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[Mini-ITX] A6-3500 (3x2.1Ghz/2.4Ghz) + HD6530D
No problems. That way, you still get the option of going either AMD or Nvidia for the GPU.

Last thing, I don't know where Intel is for 24p rendering but there were some problems of the Sandy Bridge. I don't know if they corrected it for Ivy Bridge. So, look for that if you plan to use material at 24p.

Always something to look!
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(2012-08-30, 19:32)zxz0O0 Wrote: That's a great idea. I will just order the i3 and see how it works. If I need additional power (maybe in the future) I will order a dedicated graphics card. Thank you Smile
For HTPC, Intel i3 iGPU is more than enough to playback blu-ray 1080P video and bitstreaming HD audio smoothly.....

>Alienware X51- do it all HTPC
>Simplify XBMC configurations
>HOW-TO Bitstreaming using XBMC
I refused to watch movie without bitstreaming HD audio!
Reply
First of all, thanks for a great guide to all those involved. It's helped me configure a system.

Just after a little advice please. This is the setup I've gone for -

AMD A6-3500
Kingston HyperX KHX1866C11D3P1K2/4G 4 GB (2 x 2 GB)
ASRock A75M-ITX
Q6 Mini-ITX - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005JY64ZC
Scyth Shurikan v2

Now straight away I've made a mistake by buying a heatsink and fan that is too tall for the unit!! Oooops...

Could someone please recommend an ultra low profile solution that I could use so that I can preferably put the lid on the case! I was thinking a Kozuti? Will that give me enough cooling without a case fan? Also, does the setup look OK?

Many thanks.
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It's a security little case, but low profile cpu coolers are such a pain in the ass to source! They're out there, but for some reason many manufacturers seem to think that if you're looking for low profile you don't care if it's horrendously loud.

Further, SO MANY don't listen their overall Height, so you're left guessing.
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The Scythe Kozuti is advertised at 40mm tall which would be ideal. Pain in the ass to fit according to some on here, but I don't know of any other options. Also interested to know if that would be sufficient cooling for the entire system.

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(2012-08-31, 15:52)tonton Wrote: The Scythe Kozuti is advertised at 40mm tall which would be ideal. Pain in the ass to fit according to some on here, but I don't know of many other options. Also interested to know if that would be sufficient cooling for the entire system.

For tyhis case, I've seen people putting a Scythe Slim (12mm width) 120mm fan on the stock heatsink and cutting some hole on their cover..

see here: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=104468
and here : http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/vie...14&t=62680

That would be a nice solution imo. If you don't know how to cut these holes, try local shops. They can do that easily if you know what you want. That would be really silent. More than any low profile aftermarket HSF.
(2012-08-30, 22:19)bluray Wrote:
(2012-08-30, 19:32)zxz0O0 Wrote: That's a great idea. I will just order the i3 and see how it works. If I need additional power (maybe in the future) I will order a dedicated graphics card. Thank you Smile
For HTPC, Intel i3 iGPU is more than enough to playback blu-ray 1080P video and bitstreaming HD audio smoothly.....

Does driver support is there under Linux? I didn'T checked lately for Intel and he wants to use that OS.
Reply
(2012-08-31, 16:01)Balinus Wrote:
(2012-08-30, 22:19)bluray Wrote:
(2012-08-30, 19:32)zxz0O0 Wrote: That's a great idea. I will just order the i3 and see how it works. If I need additional power (maybe in the future) I will order a dedicated graphics card. Thank you Smile
For HTPC, Intel i3 iGPU is more than enough to playback blu-ray 1080P video and bitstreaming HD audio smoothly.....

Does driver support is there under Linux? I didn'T checked lately for Intel and he wants to use that OS.
Check out this thread- [GUIDE] Simplified Guide for a perfect minimal HTPC on INTEL platforms
>Alienware X51- do it all HTPC
>Simplify XBMC configurations
>HOW-TO Bitstreaming using XBMC
I refused to watch movie without bitstreaming HD audio!
Reply
(2012-08-31, 16:01)Balinus Wrote:
(2012-08-31, 15:52)tonton Wrote: The Scythe Kozuti is advertised at 40mm tall which would be ideal. Pain in the ass to fit according to some on here, but I don't know of many other options. Also interested to know if that would be sufficient cooling for the entire system.

