[Lakigucci]

Inspired by Gort and Azula im opening this thread to get some advice and finally post a build log.

The main reason is, that im fed up with the last media players i've owned wich
gave me nothing but troubles (AcRyan/Boxee/Xtreamer Sidewinder3).

So what i want to do with it?

-Stream HD 1080p mkv's and Bluray 3D iso movie's from my NAS to the HTPC without stuttering!.
-Audio will go via Optical out to my DTS/5.1 receiver.

Ok, now lets talk about Hardware, because this is where i need your guy's advice since i got my head full of questions here.

Firstly, Intel or AMD? I just want the BEST for the money. (my budget is around €400).

This is what i got so far:

- AMD A8-3850 (because of the better HD6550D IGP)
- Some 4Gb 1600mhz CL7 or CL8 mem (Benchmarks proof that IGP's benefit from higher memory clock's)
- Antec EA-380 GREEN (seems suffucient and power efficient)
- Asrock A75-M Micro ATX (Got all the features i need)
- And a 64Gb Vertex4/Samsung C830/Crucial M4 Sata-600 SSD drive for quick reboot's/wakeup's. (There just quick)
- MS-TECH MC-380 or SilverStone SST-ML03B case. (Both good looking cases imho).

What would YOU change, and why?! Thanks in advance guys!

THIS BUILD IS DONE!! CLICK HERE FOR THE RESULTS.

NEED TO DO'S;

-Install Emu's (Install Wii emu and PS2 emu, need testing with controller).

FIXED:

-BluRay playback using TMT5.
-Remote Control via Logitech Harmoney One, with sleep/wakeup function.

[teaguecl]

I can't really comment on your build specifics, but I would recommend leaving €100 or so in your budget for a nice remote. Logitech Harmony's seem to get the best approvals around here. On a related note, your motherboard should be compatible with the dongle discussed in this thread: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=132960

[bznotins]

The AMD A8 is overkill. In cost, performance, and power consumption. Get a Sandy/Ivy Celeron or i3. If going the Celeron route, spend the coin you save on a nice remote, bigger SSD, Flirc, or a nice dinner for your wife.

[Lakigucci]

The AMD A8 is overkill. In cost, performance, and power consumption. Get a Sandy/Ivy Celeron or i3. If going the Celeron route, spend the coin you save on a nice remote, bigger SSD, Flirc, or a nice dinner for your wife.

The remote (Harmony One), i already got, so thats not the problem.
Good know the A8 is overkill (powerconsumtion is rougly the same as the A6-3650 both 100w tdp), since i dont wanna take any chances on this build, i just wanna be on the safe side, therefore the choice for the A8 instead of the A6 in this build.

The thing i want to know still is, is the i3 more powerfull then the A8 in terms of media playing?

(Thnx for the link to the Dongle )

[Arkitket]

i3 has a more powerful CPU I believe, also, 100w TDP is high. Personally I would stick to a 65w or lower for HTPC use, A higher TDP = more heat, heat is not a good thing in a small form factor case. Something to keep in mind though is that FM1 is EOL, not sure if that matters to you or not.

[Lakigucci]

According to THIS review, the HD4000 IGP is more powerfull then the 6550D IGP from the A8-3850.

Arkitket, would you recommend the i3-3225 instead? (on what chipset?).
Is the lower tdp/performance boost worth the price? For me here in The Netherlands going from AMD->Intel is a 77,- price increase.

Ps. i'd love to see some more input from other users aswell.

[NZXBMC]

Hey Lakigucci

My setup is:
[CASE] Silverstone Milo ML03B microATX, Black, Slim/HTPC Case with USB 3.0 w/o PSU (can take ATX)
[CPU] Intel Core i3 3225, S 1155, Ivy Bridge H, Dual Core, 3.3GHz, 3MB Smart Cache, Retail
[MB] Asus P8H77-M, Intel H77, S 1155, DDR3, SATA III - 6Gb/s, SATA RAID, PCIe 3.0, D-Sub/ DVI-D/ HDMI, Micro ATX
[RAM] 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair DDR3 XMS3, PC3-12800 (1600), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24, XMP, 1.65V
[SSD] 64GB Crucial RealSSD M4, 2.5" SSD, SATA III - 6Gb/s, MLC-Flash, Read 500MB/s, Write 95MB/s *New Version*
[PSU] 400W Silverstone Tech. Strider SST-ST40F-ES, 80% Eff', 80 PLUS, SLI/CrossFire, EPS 12V, Quiet Fan, ATX v2.3, PSU

I eventually decided to go for the Core i3 so that I can future proof the system. It will allow me to upgrade to a better CPU if I need to in the future using the existing components..

