Powersupply, don't cheapen out.. what good is a mediacenter thats under 20db if the fan makes +30db noise.. If you have the money passive, or one of those psu power adapters (you know the one mini psu don't know about powersupply and usage of the pc)
Bluray drive isn't really that hot seeing as xbmc can't play it yet so a normal dvdrom is doable.
ram: >512mb, but seeing as its pretty cheap get 2gb or even 4... (its cheap so..)
- icekiller - 2008-06-13
d'oh forgot something, go for onboard nvidia, but try to have a pcie slot just incase you want to upgrade orsomething...
- siDDis - 2008-06-13
I recommend getting the cheapest of the cheapest, you can play 1080p content just fine!
Example:
E21XX as CPU around $50
Asus MicroATX with onboard intel video, I especially like the G33 model as it's also a nice overclocker.
For the other parts you can choose whatever you like, it doesnt matter if you go for 512mb memory or 8GB memory.
- jerkychew - 2008-06-14
Here are my suggestions - They're somewhat generic but hopefully will help:
For a board, if space is a factor look towards mini-ITX. I'd recommend a socket 775 board with a Dual-Core pentium chip. The dual-core Pentiums are cheap as hell and with a socket 775 you can upgrade to a core 2 duo or even a core 2 quad as prices come down. As for networking, onboard gig is nice but not a necessity unless you're streaming HD over your network.
With RAM, more is always better but 512 should be ok if you're not doing anything crazy.
I'd stay away from ATI - Nvidia drivers tend to play nicer with Linux and ATI hasn't been that Linux-friendly these days. I guess Intel opened up their driver code for the GMA chipsets but I'm no developer so I can't say for sure. I just know what I read on the Mythtv mailing lists and XBMC forums. Fanless GeForce cards are cheap, I think I got mine for 30 bucks on NewEgg.
- Gamester17 - 2008-06-14
if 720p native playback of H.264 videos but 1080p skin and video upscaling to 1080p is enough then get a used (intel core2 duo) Mac Mini to install Linux XBMC on.
- rodalpho - 2008-06-14
The 2Ghz C2D mac mini should handle a lot of 1080p too. I wouldn't say it'll handle pretty much anything like a 2.4Ghz C2D, but it'll run most stuff.
- dizzey - 2008-06-15
I got an asus m2n-hdmi mainboard and a amd x2 4600+ and 1gb ram
in a nice hipper case http://www.hipergroup.com/English/products/hmc-1x53x.html
the mainboard has support for hdmi and has a integrated nvidia 7050 and i can add a better card later with a riser but i dont think that i need to.
ok the cpu is probobly to slow to play most 1080p but i dont know since i havent tried. but the cpu i got was really really cheap and my plan is t wait 1 year and then get a cpu upgrade becus by then a really cheap cpu should be able to handle 1080p
- niko7865 - 2008-06-15
What is the lowest nVidia video card you need to play 1080p? Would any of the 7xxx series do? Or would I have to go with an 8500 or 8600?
- snappz - 2008-06-15
niko7865 Wrote:What is the lowest nVidia video card you need to play 1080p? Would any of the 7xxx series do? Or would I have to go with an 8500 or 8600?
I'm using an integrated 7150 with no issues at all. I am playing streaming 1080p mkv's (full res and bitrate) over dvi at 1360x768
I believe I have heard of the 6xxx series being acceptable also.
Plenty of CPU is the main thing ATM if I understand it correctly.
