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fshagan · 2010-04-29, 22:44

I serve my media (music, pictures, video rips) from my WHS via wired ethernet. Currently, my WDTV-Live handles everything I throw at it, but I want a better UI to help with the WAF. Music is mostly MP3, and video is ripped to MKV containers. Playon handles streaming 'net content, and works fine through the WDTV-Live.

I'm planning on using the M350 mini-ITX enclosure, and I'm looking at an inexpensive mobo option for my current needs (I can always upgrade later!) I want SPDIF or coax audio out and HDMI (not DVI) for video, with the ability to have sound active on either both outputs or selectable by application. I was planning on MediaPortal in a Windows installation, but I'm thinking XBMC with a linux distro would save me the $120 and probably be better from a speed/boot standpoint.

I think what I have described is a need for a client device capable of running XBMC and streaming content already transcoded/processed by the WHS. The Aeon or default skin is fine for my needs (and it is so much nicer than the deeply nested menus on the WDTV-Live).

So here's the questions ...

1) Will a mini-ITX board with Intel 945GC graphics work, or am I asking for trouble here?

2) Will an Atom 230 board with ION work better than the above, and will it be suitable for receiving streamed content from the WHS?

poofyhairguy · 2010-04-29, 22:49

fshagan Wrote:1) Will a mini-ITX board with Intel 945GC graphics work, or am I asking for trouble here?

Nope. You need to ante up for an ION box if you want to playback HD content.

Quote:2) Will an Atom 230 board with ION work better than the above, and will it be suitable for receiving streamed content from the WHS?

A single core ION should be suitable for your needs, yes.

fshagan · 2010-04-29, 22:55

poofyhairguy Wrote:Nope. You need to ante up for an ION box if you want to playback HD content.

A single core ION should be suitable for your needs, yes.

Thanks! That clarifies things for my "hunt" for a suitable mini-ITX motherboard. I'll probably upgrade later on, but this set up will last a year or two at least.

fshagan · 2010-05-03, 23:52

Just an update; I found an Acer AX1200 with a Sempron 2.3GHz (dual core) that I think will work; it does have Nvidia 8300 graphics on board and HDMI out. I'll try it anyway and see if it works.

poofyhairguy · 2010-05-04, 02:03

Looks pretty good. Should work great!

PeterW · (This post was last modified: 2010-05-05, 11:27 by PeterW.)

Hello,

I use a Zotac IONITX-B-E (single Atom 230 and ION chipset), 1GB RAM, 2GB SSD module, picoPSU 90W and a 30W 12VDC AC/DC converter all in a minibox M300 enclosure. Since this motherboard draws roughly 20W when playing back media, it needs some forced convection and the supplied fans are a bit loud (small). I had to drill a few holes in the top and added a fan running at 1000rpm from 12V (Scythe S-FLEX 80mm Fan (1000 RPM, SFF80A)).

Using the same assembly in a M350 would not work as it cannot carry away the heat with natural convection; the M350 can only cope with 10W without forced convection. An alternative might be the HFX micro S1 which uses heat pipes to conduct the heat from the CPU/ION to the outside wall.

Cheers,
peter

fshagan · 2010-05-05, 17:03

Great info, Peter. I'm going a different way with the Acer AX1200 I bought used; I have its big brother for my regular desktop and its very quiet with the large, slow running fan, so I think it will work. I am giving up the digital audio unless I add a sound card. And it will probably be more of an energy hog.

I was seriously looking at the M350 case with an external power supply brick and a Zotac motherboard, but your experience shows it would probably not work without adding fans to the case. Noise is definitely an issue, and having a case about the size of a DVD player allows a larger, slower (and quieter) fan.

fshagan · (This post was last modified: 2010-05-06, 00:28 by fshagan.)

Well, I'm back to square one ... the vendor for the AX1200 refunded my money without any explanation. After emailing them, I was informed they lost the product, and don't have another (they have 12 - 15 up for auction on eBay right now). Not sure I'll bid on one of them now; I appreciate the quick refund, but an email explaining the situation would have been nice.

I'll look for a deal on the Zotac IONITX-B-E; lowest I find right now is $125.

fshagan · 2010-05-10, 01:40

I did find a IONITX-B-E on eBay, and won it. I also bought 2GB of RAM that is on its way. I'm eying a couple of slightly larger mini-itx cases, with external 5 1/4" drive bays, at my local Fry's Electronics; they are cheaper retail than buying on-line and paying shipping charges. And I'll be able to add a BD player to the system. I have a 320 GB HDD.

I think I would like to go the pico-PSU route to have an external power supply brick, and eliminate the PSU fan inside the case. Given the future plans for a BD drive, the 320 GB HDD and the IONITX board, is the 80w or 90w pico-PSU sufficient? Not sure how you calculate these things with losses, etc.

fshagan · 2010-05-10, 19:10

I was looking at the Apex MI-008 case review at SilentPC and noticed that Amazon.com has it for $39.99 with free shipping. The review at SilentPC mentioned the included power supply was fairly quiet, so I'll try it before going the pico-PSU route.

And I picked up a LG GH22NS40B DVD writer for $20 at TigerDirect. So all the stuff is on its way.

So here's my planned build:

Zotac IONITX-B-E motherboard (Atom 230)
2 GB Ram
LG DVD Writer
Seagate 320 GB 3.5" drive
Apex MI-008 case

The hard drive seems like a waste, but I have it just sitting here. I was thinking of putting a full Ubuntu 10.04 LTS install on it, and then installing XBMC on that. Or putting a USB thumb drive in with XBMC-Live on it, and boot from that (saving the HDD install for when I want to surf on my 55" LCD!)

poofyhairguy · 2010-05-10, 22:28

fshagan Wrote:Zotac IONITX-B-E motherboard (Atom 230)
2 GB Ram
LG DVD Writer
Seagate 320 GB 3.5" drive
Apex MI-008 case

Build looks good. Can't wait to here back on the results.

If you are gonna put the regular Ubuntu on it, be sure to make your username "xbmc" That way if you want you can install the xbmc-live package and XBMC will autostart when you boot.

fshagan · 2010-05-10, 22:32

poofyhairguy Wrote:Build looks good. Can't wait to here back on the results.

If you are gonna put the regular Ubuntu on it, be sure to make your username "xbmc" That way if you want you can install the xbmc-live package and XBMC will autostart when you boot.

I was wondering about that. Does that mean it would autostart, but I could drop to the desktop manually to run a browser, etc., and then re-start XBMC?

poofyhairguy · 2010-05-10, 22:37

fshagan Wrote:I was wondering about that. Does that mean it would autostart, but I could drop to the desktop manually to run a browser, etc., and then re-start XBMC?

That means that instead of logging into the Ubuntu desktop, you go straight to XBMC. Then if you want the Ubuntu desktop, you stop XBMC and issue a

startx

command and then you are on the Ubuntu desktop.

It does not mean it starts the Ubuntu desktop, then starts XBMC like you would expect from Windows. This is better than that- more appliance-like.

fshagan · 2010-05-10, 23:32

Wow, very nice. I can't wait to play with it!

fshagan · 2010-05-15, 05:40

Looks like I have everything now except the memory; it should be here tomorrow. So are these the steps to have XMBC-Live boot up and still have Ubuntu available:

1. Install Ubuntu using the username and password "xbmc"
2. Install XBMC-Live

Do I need to partition the drive so that XBMC-Live and Ubuntu are in different partitions, or does the XBMC-Live installer slide in alongside Ubuntu desktop without any problem?