[warrmr]

Howdy,

I have finally decided to try and build myself a HTPC, here is what I have so far and what I think I need to make it work brilliantly my budget is as cheap as possible or Free.

Components I have

ECS AM3 Motherboard
AMD Sempron 145
1GB DD3 RAM
Assorted HDDs 80-160gb

On Order
Milo ML03 case
ATI Radon 5040 PCI-E 2gb DDR3

To acquire

PCI-E DVB-S2 tuner card
some form of IR remote and IR receiver.
Will purchase SSD at some point but not crucial at this point in time.

Phase 1 of my XBMC install is to setup as a streaming TV shows from the internet along with from my NAS.

Phase 2 will be Acquiring a TV card and setting it up as a PVR so that I can watch things live on TV.

Do I need more RAM than 1GB and is it worth updating the mobo to a newer AM3+ one that has a CIR header. I did see the asrock 880gmh/USB3 for £30 on amazon but by the time i went to order they became "unavailable" and is there any guides on setting up XBMC to do what I want or is it a matter of surfing the Wiki and working it out myself.

Thanks in advance

[warrmr]

Also would a Apple Bluetooth keyboard work with XBMC if I purchased a Bluetooth dongle.

[Jetster]

Welcome, first off what OS?
If its 7 yes get more ram at least 2 Gb.
The Apple keyboard most like will not work. Even if it did you wouldn't get the distance you need
I dont know what a ATI Radon 5040 is

[warrmr]

Hi Jester,

You will have to excuse my inability to spell, Its a graphics card based on the ATI Radeon 5040 chipset with 2gb of ddr3 dedicated memory.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004J...00_s00_i00

I am looking at XBMCbuntu as the OS mainly because I dont own a copy of windows and dont run it on any of my machines. I have been a linux man in different favours for about 8 years now I can find my way around most of the OS but still have a lot to learn.

[Jetster]

You mean the 5450? There is no 5040, And you need to use a Nvidia based card for linux

As far as XBMCbuntu not sure if 1 Gb is enough

[warrmr]

I think I should probably start this thread again so I dont look like to much of an Idiot :-p. The card that I linked in my last post is the one that I have on order. Im hoping I can make it work and have found this link on the wiki hopefully it applies to the card that I have on its way.

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=HOW...th_AMD_GPU

If I cant make it work then it will have to go back and I will have to order one with an Nvidia chipset. When I get my TV card next month I will look at adding some more RAM to the system maybe around the 4gb mark if it is cheap enough.

Any advice on a Freesat HD TV card.