[Tbtf]

I decided to build an htpc here are the parts I am considering on ordering. I want to be able to run most skins, and playback 1080p. Let me know what you think on the list.

Morherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...-_-Product

Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6811129080

HD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6822136514

RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6820146526

DVD - Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6827135201

I want to install XBMC Live, and want my Harmony Remote to work with the box. I know I need an IR receiver so if someone can recommend one that would be great.

[razerkrait]

last week i build two XBMC HTPC，One is from old pc，other one is a new one。

CPU:Intel Core2 E3300 2.5G 1M L2
RAM:Apacer DDR2 800 2G
Mainboard：Biostar G41 M-ATX
Graphics：Triplex HD5450 512M
System：Windows 7 professional
HTPC：XBMC
Player：POTPALYER

[cowfodder]

Motherboard should be fine. I have the IONITX-G-E and it works great. Case is fine too. I'd avoid the 2TB green drive though. I've heard a lot of stories about slow seek times, slow data transfer etc. It's because the 2TB runs at 5900 rpm max, whereas the rest of the line is 5900 nominal, 7200 max. Ram is fine. Personally, I put in a Lite-On Blu-Ray drive instead of a regular DVD, and it works great.

[razerkrait]

Motherboard should be fine. I have the IONITX-G-E and it works great. Case is fine too. I'd avoid the 2TB green drive though. I've heard a lot of stories about slow seek times, slow data transfer etc. It's because the 2TB runs at 5900 rpm max, whereas the rest of the line is 5900 nominal, 7200 max. Ram is fine. Personally, I put in a Lite-On Blu-Ray drive instead of a regular DVD, and it works great.

Which Blu-Ray drivers do you use？
I want to buy one

[Tbtf]

Motherboard should be fine. I have the IONITX-G-E and it works great. Case is fine too. I'd avoid the 2TB green drive though. I've heard a lot of stories about slow seek times, slow data transfer etc. It's because the 2TB runs at 5900 rpm max, whereas the rest of the line is 5900 nominal, 7200 max. Ram is fine. Personally, I put in a Lite-On Blu-Ray drive instead of a regular DVD, and it works great.

can you recommend me and HD? I want one with around 2 TB in size if that is possible

[NotShorty]

HD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6822136514

I want to install XBMC Live...

You gotta read reviews, man. Not a good drive to put XBMC Live on.

Avoid like the plague if non-windows
Reviewed By: pippy on 6/29/2010
Tech Level: high - Ownership: less than 1 day
This user purchased this item from Newegg
Pros: If you're on a windows system NONE
Cons: For non-windows system (opensolaris and freeBSD for me, though reportedly linux too) this drive does NOT present itself natively as a 4kb sector drive. WD has put into the firmware an emulation layer that causes the drive to be seen as a 512 sectored size in unix. Because of this performance is seriously hindered. You can solve this problem by manually aligning the partitions, but that's just extra unnecessary work.
Other Thoughts: If you're on a Unix based system DO NOT GET THIS DRIVE.

IMO, 1TB drives are old enough that they're really reliable, and the prices are getting low ($80 or less for 7200RPM 32MB cache drives). Watch this site for the best prices.

NS

[ion_man]

Motherboard should be fine. I have the IONITX-G-E and it works great. Case is fine too. I'd avoid the 2TB green drive though. I've heard a lot of stories about slow seek times, slow data transfer etc. It's because the 2TB runs at 5900 rpm max, whereas the rest of the line is 5900 nominal, 7200 max. Ram is fine. Personally, I put in a Lite-On Blu-Ray drive instead of a regular DVD, and it works great.

Huh? All hard disks spin at fixed speeds, there is no such thing as nominal and max rpm with hard drives.
(Yes even the WD 'green' 5400-7200rpm drives spin at fixed speeds, the range indicated simply refers to the whole range of drives, i.e. the smaller WD 'green' drives spin faster than the bigger ones).

The 'green' drives that spin at 5400 (Seagate 5900) rpm are very well suited for media PCs like running XBMC, the sightly slower seek times and data transfer rates make no practical difference for this kind of use.

On the other had the lower noise and cooler running of 'green' drives make them perfectly suited for media PCs since noise and heat are much more of a concern than theoretical speed differences.

[Hannes The Hun]

I just don't see why all of you guys want these big drives for HTPC use. I just don't recommend keeping your media files in there, instead archive that stuff on USB hard disks or in a NAS. then you could opt for a small and relatively cheap SSD inside of the HTPC such as the intel 40GB one.

