Have a few extra bucks - where to upgrade?
#1
Looking to buy (and of course, build) my first HTPC, and have a bit more money to spend, and would like your recommendations.

Requirements:
  1. Must be "Wife-Friendly". (Relatively quiet, and controlled completely (including power on) by our Harmony 300, and can fit in our media cabinet - which has some decent space, but isn't going to take a massive case).
  2. Budget is $500. (Live in the US).
  3. Self Assembled (not into the NUC thing)
  4. Performance: Needs to be able to play Blu-Ray Rips encoded with Handbrake with Bit-Streaming for both TrueHD and DTS-MA.
  5. OS: Going to run Linux to start, but want to ensure this is "Windows Able" in case the kiddos wind up inheriting it at some point.
Was thinking of going with Eskro's Windows Build $5 as a great starting point, but have some tweaks.
  1. I already have an OCZ Agility 3 60GB SSD in one system that I plan on transferring.
  2. The build #5 currently costs $360 for the remaining parts that I would need.
  3. Obviously, don't have the right remote solution yet either...
So, there you go! $360 (ish) down, where would you go from here? Where would you spend the extra $140? (And yes, some of that needs to be for some form of IR receiver for both control and power-on/off).

Thanks in advance! Can't way to see what you come up with!
OpenELEC 5.0 (Helix) | Intel NUC D34010WYKH i3 Haswell | 64GB SanDisk SSD | 4 GB RAM
unRAID 6.0b12 | 6.3 TB of Storage
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#2
NUC is self assembled?
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#3
Nope. That's my point. I want to do it myself. I'm not interested in a pre-built "NUC-Like" device.
OpenELEC 5.0 (Helix) | Intel NUC D34010WYKH i3 Haswell | 64GB SanDisk SSD | 4 GB RAM
unRAID 6.0b12 | 6.3 TB of Storage
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#4
Aside from placing a tiny motherboard in a tiny case, there isn't much to assemble on a mini PC these days.
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#5
(2014-03-03, 07:38)Ned Scott Wrote: Aside from placing a tiny motherboard in a tiny case, there isn't much to assemble on a mini PC these days.

True.

Have spent the night researching remotes, and power on, etc. At the moment, think I'll go with The Rosewill Solution. Since the MB has the USB headers on for charging, should be good to go to atleast wake from Sleep, and looks like there's been good luck with the receiver in Linux as well (though I don't have a good source for that). So, that's $20 more out of the budget...
OpenELEC 5.0 (Helix) | Intel NUC D34010WYKH i3 Haswell | 64GB SanDisk SSD | 4 GB RAM
unRAID 6.0b12 | 6.3 TB of Storage
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#6
I think it's crazy to build an Ivy Bridge system when Haswell is readily available for roughly the same price. But then again, the Bay Trail NUC seems to fit all your needs and leaves you with enough $$$ for a very high end dinner for 2 (which is truly wife friendly).
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#7
jrhamilt-
Shuttle XH61V + Intel Core i3-3225 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz + Team Elite Plus 4GB ....it should be able to handles all your Blu-ray movies....

(2014-03-03, 09:46)Geekzilla Wrote: I think it's crazy to build an Ivy Bridge system when Haswell is readily available for roughly the same price. But then again, the Bay Trail NUC seems to fit all your needs and leaves you with enough $$$ for a very high end dinner for 2 (which is truly wife friendly).
I'm not sure that NUC will pass my "wife friendly" test....she like odd looking case and "Alienware X51" case is her favorite. Another word, all wives are not the same....

But my kids like the colorful NUC case....
>Alienware X51- do it all HTPC
>Simplify XBMC configurations
>HOW-TO Bitstreaming using XBMC
I refused to watch movie without bitstreaming HD audio!
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#8
(2014-03-03, 09:46)Geekzilla Wrote: I think it's crazy to build an Ivy Bridge system when Haswell is readily available for roughly the same price.

+1. And there's a huge difference in heat between Sandy/Ivy Bridge and Haswell.

Look at this Haswell mini-ITX build I did recently: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid...pid1616818 for an example. That's a very small case yet the i3-4130 stays cool.
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#9
(2014-03-03, 09:46)Geekzilla Wrote: I think it's crazy to build an Ivy Bridge system when Haswell is readily available for roughly the same price. But then again, the Bay Trail NUC seems to fit all your needs and leaves you with enough $$$ for a very high end dinner for 2 (which is truly wife friendly).
Have spent some good time looking at the NUC tonight. I'm much more intrigued than I was, particularly after looking over all of the remote control stuff. What a nightmare!

(2014-03-03, 16:52)bluray Wrote: I'm not sure that NUC will pass my "wife friendly" test....she like odd looking case and "Alienware X51" case is her favorite. Another word, all wives are not the same....

But my kids like the colorful NUC case....
Gotcha. The NUC fits my wife's requirements.

(2014-03-03, 17:13)Dougie Fresh Wrote:
(2014-03-03, 09:46)Geekzilla Wrote: I think it's crazy to build an Ivy Bridge system when Haswell is readily available for roughly the same price.

+1. And there's a huge difference in heat between Sandy/Ivy Bridge and Haswell.

Look at this Haswell mini-ITX build I did recently: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid...pid1616818 for an example. That's a very small case yet the i3-4130 stays cool.
Certainly. Forgot how old the post was. Looking into upgrading the MB and Processor to Haswell. Love your website Dougie, and of course, I'm now very intrigued by your products. Will have to look at those too.

I guess the last hesitation that I have between NUC/ecosmartpc mini's and a more extensive solution (custom case, etc) is the future ability to upgrade (either real or imagined) the case to include a new system.

It is very tempting, however, to purchase a solution that will just work. I'm also tempted to hesitate until Sony figures out what they're doing. Perhaps if they media-enable the PS4, I may have to look at that for the amount of money that I'm spending...

I've also uncovered that I have a 4GB SODIMM DDR3 1600 memory chip sitting around, so really I don't have any extra costs for a NUC (already have all the parts)...

Other Thoughts?
OpenELEC 5.0 (Helix) | Intel NUC D34010WYKH i3 Haswell | 64GB SanDisk SSD | 4 GB RAM
unRAID 6.0b12 | 6.3 TB of Storage
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#10
Price goes up with Haswell - I3-4340 and Gigabyte GA-H87N-WIFI (Rev 2.0) together ups the price to $402 (for those keeping track at home...)
OpenELEC 5.0 (Helix) | Intel NUC D34010WYKH i3 Haswell | 64GB SanDisk SSD | 4 GB RAM
unRAID 6.0b12 | 6.3 TB of Storage
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