[Beer40oz]

Welcome! Let's enjoy some movies... Cheers!

[mofoo]

Question: do you have a preference on xbmc vs mediabrowser and why?

[GortWillSaveUs]

Welcome! Let's enjoy some movies... Cheers!

Exactly my sentiments!

[Mfusick]

Nobody makes any money at this but Apple or Dell (just barely). The rest of us just have some cool stuff to share and a passion for these HTPC gadgets. Welcome.

Certainly no one is going to get rich doing it. It's a passion thing... not a greed thing.

[Dougie Fresh]

Welcome! Let's enjoy some movies... Cheers!

Exactly!

---

Nobody makes any money at this but Apple or Dell (just barely). The rest of us just have some cool stuff to share and a passion for these HTPC gadgets. Welcome.

Certainly no one is going to get rich doing it. It's a passion thing... not a greed thing.

Exactly. All this time blogging, writing, answering questions and building HTPC is not about making money or greed.

With the cases, I spent a long time trying to find mini-ITX cases that I like. In the US I could find cheap plastic ugly ones or really expensive ones -- nothing in the middle. I finally had to order my own directly from China to get what I wanted. When I got them I got a lot of people asking, "hey those are cool, where'd you get those?!" so I got some more. Then I'd get "do you have one that has X or does Y" so I got those too. With the power supply plates, I had a PC-Q07 case and wanted to use a picoPSU. I didn't want the huge hole in the back. I looked around and no one sold a blanking plate with a hole in it. So, I made some and blogged about it. Then the same "hey, where'd you get that?" so I started making them. I finally got the itch to put it up on a website. Now with what I've seen here about how not so great and overly priced barebones for HTPC are, I am starting to offer barebones from the parts popular here starting with the A6-PACK in the E-i5 case. It's not because I stand to make a pile of cash, it's because I'd rather see someone looking for a barebones get something that'll work great instead of something they'll be disappointed with.

That's the real reward in it all is that I get to fool around with a lot more hardware and help a lot more people get into HTPC or mini-ITX computers. I'll be lucky if I ever cover my expenses.

[assassin]

Unfortunely it does take time and money to actually compile a list of recommendations that I have actually used.

With my free guide at AVS I recieved about $15 per month in donations. Obviously that's not enough to test or even devote time to what I do which takes a considerable amount of both to produce a quality product.

[Dougie Fresh]

I guess you're supposed to just give it away or else you're biased.

[Beer40oz]

Welcome! Let's enjoy some movies... Cheers!

Exactly!

---

Nobody makes any money at this but Apple or Dell (just barely). The rest of us just have some cool stuff to share and a passion for these HTPC gadgets. Welcome.

Certainly no one is going to get rich doing it. It's a passion thing... not a greed thing.

Exactly. All this time blogging, writing, answering questions and building HTPC is not about making money or greed.

With the cases, I spent a long time trying to find mini-ITX cases that I like. In the US I could find cheap plastic ugly ones or really expensive ones -- nothing in the middle. I finally had to order my own directly from China to get what I wanted. When I got them I got a lot of people asking, "hey those are cool, where'd you get those?!" so I got some more. Then I'd get "do you have one that has X or does Y" so I got those too. With the power supply plates, I had a PC-Q07 case and wanted to use a picoPSU. I didn't want the huge hole in the back. I looked around and no one sold a blanking plate with a hole in it. So, I made some and blogged about it. Then the same "hey, where'd you get that?" so I started making them. I finally got the itch to put it up on a website. Now with what I've seen here about how not so great and overly priced barebones for HTPC are, I am starting to offer barebones from the parts popular here starting with the A6-PACK in the E-i5 case. It's not because I stand to make a pile of cash, it's because I'd rather see someone looking for a barebones get something that'll work great instead of something they'll be disappointed with.

That's the real reward in it all is that I get to fool around with a lot more hardware and help a lot more people get into HTPC or mini-ITX computers. I'll be lucky if I ever cover my expenses.