- icekiller - 2008-06-15
motherboard
P5N-EM HDMI nForce® 630i, 2xPCI, 1xPCIe x1, 1xPCIe x16, 3xDDR2, Sound, Gbit LAN, VGA shared, S-ATA II RAID, HDMI onboad geforce 7100 53,90euro,
cpu
Core 2 Duo E7200 Sockel 775, FSB 1066, Wolfdale, 64bit, Dual Core, box 119,90euro
OR
Pentium E2200 Sockel 775, FSB 800, Allendale, 64bit, Dual Core, box 68,90 euro
Memory
EXME1G-DD2N-800S50 1GB DDR2 800, PC2-6400, CL5 19,90 euro
or twice the above.. this is what i ment with cheap as hell...
case
NSK2480-EC 380W, Micro ATX, 2 Lüfter, silber/schwarz 89,90euro
isn't the best looking case but pretty nice for its money
optical
if you have the money:
GGC-H20L Blu-ray/HD DVD-Combo, 6x BD-ROM SL, 4.8x BD-ROM DL, 3x HD DVD-ROM, DVD+/-R/RW/DL/RAM, S-ATA, schwarz, bulk, inkl. Software 114,90euro.
else
SH-S202H 20x DVD+/-R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 16x DVD+R DL, 12x DVD-RAM, IDE, schwarz, bulk 29,90euro
harddrive
Supersonic 8GB, USB 2.0, 150x, weiß 25,90 euro
or HD252KJ 250GB, 7200U/min, 16MB Cache, 8.9ms, S-ATA II 41,90euro
- BLKMGK - 2008-06-15
niko7865 Wrote:What is the lowest nVidia video card you need to play 1080p? Would any of the 7xxx series do? Or would I have to go with an 8500 or 8600?
Suggest you do some further reading - decoding is being primarily done via the CPU not the video card. There is little acceleration being done by the card.
- althekiller - 2008-06-15
As of now (and the foreseeable future) so long as you have OpenGL 2.0 or better and Pixel Shader model 3.0 or better you should see no performance increases.
- bdanger - 2008-06-16
I tried to do what you're doing. I'm pretty good with computers and hardware, but after spending around $280 on newegg + a $100 mini-itx MB I found that getting everything to work seamlessly with eachother using linux(hardware-wise and software-wise) was a huge pain in the ass. On top of that I couldn't find a case that didn't look ugly in my living room.
So I returned everything and spent a little more on a Mac Mini core 2 duo. I don't have to worry about getting all the hardware working correctly because It's all already in place. XBMC has been tried and tested on it, and it supposedly pushes out 1080p. Most of all it's tiny, it looks great sitting anywhere, and the remote is included!
so that's my 2 cents.
- shuhari - 2008-06-16
icekiller Wrote:motherboard
P5N-EM HDMI nForce® 630i, 2xPCI, 1xPCIe x1, 1xPCIe x16, 3xDDR2, Sound, Gbit LAN, VGA shared, S-ATA II RAID, HDMI onboad geforce 7100 53,90euro,
cpu
Core 2 Duo E7200 Sockel 775, FSB 1066, Wolfdale, 64bit, Dual Core, box 119,90euro
OR
Pentium E2200 Sockel 775, FSB 800, Allendale, 64bit, Dual Core, box 68,90 euro
Memory
EXME1G-DD2N-800S50 1GB DDR2 800, PC2-6400, CL5 19,90 euro
or twice the above.. this is what i ment with cheap as hell...
case
NSK2480-EC 380W, Micro ATX, 2 Lüfter, silber/schwarz 89,90euro
isn't the best looking case but pretty nice for its money
optical
if you have the money:
GGC-H20L Blu-ray/HD DVD-Combo, 6x BD-ROM SL, 4.8x BD-ROM DL, 3x HD DVD-ROM, DVD+/-R/RW/DL/RAM, S-ATA, schwarz, bulk, inkl. Software 114,90euro.
else
SH-S202H 20x DVD+/-R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 16x DVD+R DL, 12x DVD-RAM, IDE, schwarz, bulk 29,90euro
harddrive
Supersonic 8GB, USB 2.0, 150x, weiß 25,90 euro
or HD252KJ 250GB, 7200U/min, 16MB Cache, 8.9ms, S-ATA II 41,90euro
I love this hardware list, it really gives me something to base my decisions on. But Where does a remote control fit in... is there a remote control that's better supported under Linux than the rest?