For tyhis case, I've seen people putting a Scythe Slim (12mm width) 120mm fan on the stock heatsink and cutting some hole on their cover..

see here: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=104468
and here : http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/vie...14&t=62680

That would be a nice solution imo. If you don't know how to cut these holes, try local shops. They can do that easily if you know what you want. That would be really silent. More than any low profile aftermarket HSF.

Thanks for the advice. How much quieter would it be than the Kozuti?

I have no idea where I would find someone who does waterjet cutting!? The example with a big hole in the top looks ugly, so I wouldn't go down that route.
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(2012-08-31, 16:52)tonton Wrote: Thanks for the advice. How much quieter would it be than the Kozuti?

Well, assuming two things:
1- A 120mm fan needs to spin slower than a 80mm fan for the same amount of air = less noise
2- A hole on top of your case means fresher air on your CPU, thus less air is needed for the same heat dissipation (Temperature delta is higher) = you can further slow down your fan = less noise

From readings about this case (It was one of my choice when I searched), people seems to say that it's hot inside this case. This means you'll have to spin your 80mm slightly faster than in other cases... So, instinctively, I think it will be much quieter. I might be wrong though. You can try with the kozuti and if you're not satisfied, a 120mmx12mm Slipstream fan is about 10$ (i got one for 5$ actually!). So, this could be a cheap plan B.

(2012-08-31, 16:52)tonton Wrote: I have no idea where I would find someone who does waterjet cutting!? The example with a big hole in the top looks ugly, so I wouldn't go down that route.

Well, the guy that cut a hole is indeed "ugly", but on a black case, this would be less apparent. There's the added benefit of having a fan filter.

For waterjet cutting, I'm sure you can call some specialized shop and have it done. Ask at your local hardware store and they will probably know.


(2012-08-31, 16:17)bluray Wrote:
(2012-08-31, 16:01)Balinus Wrote:
(2012-08-30, 22:19)bluray Wrote: For HTPC, Intel i3 iGPU is more than enough to playback blu-ray 1080P video and bitstreaming HD audio smoothly.....

Does driver support is there under Linux? I didn'T checked lately for Intel and he wants to use that OS.
Check out this thread- [GUIDE] Simplified Guide for a perfect minimal HTPC on INTEL platforms

Thanks!
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(2012-08-31, 16:17)bluray Wrote:
(2012-08-31, 16:01)Balinus Wrote:
(2012-08-30, 22:19)bluray Wrote: For HTPC, Intel i3 iGPU is more than enough to playback blu-ray 1080P video and bitstreaming HD audio smoothly.....

Does driver support is there under Linux? I didn'T checked lately for Intel and he wants to use that OS.
Check out this thread- [GUIDE] Simplified Guide for a perfect minimal HTPC on INTEL platforms

If I use xbmcbuntu, do I also need to do all these steps? Thanks for the link btw!
Reply
(2012-09-01, 17:36)zxz0O0 Wrote:
(2012-08-31, 16:17)bluray Wrote:
(2012-08-31, 16:01)Balinus Wrote: Does driver support is there under Linux? I didn'T checked lately for Intel and he wants to use that OS.
Check out this thread- [GUIDE] Simplified Guide for a perfect minimal HTPC on INTEL platforms

If I use xbmcbuntu, do I also need to do all these steps? Thanks for the link btw!
That is what most users did......

>Alienware X51- do it all HTPC
>Simplify XBMC configurations
>HOW-TO Bitstreaming using XBMC
I refused to watch movie without bitstreaming HD audio!
Reply
Gah. For shits and giggles, I tried installing xbmcbuntu on my htpc (using a usb thumb drive as a hard drive to preserve my existing setup).