It also has the new HD4000 GPU and is much faster than the AMD A6. Personally I am really happy with my system, its fast, quiet and runs XBMC really smooth. It will also allow me the option to play some games on it if I want to.

[Lakigucci]

Really really leaning towards the i3 right now.
Especially the fact that its more future proof.
With that in mind the 77,- extra isn't that much.

What would you guys advice as a remote? I already got a Harmony one, but im wondering if there's a better choice in thought of simplicity.

I was thinking to use the Android remote for XBMC with my phone...

[bznotins]

Really really leaning towards the i3 right now.
Especially the fact that its more future proof.
With that in mind the 77,- extra isn't that much.

What would you guys advice as a remote? I already got a Harmony one, but im wondering if there's a better choice in thought of simplicity.

I was thinking to use the Android remote for XBMC with my phone...

It depends how many devices you have. Given that I have an AVR, TV, HTPC, and BD player (the latter I never use), the Harmony One is great because it does everything. I also have the Android Remote on my phone, but I only use that when I need to type. It can't control the volume on my AVR, for example.

Also, are you married? The WAF is something that really plays a big role. My wife loves the Harmony One because she doesn't have to mess with multiple remotes. When she wants to watch TV, she presses the "DirecTV" button and everything switches over. Then flipping to the HTPC just requires pressing the "HTPC" button and the AVR changes inputs, the HPTC comes out of sleep, the DirecTV box shuts down, etc, etc.

If all you have is a TV and the HTPC and no supporting AVR/speakers, then the Android Remote is "OK" but you'll still find yourself switching back to the TV remote when watching TV.

Back to your original post, the IB i3 is a great option. Don't worry about "future proof", however. By the time you need something more powerful, there will be 10nm CPUs that use 6w of power and make your breakfast for you. IVB will support 4K in a couple of months (and it will probably be 4-5 years before 4K is even half the popularity as 1080p today) so build the most cost effective and functional solution you can today and worry about the future 4-5 years from now.

My vote is still for a SB or IB Celeron (unless you play 3D, you will notice zero difference when watching media) but if you must over-build then the i3 is a logical choice.

[Lakigucci]

I do plan to play Bluray 3D, since i got a Samsung TV that supports it, me and my wife like to watch movies in 3D from time to time.
So ill guess ill go for i3 then. I just want things to be good right now, and not have to regred saving on parts that wont live up to my
expectations.

Remote: My wife knows how our devices work (TV/Mediaplayer/Receiver/HTC OneX). So a extra remote isnt a problem, it just had to work.
Ill guess ill try the app at first after initial setup, and look if i can make the harmony work in the mean time.
Do i "need" to purchase a IR recveiver wiht this mobo? Asus P8H77-M

[bznotins]

Do i "need" to purchase a IR recveiver wiht this mobo? Asus P8H77-M

Yup. You'll need one of two things:

HP MCE IR Receiver, they can be found all over eBay.

Flirc, a bit more expensive but I prefer it.

I like Flirc because I can easily configure it to pass any keyboard command through to the HTPC so I can set up Win7 shortcuts linked to Ctrl-[x] commands or other commands like Alt-F4. That makes it easy to shutdown XMBC, restart the PC, etc, etc, all from the remote. It wasn't as easy to do with a standard MCE remote. Just be sure when you configure your Harmony with Flirc that you use an LG TV profile so that the Harmony isn't using MCE frequencies that the Flirc has trouble reading.

The MCE IR is nice because it passes-through sleep/wake commands. The Flirc will eventually be able to do that (in beta right now) but it isn't 100% supported yet.

[acpowell]

Personally I use XBMC commander on my iPhone and iPad (looks more awesome on iPad) I am also using Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H, AMD Phenom II X3 720, BE ADATA 4GB which is all old hardware i had laying around. I had issues streaming 1080p recently which I fixed with installing an old 5770 I had laying around. I user OpenELEC though, not sure what you planed on using.

[Lakigucci]

Ok, so i pick-up the parts for the i3 system and put it all together under 2 hours.
Tonight ill install the os and such.
I made some pictures while building so ill make a little log.

Now its time for dinner lol! I'm starving from all the hard work

[acpowell]

Good Luck!! what OS are you using?

[Lakigucci]

Gonna be Win7 home.premium 64bit