Hey all,
I know, this has to be the n-th thread with guys asking for advice for hardware questions, but I did some research upfront and hope you all can help me fill the gaps.
I already have a ZBox ID80 running on my flatscreen in the bedroom running XBMC/OpenElec flawlessly and really enjoying it. After attaching the CEC Adaper, even handling it got very easy without having to grab my phone and the XBMC remote app every time
So now I want to take an approach to the big goal: the HTPC for the living room enjoyment. Two things are important. Low energy footprint and near silent operation. I like the system to run Ubuntu 12.04 because of LTS (I'd run 12.10 if you think that would go better, but as XBMC builds are normally less frequent than new Ubuntu versions I think sticking with a solid base like the LTS would be better). Also I want it to have a bit of resources left, to actually be able to do a few things beside HTPC business (using it as a fallback-workstation for example, as I'm doing much working with Linux desktops at work).
I also want to "throw out" (nearly) all other devices, like the old Boxee Box (didn't work out that well in the end, as I'm located in Germany but most updates stuck around US or UK based services, so pretty much useless for me), the BluRay Player (I'll hold on to it as fallback, but want to run that inside XBMC, too) and the TV tuner (german DVB-S based satellite TV). The last one is very cheap and can't handle HDTV so I was thinking of recycling it anyway but before I buy some new device, I'd like to run it inside XBMC, too.
Media comes via either NFS or SMB from a Synology NAS (a DS1010+) which works great with the OpenElec Box ATM.
My shopping list until now after hours of surfing around this forum is:
What now? I would really appreciate any insights into this build, if there are any known problems when running it with Ubuntu etc. I was going for Intel with dedicated NVidia GPU as - proprietary drivers aside - I had the least trouble getting NVidias drivers to work under Ubuntu and Linux in general as with any others (AMD drivers, Intel bugs etc.)
If someone has some ideas or comments, please don't stop to drop a note. Also, what is still missing is a working DVB-S2 card or USB adapter for working with XBMC/TVHeadEnd (as that seems the way to go with the PVR builds?) so any suggestion for a non-expensive but good and working solution would be greatly appreciated.
And at last but not least I want to thank Eskro for
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?pid...post843683
and
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=94199
as that was of very much help for me in choosing my first box (the ID80) and once again the first posts I went for.
Hoping for comments and suggestions,
Greets,
Jens
I know, this has to be the n-th thread with guys asking for advice for hardware questions, but I did some research upfront and hope you all can help me fill the gaps.
I already have a ZBox ID80 running on my flatscreen in the bedroom running XBMC/OpenElec flawlessly and really enjoying it. After attaching the CEC Adaper, even handling it got very easy without having to grab my phone and the XBMC remote app every time
So now I want to take an approach to the big goal: the HTPC for the living room enjoyment. Two things are important. Low energy footprint and near silent operation. I like the system to run Ubuntu 12.04 because of LTS (I'd run 12.10 if you think that would go better, but as XBMC builds are normally less frequent than new Ubuntu versions I think sticking with a solid base like the LTS would be better). Also I want it to have a bit of resources left, to actually be able to do a few things beside HTPC business (using it as a fallback-workstation for example, as I'm doing much working with Linux desktops at work).
I also want to "throw out" (nearly) all other devices, like the old Boxee Box (didn't work out that well in the end, as I'm located in Germany but most updates stuck around US or UK based services, so pretty much useless for me), the BluRay Player (I'll hold on to it as fallback, but want to run that inside XBMC, too) and the TV tuner (german DVB-S based satellite TV). The last one is very cheap and can't handle HDTV so I was thinking of recycling it anyway but before I buy some new device, I'd like to run it inside XBMC, too.
Media comes via either NFS or SMB from a Synology NAS (a DS1010+) which works great with the OpenElec Box ATM.
My shopping list until now after hours of surfing around this forum is:
- Silverstone ML03 HTPC case
- Intel Core i3-3220T
- Scythe Kozuti low profile cooling fan (as I didn't know if the Shuriken would fit)
- Sharkoon WPM400 400W PSU with cable management (to reduce clutter in the small case)
- ASUS P8B75-M LX Mainboard
- Kingston HyperX DIMM 8 GB DDR3-1333 Kit (as said, I like having a few resources and RAM doesn't cost that much these days)
- Intel® 330series 2,5" SSD 60 GB (fast boot and a bit space for additional packages and gimmicks in Ubuntu)
- ASUS GT610-SL-2GD3-L (because of passive cooling, low profile and for a bit of very light gaming in Ubuntu - Minecraft anyone?)
- Pioneer BDR-207DBK for BluRay playback
What now? I would really appreciate any insights into this build, if there are any known problems when running it with Ubuntu etc. I was going for Intel with dedicated NVidia GPU as - proprietary drivers aside - I had the least trouble getting NVidias drivers to work under Ubuntu and Linux in general as with any others (AMD drivers, Intel bugs etc.)
If someone has some ideas or comments, please don't stop to drop a note. Also, what is still missing is a working DVB-S2 card or USB adapter for working with XBMC/TVHeadEnd (as that seems the way to go with the PVR builds?) so any suggestion for a non-expensive but good and working solution would be greatly appreciated.
And at last but not least I want to thank Eskro for
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?pid...post843683
and
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=94199
as that was of very much help for me in choosing my first box (the ID80) and once again the first posts I went for.
Hoping for comments and suggestions,
Greets,
Jens
