Openelec living room build - ML03 with pics

Been using the following set up for a few weeks now thought I would post it along with some pics. Requirements were low profile, bitstreaming in linux, as quiet as possible and to accommodate my full size BD drive.

Hardware:

Case: Silverstone ML03B (already owned) - £30 ebay
Mobo: ASrock Z77E-ITX - £116
PSU: Antec EathWatts EA-380D - £35
CPU: G850 - £50
RAM: G.Skill RipjawsX 8GB - £44
BluRay: LiteOn iHOS104 - (already owned) - £50 over a year ago
GPU: ASUS ENGT43 (already owned) - £40
SSD: 60GB OCZ Agility 3 - £49
Total Price: £414

Case fans: I bought 2 SilenX iXtrema Pro IXP-54-14 - but decided not to use them as both the CPU & GPU are at around 45degrees during BluRay bitstreamed playback.

OS (dual boot):
Openelec Frodo nightlies
Ubuntu 12.04

Photos:







The case looks huge with a mITX, SSD is under the BD drive as are most of the cables. Media is stored on my NAS.



It is overkill for a HTPC but I'm also using it for ripping my BDs hence the dual boot. I decided on going the mITX route to allow me to swap to a smaller case down the line.

Coupled with my harmony & di novo mini, one happy XBMC user

Edit: My GPU card has now been removed as patches are now available for Intel HBR audio to enable bitstreaming via Intels onboard graphics with Linux. Grab my latest compiled OpenElec nightly build with these patches applied from my Dropbox.

Nice! Thanks for sharing the pictures.

What was the total build cost?

Added prices to first post. If price is a concern:

• SSD - no need for a large drive, 30GB is more then enough, if you are only running Openelec even a USB flash drive is fine
• 8GB RAM - I will probably never utilise but it was so cheap, 2GB will probably do, 4GB is better
• Mobo - You could drop down a gen to H77 chipset, I just liked the features of this board, especially the msata connector on the underside of the board. Again if I upgrade to a smaller form factor case, an SSD can be attached directly to the board and not take up any case space.
• CPU - you can get away with a slower CPU
  

Did you include a TV Tuner?

dual dvb s2 tv card is in my server

Hi, I have exactly the same mobo running kubuntu and the pulse pvr packages, but I'm not getting sound out from it no matter what audio settings I try. What audio settings do you use? Do you have Pulse installed (I uninstalled it).

Many thanks.

John.

I started with ubuntu and I think I did the same as you and uninstalled pulse. I ended up dual booting ubuntu and openelec, as it just suited my needs.