2011-07-02, 12:07
I have built and tested a new HTPC after getting some help on this forum and though I would share how it went.
Components
[u]ASUS E35M1-I DELUXE___________________£124.50
4GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333MHz__________£31.90
Wesena Mini ITX7-2 Case________________£109.99
Wesena 120w PSU______________________£34.99
Wesena 12v 10a Power Supply Adaptor_____£29.99
Sony BC-5640H Slot Loading Blu-Ray Drive__£83.00
Philips RC260 Remote & IR Receiver________£29.99
40GB Intel 320 SSD_____________________£69.59
Arctic Cooling Arctic F8__________________£4.44
Total_________________________________£518.39[/u]
After checking the depth on some newly built shelving the Antec Microfusion 350 was slightly too deep so I went for a Wesena ITX7-2 case. The case is well built from 3 & 5mm aluminium and it looks quite nice in black. With the options required on this case (PSU, Power Brick & IR Receiver) it was £212, almost doubling the £109 basic price. The case is also limited to a slim slot loading drive which I like but they are more expensive than full sized. It was still cheaper than the similar looking & very nice Origen AE M10 which includes an LCD display but it missing the ITX7-2's front ports.
The build was generally quite easy. The only problem I faced was that the drive tray would not slide in from the side (pictured below) as it hits the power supply module using this Asus motherboard. I was able to flex the case without damaging it to drop it in from the top, not ideal but it worked.
When setting up Windows 7 I stopped unnecessary services from windows 7 using this guide, removed the login prompt at start-up and resume (in power options), turned off all notifications and put XBMC into the start-up folder. This works quite well so that I can control it solely with a remote just like my trusty old XBOX. From time to time Windows 7 gets in the way, I would have preferred to use Linux but the Blu-Ray player requires Windows. After trying quite a few different options (Alaska Mod, Transparency, Rapier, Aeon Nox) I am currently using the Slik skin by Jezz_X which navigates and works really well with a minimal look Screenshots.
The SSD helps it boot to XBMC in just under 30 seconds and the interface and video playback both work really well at 1920x1080. Without the case fan it was totally silent having a heat pipe on the motherboard, I tried unplugging the fan and playing some 1080P video but the CPU got up to 70°C & GPU 90°C so I plugged it back in. It is a shame the fan is required for cooling as totally silent would be great, the 80mm fan supplied with the case is noisy so I ordered a quite one to replace it.
The IR setup with a Harmony 650 required some playing around using the XBMC MCE Remote add in, also Showkey really helped to get it working. Another useful program is XBMC launcher which replaces the MCE remote windows key to launch XBMC and make it full screen. The Wesena supplied RC260 IR receiver isn’t great, you have to point the remote towards the sensor plus the Red and Blue buttons don’t seem to work and I haven’t got the power on by remote working yet either.
I connect it to an AV receiver using HDMI for both Video and 5.1 Audio and I am very happy with the new setup. A later addition may be to get a little keyboard with touchpad for web browsing as the motherboard has Bluetooth built in but I usually use a laptop for that anyway.
Thanks for all of the helpful info people have provided here on the XBMC forums and for the dev’s who provide such excellent software, I have been a very happy user since it was XBMP and couldn’t live without it.
All the bits
Motherboard installed
PSU & Drive Tray Problem
Everything in place
HTPC Setup
Components
[u]ASUS E35M1-I DELUXE___________________£124.50
4GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333MHz__________£31.90
Wesena Mini ITX7-2 Case________________£109.99
Wesena 120w PSU______________________£34.99
Wesena 12v 10a Power Supply Adaptor_____£29.99
Sony BC-5640H Slot Loading Blu-Ray Drive__£83.00
Philips RC260 Remote & IR Receiver________£29.99
40GB Intel 320 SSD_____________________£69.59
Arctic Cooling Arctic F8__________________£4.44
Total_________________________________£518.39[/u]
After checking the depth on some newly built shelving the Antec Microfusion 350 was slightly too deep so I went for a Wesena ITX7-2 case. The case is well built from 3 & 5mm aluminium and it looks quite nice in black. With the options required on this case (PSU, Power Brick & IR Receiver) it was £212, almost doubling the £109 basic price. The case is also limited to a slim slot loading drive which I like but they are more expensive than full sized. It was still cheaper than the similar looking & very nice Origen AE M10 which includes an LCD display but it missing the ITX7-2's front ports.
The build was generally quite easy. The only problem I faced was that the drive tray would not slide in from the side (pictured below) as it hits the power supply module using this Asus motherboard. I was able to flex the case without damaging it to drop it in from the top, not ideal but it worked.
When setting up Windows 7 I stopped unnecessary services from windows 7 using this guide, removed the login prompt at start-up and resume (in power options), turned off all notifications and put XBMC into the start-up folder. This works quite well so that I can control it solely with a remote just like my trusty old XBOX. From time to time Windows 7 gets in the way, I would have preferred to use Linux but the Blu-Ray player requires Windows. After trying quite a few different options (Alaska Mod, Transparency, Rapier, Aeon Nox) I am currently using the Slik skin by Jezz_X which navigates and works really well with a minimal look Screenshots.
The SSD helps it boot to XBMC in just under 30 seconds and the interface and video playback both work really well at 1920x1080. Without the case fan it was totally silent having a heat pipe on the motherboard, I tried unplugging the fan and playing some 1080P video but the CPU got up to 70°C & GPU 90°C so I plugged it back in. It is a shame the fan is required for cooling as totally silent would be great, the 80mm fan supplied with the case is noisy so I ordered a quite one to replace it.
The IR setup with a Harmony 650 required some playing around using the XBMC MCE Remote add in, also Showkey really helped to get it working. Another useful program is XBMC launcher which replaces the MCE remote windows key to launch XBMC and make it full screen. The Wesena supplied RC260 IR receiver isn’t great, you have to point the remote towards the sensor plus the Red and Blue buttons don’t seem to work and I haven’t got the power on by remote working yet either.
I connect it to an AV receiver using HDMI for both Video and 5.1 Audio and I am very happy with the new setup. A later addition may be to get a little keyboard with touchpad for web browsing as the motherboard has Bluetooth built in but I usually use a laptop for that anyway.
Thanks for all of the helpful info people have provided here on the XBMC forums and for the dev’s who provide such excellent software, I have been a very happy user since it was XBMP and couldn’t live without it.
All the bits
Motherboard installed
PSU & Drive Tray Problem
Everything in place
HTPC Setup