1080p Mini ITX HD HTPC Solution - Printable Version +- Kodi Community Forum (https://forum.kodi.tv) +-- Forum: Discussions (https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=222) +--- Forum: Hardware (https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=112) +--- Thread: 1080p Mini ITX HD HTPC Solution (/showthread.php?tid=56217) |
1080p Mini ITX HD HTPC Solution - iainmacleod - 2009-08-12 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.aspx?Item=N82E16813500027 Harddrive: Seagate Momentus 80GB 2.5" http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148444 RAM: A-DATA 2x1GB DDR2 800MHz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211066 Remote: Anyware HA-IR01SV http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16880121001 Case: M350 Universal Mini-ITX http://www.mini-box.com/M350-universal-mini-itx-enclosure Current Bundle deal on RAM & Remote http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.213554.20-211-066 Total price, comes to around $360... any thoughts? - snoxbox - 2009-08-12 MacLeod_1980 Wrote:any thoughts? Ditch the 80gb hdd and boot off a USB stick. Cheaper, quieter, cooler. - Frozone - 2009-08-12 I have the Zotac ION A Board, and HD works perfect. Aeon ShowMix as well runs great. So go for it. - iainmacleod - 2009-08-12 snoxbox Wrote: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 - 2009-08-12 Enough power for handling m2ts-Files, ripped (untouched) from BluRay-Discs? :? - domi55 - 2009-08-12 Quote:Enough power for handling m2ts-Files, ripped (untouched) from BluRay-Discs? :? The answer is: YES - Evin - 2009-08-12 domi55 Wrote:The answer is: YES ENDLICH! Zeit wird's. Time to build a nice HTPC with a Zotac-Thingy. - Frozone - 2009-08-12 Evin Wrote:Enough power for handling m2ts-Files, ripped (untouched) from BluRay-Discs? :? The Killa Sample plays fine. So I guess it will work. - iainmacleod - 2009-08-12 snoxbox Wrote: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 - 2009-08-12 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.aspx?Item=N82E16811999190 Don' know if anyone is using it, but I will give it a whirl. - Kieron - 2009-08-12 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 - 2009-08-12 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 - 2009-08-12 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 - 2009-08-13 Kieron Wrote:. 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? 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 - 2009-08-13 Evin Wrote: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. |