[ion_man]

I just don't see why all of you guys want these big drives for HTPC use. I just don't recommend keeping your media files in there, instead archive that stuff on USB hard disks or in a NAS. then you could opt for a small and relatively cheap SSD inside of the HTPC such as the intel 40GB one.

I guess it depends how much space one needs for their media. Each option has advantages and disavantages. But regardless, even more so in a NAS or in USB drives, 'green' hard disks are the better choice compared to 7200 rpm hard disks, since even in those cases heat power consumption and noise are far more important than the higher theoretical speed of 7200 rpm drives.

[Tbtf]

hey guys how about this one reviews seem good
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6822145287

[Tbtf]

I just don't see why all of you guys want these big drives for HTPC use. I just don't recommend keeping your media files in there, instead archive that stuff on USB hard disks or in a NAS. then you could opt for a small and relatively cheap SSD inside of the HTPC such as the intel 40GB one.

Hi Hannes I do have a 500 gb external drive and a 1.5 TB external drive. The only problem is my media is on there and it is formatted for mac. This is why I wanted to buy a bigger drive to send my media to it. Also if I do go the SSD way which case would I need, because those drives are 2.5'.

[ion_man]

hey guys how about this one reviews seem good
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6822145287

I wonder why I even bothered to explain why 7200 rpm drives are wrong for a media PC...
did you actually read my last 2 posts?

That drive is suited for a desktop PC, NOT for a cramped case of a media player PC!

Get one of these two:
Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB 64MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6822136514
SAMSUNG EcoGreen F3 HD203WI 2TB 5400 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6822152202

[Tbtf]

I wonder why I even bothered to explain why 7200 rpm drives are wrong for a media PC...
did you actually read my last 2 posts?

That drive is suited for a desktop PC, NOT for a cramped case of a media player PC!

Get one of these two:
Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB 64MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6822136514
SAMSUNG EcoGreen F3 HD203WI 2TB 5400 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6822152202

Thanks I think I will do this since its in my budget and I can always upgrade to an SDD drive later. Is theit a drive you would prefer over another one, since there was that review pointed out on a previous post?

[poofyhairguy]

Here is your basic problem OP:

It is just a BAD idea to put your XBMC install on your media drive.

Why?

Because they need different things. Your media drive is best off being one of the above drives (aka a Samsung or WD green drive) as they are more than enough to playback even the meanest HD files but they run cool (compared to 7200 RPM drives). Hot drives over time die.

But if you install and run XBMC from these drives the experience will be far more sluggish (because of the green drives) than if XBMC ran from a 7200 RPM drive or a SSD.

I have said it once and I will say it again: Anything less than a dedicated HTPC hooked by ethernet to a dedicated server is just a stopgap. That is why this is not a problem for many of us: we put the green drives in the server and NO real drives in our acutual HTPC.

But it is understandable that you don't have the budget to do that now- we were all there at one point. But it is still smart if you prepare for that future and separate your OS install from the rest.

My suggestion?

Run the OS off a pen drive, and just get the large green drive for storage (yes, a green drive), external or internal.

Then when you can afford a SSD later you can replace the pen drive, and when you can afford a NAS/Server later you can migrate the storage drive to that server.

Whatever you do, do NOT install the OS on a Green drive and DO NOT get a large 7200RPM drive to overcome that. Just please give up having the media and the OS on the same thing- it will save you SO much pain in the long run.

Pen drives are pretty cheap nowadays...

Last note: I personally prefer WD drives, but neither of the above two are "on sale now." I got the 2TB green for $109 shipped a week ago and in the last month I have seen the Samsung go for $115 shipped. Since your budget is tight buy the HD last, and maybe you will get lucky and hit a sale by then..

One last last note: Lets say you throw away all the advice in this thread about separating the OS drive and the data drive. You say to yourself "I only care about low definition video so I can get by permanently on 2TB and I don't want the extra expense of a pen drive." Then get one of these drives- they are the only 2TB drives that would have decent enough performance to install XBMC on (their price is a little high now):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6822145298

[Tbtf]

poofyhair guy... thanks for the input. I will run XBMC live off a USB flash drive for now. Also right now I have two external HD's with all my media atm. If I use the mac mini or mac book as a SAMBA server until I can buy a NAS would that work fine? Also is there a way I would be able to read and write to the external HDS if I plug them into my htpc I am going to build. Also would you be able to recommend me a NAS that isnt to much? I am just trying to weigh my options before purchasing anything