No sound out of the box, audio failed to initialize errors when attempting video playback. Installing pulseaudio got audio working, but in the UI with a strange echo at about 50% volume around 2 seconds after the initial sound, so each menu "Click" would click once as normal, then quietly again in a couple seconds. Playback audio was ok, but upon pausing playback I'd get a 3 second burst of loud noise, followed by choppy sound when I resumed playback (if it would resume at all).

This reminds me why I didn't stick with my linux install last time. Maybe it's friendlier with other hardware, but I'll just shell out a couple bucks for a proper windows licence when my preview version expires Sad

It's too bad, really, because I've always wanted to have linux running on a system.
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I just made this build, just another case because the one suggested wasn’t really my thing.

But wow, this little machine is a beast!
I am controlling it with the ASRock Remote and it just works flawlessly Smile
I have been into HTPC for a couple of years and wanted to put a dedicated machine together that would be able to handle anything and so far, I am very pleased I I can recommend this to everyone.

If anyone is interested I can upload a few pictures of it.



Reply
(2012-09-21, 16:57)UsernameXBMC Wrote: I just made this build, just another case because the one suggested wasn’t really my thing.

But wow, this little machine is a beast!
I am controlling it with the ASRock Remote and it just works flawlessly Smile
I have been into HTPC for a couple of years and wanted to put a dedicated machine together that would be able to handle anything and so far, I am very pleased I I can recommend this to everyone.

If anyone is interested I can upload a few pictures of it.

Sure upload some pics here.... Big Grin

Reply
Hi all. (I'm new here.)

I'm working on planning this build (more or less) as a combo HTPC, small NAS, and emulator box (16- and 32-bit). I originally found this from a Lifehacker article describing a suspiciously similar box...

First, my components.

[APU] AMD A6-3500 3x2.1Ghz/2.4Ghz HD6530D FM1 65W ($70)
[MOBO] ASRock A75M-ITX FM1 CIR USB3.0 SATAIII UEFI mITX ($90)
[RAM] Corsair 4 GB DDR3 240-pin Server Memory Kit CMV4GX3M2A1333C​9 ($22)
[CASE] Apex MI-008 ($45)
[PSU] picoPSU - see below
[FAN] SilenX EFX-12-15 120mm 1400RPM 74CFM 15dBA ($12)
[SSD] Some 32GB SSD ($40)
[HDD] Western Digital Caviar Green 3 TB ($140) - one for now, possibly more later
[OPTICAL] Some Blu-ray drive ($50)
[SOFTWARE] Windows 7 ($30 through work), XBMC ($0), something free for NAS ($0)
TOTAL: $499 + picoPSU

As you see above, I'm planning on a picoPSU. I know the stock PSU is adequate, but I've got a couple reasons:
- I'm gonna need better air flow and lower temps with all those components, especially if I add more drives in the future. The stock PSU seems obstructive and adds a fair amount of heat, from what I hear.
- I would already have to spend $40 on the Scythe Kozuti if I used the stock PSU... Why not use the stock heatsink and spend that money on the more efficient pico? (I know, the savings won't even out for a few years. )
- The picoPSU is awesome. I hadn't heard of it before planning this build. (Last time I built a computer was 11 years ago...)

All that said, here's my main question: What size pico do I need? I can't seem to find a good way to estimate it. It'll need to power all of these components:
- Mobo & CPU
- Blu-ray drive
- One SSD
- One HDD to start
- Extra capacity for a future second HDD
- Case fan, etc.

It feels like a lot to me. If the 120W would just scrape by for this, I would probably get the 160W, just for the sake of future expansion. Which would you pick?

Other question: Once I've got the picoPSU, what adapter cable do I need for it to power up to four SATA drives? I'm having trouble finding a clear answer. (If possible, a link to a specific product would be greatly appreciated!) Right now I'm assuming I just need to buy a pico, a brick, and one adapter cable for the drives. Is that correct, though?

Big thanks to eskro for making this build and to everybody else in the thread for their great information!

(Also, sorry for the massive first post...)
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[Mini-ITX] A6-3500 (3x2.1Ghz/2.4Ghz) + HD6530D3