Cheap system and specs that will run XBMC Linux really well
#1
Just letting people know of a system I just banged up yesterday which runs 720P very nicely (haven't tried 1080).
I was surprised at how smooth and well it ran, considering the price.

CPU 1.6Ghz Core2Duo - $57
Mobo Cheap - $69
1GB 667 DDR2 - $70
Asus 8600 Geforce (Silent/HDMI/HDCP Compliant<(For an Xbox 360 HD DVD Drive) - $126
$287

I had the other items (case, power supply, Old HDD) so they weren't factored in.
I could get away with 512MB of RAM I think as well.

My dad saw XBMC Linux on my machine and was so impressed that he's going to use it to play his high def content.

After seeing my brothers xbox 360 'media center' piece of crap there's only one option for my dad and that's XBMC for linux. My brother was very disappointed with his 360 and kept asking me 'why doesnt this work the same as my xbox' I kept telling him that the feature was part of the xbox media center (XBMC) and microsoft has decided not to support it in the 360 (samba shares and divx a good example). I was considering a 360 but after seeing my brothers there's no way I would subject myself to that console.
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#2
That is $AU287 That's about $US220.
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#3
You get a C2D for about 50 US $ ?? Here in Germany the cheapest models are about 100 € which is about 130 US $ !

I wonder if XBMC is actually using the GPU? Or have you selected this one just because of the HDMI/HDCP part? An onboard card with DX9 capabilites should do the job also, not?
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#4
thats because, in europe, we get raped for all electronics... and if you think you have it bad in germany, cheapest C2D here is £120, which is around $240 USD.

and yes, xbmc will use the gpu, since it uses sdl, which draws with opengl.

also, microsoft didnt "decide not to support divx and samba shares" they cant.. since if they support divx, they are supporting a brand, and have to pay for it (dont even start about microsoft has lots of money) and they would have to offer tech support for it, and samba, they cant support that without getting sued, because someone somewhere will accuse them of some anti-trust bullshit suite because they only support SMB which is a "windows only" software, even though the samba server is around for linux... microsoft support raw mpeg4, since there are no licencing issues, and they support usb hard drives.. also, no licencing or suing issues... there is a reason behind these things, dont just go flapping off complaining... xbmc can do all these things it does, because it infringes on several IP's and copyrights and patents and all that crap... since its free, and the project doesnt carry any financial backing, there is no point in suing xbmc because of this stuff, because all it will bring is bad publicity.
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#5
Hmmm, I wasn't aware of all the issues, it does pay to be courteous.
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#6
knatsch Wrote:You get a C2D for about 50 US $ ?? Here in Germany the cheapest models are about 100 € which is about 130 US $ !

I wonder if XBMC is actually using the GPU? Or have you selected this one just because of the HDMI/HDCP part? An onboard card with DX9 capabilites should do the job also, not?

Yeah, it's because we wanted the HDMI/HDCP part, otherwise we would have gone for a cheaper card, probably a 8500, although this one was only $126 so it was actually really cheap anyways...
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#7
Bizzeh Wrote:thats because, in europe, we get raped for all electronics... and if you think you have it bad in germany, cheapest C2D here is £120, which is around $240 USD.
Can't speak for our friends down under, but Europe for the most part has 20-25% sales or value add tax which factors heavily in any pricing discussion. Whereas in the US it ranges from 0-6% (correct?), and is usually not in any advertised price.
Although the jump from 50 to 240 USD has to be explained with something else Wink
Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please make sure you read this first.
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#8
sho Wrote:Can't speak for our friends down under, but Europe for the most part has 20-25% sales or value add tax which factors heavily in any pricing discussion. Whereas in the US it ranges from 0-6% (correct?), and is usually not in any advertised price.
Although the jump from 50 to 240 USD has to be explained with something else Wink

Yeah, we used to have something similar in Australia called sales tax, from memory it was 22% on computer goods, that was replaced a few years ago by a flat 10% on every, called the GST (general sales tax) (as different items has different tax rates).
Which was handy for computer people if nothing else, instant 12% saving...
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#9
Yeah, in the US our sales tax is anywhere from 0-9%, depending on the state you live in. Internet purchases aren't taxed in any states that I know of, unless the online retailer exists in the state you live in. In some instances the retailer will charge the tax no matter what to make things easier on their end. Some states try getting people to claim Internet purchases on their taxes at the end of the tax year, but people rarely do this.

For you European folks, can't you just have a retailer in the US send you the computer parts and label them as "gift"?
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#10
Yes, if you find someone willing to commit an international fraud Big Grin
Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please make sure you read this first.
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#11
How about this.. for my birthday you send me $100 as a gift. For your birthday I'll send you a $100 video card. Wink
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#12
GST == Goods and Services Tax.

It's 12.5% in NZ on all goods. In AU it's not on all goods (some foods are exempt for instance) but for the most part is across the board.

Minor nitpick, but it pays to have it correct if someone googles it and ends up here (fat chance I know Wink
Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please make sure you read this first.


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#13
That's the one, I had the acronym wrong Smile

Your right, the foods that are not taxed under the GST are unprocessed foods such as Fruit and Veg and raw meats.
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#14
if you rip the hd content you dont need hdcp. then pump it out component or dvi or vga port on your lcd @ 1920x1080. DRM sucks, you could just use windows vista with a nice G84 (8600 GT OC) to get mad h.264/hardware acceleration. xbmc is going to be doing alot of this in cpu i'm guessing for a long while. Sucks when the 8600 series are just as fast as the 7600 but can take less power and make less heat, but you gotta get someone to write for the enhanced features. i think powerdvd+vista you get the full acceleration which can be the different between playing that hd-dvd at 100% cpu or 10% cpu.

screw DRM we dont need no stinkin DRM
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#15
does this mean i can run xbmc on a regular linux box? no xbox needed?

i was actually coming here to ask if there's anything like that, since i see no need why it has to be tied to an xbox. gotta be a way to get that great media compatibility combination on other hardware (possibly some that support up to 1080p and have more CPU power!)

i love how XBMC skips and scans, it works so well, it plays every media format i ever need (especially .iso's, i LOVE that) - i don't play games and i've been planning on getting an xbox solely for this purpose. but i thought hey, someone's got to have repackaged this to work on normal hardware too, it can't be that hard...

i'd be willing to contribute some money too even as long as it worked like the normal xbmc (i'm mainly worried about the remote control aspect, since everything else i think should be workable...)
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Cheap system and specs that will run XBMC Linux really well0