Assassin's HTPC Free Hardware Guide

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.

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

(2012-06-25 16:59)Dougie Fresh Wrote:  

(2012-06-25 08:40)Beer40oz Wrote:  Welcome! Let's enjoy some movies... Cheers!

Exactly!

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(2012-06-25 16:07)Mfusick Wrote:  

(2012-06-24 20:31)Dougie Fresh Wrote:  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....

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.....!

Added and updated the Ivy Bridge i3 section today. Enjoy.

Is the hardware guide still free? I could not find the latest updates on the blog.

Of course its still free.

I updated it very recently. Added a bunch of new gear.

Great guide assassin!

(2013-01-04 04:58)assassin Wrote:  Of course its still free.

I updated it very recently. Added a bunch of new gear.

grat work

The mini-ITX section's my favorite part . I agree it's a great guide. There's always something new to learn.