Thank you. It's the same way with me... I started my thread because I wanted to build something as a hobby mostly for me. And it became something bigger then expected. So I hope it helped out some people. I got frustrated on the build on a few things but after testing stuff we know what fits and such.

I done a couple builds not listed on my sig... and we found out also what works and not....

[bluray]

I built a lot of PC’s at work and I built/sold PC's all these years, but I rarely write about it. I currently have 4 Intel's and 1 AMD....I uses all Intel/AMD/Nvidia GPU's, and I like all of them……..I’m not an IT, but I’m responsible for keeping all computers at my department up to date (this is 1/10 of my job)……..

If you are posting your build in here to help others, I concurs you for being kind and helpful..........I'm sure Assassin's blog in OP will be very helpful to others in this forum.....!

[assassin]

Very quick video showing XBMC on this build. Playback is seamless and flawless on my end. These videos created to show you the responsiveness of the interface using this low power ~$50 CPU.

Coming soon... (video currently uploading to youtube, Edit: Uploaded)

Build:
MB: Mini-ITX
CPU Cooler: Stock
RAM: DDR3 1333 2x2GB
OS Drive: Crucial 64GB SSD
Storage Drive: 10TB FlexRaid Server on Gigabit wired network
CPU: Intel G620T
Graphics: Intel iGPU (HD1000)
Discrete Video Card: None

Video recorded with Canon HD camcorder on my 32" 720p Samsung HDTV. CamStudio is limited in the ability to show smoothness but does a better job in showing detail and clarity. The Canon HD camcorder show the smoothness but is not as good at detail and clarity. Between the two I hope you get an idea of what playback actually looks and feels like.

XBMC (Aeon MQ3 Skin) HD Camcorder showing smoothness and lack of stutter


Videos recorded with CamStudio at max settings. Will try to upload HQ videos soon. No stuttering at all on my end during playback. There was some brief and slight macroblocking during FF of a compressed file (The Incredibles) but absolutely none during playback. No macroblocking with other files during FF (like Game of Thrones which you see in the video which is not compressed).

XBMC (Aeon MQ3 Skin) CamStudio showing interface responsiveness and clarity of video


XBMC (Aeon Nox Skin) CamStudio showing interface responsiveness and clarity of video

[Beer40oz]

Cool... hey why did you chose the G620T instead of the G620? I know there is a little watt difference on it.... but does it matter? the G620 you can find it cheaper....

I always been a AMD guy but I am trying to learn more on intel.

All I know now is that a G620 is great w/ a nice GPU for gaming. Since really a i3 and so on use hyperthreading but in gaming it's not required....

I'll wait for the vids thanx.

[assassin]

Cool... hey why did you chose the G620T instead of the G620? I know there is a little watt difference on it.... but does it matter? the G620 you can find it cheaper....

I always been a AMD guy but I am trying to learn more on intel.

All I know now is that a G620 is great w/ a nice GPU for gaming. Since really a i3 and so on use hyperthreading but in gaming it's not required....

I'll wait for the vids thanx.

Its all in my hardware guide!

http://assassinhtpcblog.com/?page_id=160

I chose the G620T solely because I wanted to use the stock low profile cpu cooler in the Habey EMC600. I modded the case by cutting a 80mm hole in the top of the case. I have talked to Habey personally about improving the design of this case as I think the top needs more ventilation.

BTW there is no reason to choose "T" intel products over the standard version unless you want/need the low profile cooler. They use the exact same amount of power despite being underclocked. Performance is the same.




My mod:

[Dougie Fresh]

The E-i5/E-i7 is manufactured by the same company that makes the EMC-800/600 for Habey. The E cases have ventilation on the top.

[assassin]

The E-i5/E-i7 is manufactured by the same company that makes the EMC-800/600 for Habey. The E cases have ventilation on the top.

I know. And its a much better design.

[Beer40oz]

Ahhh I see your M2ts The incredibles file Macroblocked... but that could be the file?

I know because I have some old old M2ts files that are 3.99 gigs for the PS3 and they all do Macro....

The most recent stuff that is M2ts and ripped correctly don't...