2012-01-11, 08:41
First HTPC, planning on trying out both openELEC and Ubuntu 11.10 separately.
Component-wise, I'm looking at the following ... please let me know if any red flags jump out at you!
CPU / GPU: Celeron G620 - $70
Mobo: ASRock H61M/U3S3 - $70
RAM: 2x2Gb Gskill DDR3 1333 - $23
SSD: Patriot 32Gb - $54
PSU: PicoPSU - about $50? Not sure where to get this, though. Any suggestions for something in the range of 90 to 150W?
Now ... I'm going to start with just that and see how well it does. Here's my thoughts:
This box is predominantly for streaming 1080P from a NAS. I might use it to stream some shows from Netflix or the web in general, but probably not. It'd be nice for it to be just a generally capable linux box as well (nice to have a computer hooked up to the big screen), but that's not hugely important either.
On the CPU / GPU, I'd like to see how XBMC and linux look these days with the integrated intel chipset. If it runs my videos fairly flawlessly, great. If not, I'll get a cheap GeForce 430 to put in there (about $70). I'm hoping it's not required based on a lot of the fairly recent reviews I've been reading, but we'll see.
Initially, I'll just set it up with a simple wireless USB mouse / keyboard, but will probably work on some kind of LIRC solution later on.
All told, this system doesn't look like it'll produce hardly any noise or heat, but I also want to check how it does in operational mode before I go spend $30 or $40 on an aftermarket HSF.
The video card decision and HSF decision will also push the decision for which case to get.
Of course, this also means I finally need to upgrade my receiver, which is a very nice Onkyo 5.1 system from back in the day, but doesn't have HDMI at all . Oh well. Time to get with the future .
EDIT:
One change I'm looking at already is the SSD. Found this review of the Torqx Patriot: http://www.storagereview.com/patriot_torqx_2_review. Doesn't look so good.
So I'm thinking of moving to the OCZ Vertex. $75 after rebate instead of $50, but way faster, lower power, and even bigger (a little OS future proofing there, or dual-boot opportunity).
Component-wise, I'm looking at the following ... please let me know if any red flags jump out at you!
CPU / GPU: Celeron G620 - $70
Mobo: ASRock H61M/U3S3 - $70
RAM: 2x2Gb Gskill DDR3 1333 - $23
SSD: Patriot 32Gb - $54
PSU: PicoPSU - about $50? Not sure where to get this, though. Any suggestions for something in the range of 90 to 150W?
Now ... I'm going to start with just that and see how well it does. Here's my thoughts:
This box is predominantly for streaming 1080P from a NAS. I might use it to stream some shows from Netflix or the web in general, but probably not. It'd be nice for it to be just a generally capable linux box as well (nice to have a computer hooked up to the big screen), but that's not hugely important either.
On the CPU / GPU, I'd like to see how XBMC and linux look these days with the integrated intel chipset. If it runs my videos fairly flawlessly, great. If not, I'll get a cheap GeForce 430 to put in there (about $70). I'm hoping it's not required based on a lot of the fairly recent reviews I've been reading, but we'll see.
Initially, I'll just set it up with a simple wireless USB mouse / keyboard, but will probably work on some kind of LIRC solution later on.
All told, this system doesn't look like it'll produce hardly any noise or heat, but I also want to check how it does in operational mode before I go spend $30 or $40 on an aftermarket HSF.
The video card decision and HSF decision will also push the decision for which case to get.
Of course, this also means I finally need to upgrade my receiver, which is a very nice Onkyo 5.1 system from back in the day, but doesn't have HDMI at all . Oh well. Time to get with the future .
EDIT:
One change I'm looking at already is the SSD. Found this review of the Torqx Patriot: http://www.storagereview.com/patriot_torqx_2_review. Doesn't look so good.
So I'm thinking of moving to the OCZ Vertex. $75 after rebate instead of $50, but way faster, lower power, and even bigger (a little OS future proofing there, or dual-boot opportunity).