[jtap06]

So I am building a custom desktop PC that will be used solely for XBMC and related tasks. My budget is just over $2,000. The PC will be positioned in another room so sound isn't really an issue.

My main goal is to have blazing fast XBMC operation. My skin of choice is Aeon and I would like to "fly" through coverflow(flat) without any lag with covers/fanart. (hence the two SSDs). Also, the obvious - I would like to play full HD movies flawlessly. Would some hardware guru please take a look at the following specs and let me know what you would change? I am open to any ideas! Thanks.

Case: NZXT Guardian 921 RB

Processor: Intel® Core™ i7 950 Processor (4x 3.06GHz/8MB L3 Cache)
(overlocked up to 20%)

Memory: 12 GB [2 GB X6] DDR3-1333
(Corsair XMS3 Dominator w/DHX technology)

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 - 1GB - EVGA Superclocked - Core: 763MHz

Motherboard: [3-Way SLI] MSI X58A-GD65

Power Supply: 1200 Watt -- CoolerMaster RSC00-80GAD3-US

Primary Hard Drive: Dual 60GB Drives (120GB Capacity) - RAID 0 High Performance
(60 GB Corsair Force Series F60 MLC SSD)

Secondary Hard Drive: 1 TB HARD DRIVE -- 64M Cache, 7200 RPM, 6.0Gb/s

Meter Display: NZXT Sentry LX
(just for fun!)

Thanks guys!

[Hannes The Hun]

talk about overkill

[jtap06]

^ I call it future-proofing. But anyway, any ideas fellas?

[Flomaster]

I call it a gaming rig, not an HTPC rig. you can spend 20% of 2K and have a perfectly capable lightening fast XBMC box. use the rest to build a media server full of hard drives.



-=Jason=-

[gabbott]

way overkill for a HTPC.

Invest in a server for the backend would be a better idea. You don't need all that hardware at all.

Look into a small ION system or something similar with an SSD drive. They can play 1080P flawlessly. So you aren't future-proofing in any way.

Now you did mention Aeon so maybe something more than an atom system but an i7?! Are you going to be encoding with this machine?

[jtap06]

Hmm..well thats why I asked the question. What would you guys suggest would be the BEST XBMC system? The main issues I am having with my current rig are the covers not loading quickly enough when skimming and some HD 1080p movies dropping frames.

Thanks guys!

[gabbott]

Hmm..well thats why I asked the question. What would you guys suggest would be the BEST XBMC system? The main issues I am having with my current rig are the covers not loading quickly enough when skimming and some HD 1080p movies dropping frames.

Thanks guys!

What are the specs of your current system? And have you enabled DDS fanart?

[Ninjahblu]

I agree on with Hannes and Flo.

Can you give us more detail about what you want to do on your machine? Online surfing, gaming, Hulu or Flash? Do you want XBMC to run like a standalone appliance? Those would affect your type of build, but definitely nothing as beefy as what you were considering. =D

I'd love to have that kind of budget though! Do you already have a good A/V receiver, Fileserver/NAS, and a good universal remote as well?

Since XBMC is very efficient, you won't see any difference in performance on your i5 vs a dual core (or even ION processors if you're not interested in streaming or gaming).

I don't know too many details about 3D graphics for future proofing, but I hear drivers aren't quite up to spiff yet.

[lloydsmart]

One thing I'd do is loose the 1tb drive from the xbmc system and stick it in a fileserver/NAS. Keep the SSDs, though. You don't really need two but if you've got money to burn why not?

As for a graphics card, there's really no need for the monster you've chosen there, but I would stick with one of the newer Nvidias for the HD audio bitstreaming over HDMI capability. I know this hasn't been implemented in XBMC yet, but I'm sure it will be one day and as you said it's nice to futureproof!

I'd scale the whole thing down to a more modest CPU (dual core no need for quad), a more mid-range graphcis card (from the same series though), a smaller power supply (you won't need that much power with a smaller CPU & GPU), just one lightning-fast SSD, and a blu-ray drive with DVD rewriter (or bluray rewriter if you really want to be flash).

Then I'd invest all that money you'd save in a kick-ass NAS, probably running unraid. Then stick as many HDDs as you can in there. I can recommend the Western Digital Green drives. Get a few 2TBs and you're set. This box could also handle all your downloading so your xbmc pc could be switched off when not being used and your downloads would continue.

Just my $0.02

[poofyhairguy]

way overkill for a HTPC.

The ONLY thing you need a Core i7 for in XBMC is if you desire the "Soap Opera Effect." I was playing with it this week and if you like that effect you can use DSplayer in Windows (plus a tons of hacks) to use the CPU to interpolate the frames. I was playing with it just to try something new (you know me) and it literately ate my Q6600 alive. I think even an overclocked i7 would be given a run for its money! With that said, the CPU interpolated did do the "120hz Smooth Motion" effect better than any TV I have seen if you like the effect.

But seriously, the "Soap Opera Effect" pretty much sucks for everything not animated so I don't think its worth it. Fun to mess with though....

Check my next post for the real advice jtap06

[Flomaster]

lets build him a server and xbmc htpc for the money

HTPC
Harmony/Monster cable remote
HP/Microsoft IR reciever
Sever with TB's of green drives

shoot even throw in a nettop box as well zotac, acer, etc


-=Jason=-

[poofyhairguy]

Then I'd invest all that money you'd save in a kick-ass NAS, probably running unraid. Then stick as many HDDs as you can in there. I can recommend the Western Digital Green drives. Get a few 2TBs and you're set. This box could also handle all your downloading so your xbmc pc could be switched off when not being used and your downloads would continue.

Agreed. I will take a nice NAS and HTPC frontend over a monster HTPC any day.

In fact that is the core of my HTPC philosophy.

Here is my best advice for a futureproof HTPC. I think about this stuff way too much, so I am glad to help:

The best of the best would be to start with this deal:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundl...mbo.492748

It is a perfect deal, like I put it together or something.That case is my current favorite HTPC case. Lian Li, sick build quality, looks guaranteed to makes normal people go "where did you buy that thing?!?"

The i3 is pretty much the perfect amount of CPU to guarantee you can run ANYTHING in the future even on the CPU. I LOVE the i3 for efficiency and power. It has a mobo that I would recommend as the top HTPC mobo, it has the RAM brand I always recommend (and the perfect amount), it has the very particular HSF perfect for that case, it has a Blu Ray drive, and (as if it wasn't perfect enough) the EXACT remote I own and recommend on this forum often. And then basically a TV tuner for free.

It is literally an awesome deal. Only needs three things:

Next up, what I think BY FAR the best HTPC card on the market (just came out). This one comes with a low profile plate for the above case:

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

And a SSD. My choice (as in I own one and it rocks):

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

Or its big bro (which is as fast as RAID 0 of two of the 60GBs):

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

And a Windows 7 license (so you can enjoy popular HTPCisms like HD audio bitstreaming and 3D support sooner):

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

All together for about $1000 I promise you have a HTPC that can do EVERYTHING for more than five years. Trust me, I have like 5 HTPCs ranging from large quad-core to ION. I basically build HTPCs as a hobby. Plus I have a 3D TV and pretty much everything that hits the AV market. This setup from my experience is pretty much perfect, anything more will be WORSE. I promise, this is stuff optimized for a HTPC. What you picked is gaming stuff that actually LACKS HTPC features.

Also it is TERRIBLE to RAID SSDs. When you RAID them it destroys TRIM support, and SSD's performance degrades quickly. With SSDs it is MUCH better to just get a single faster one.

Then take the other $1000 and put it into an Unraid server (whose first HD would be the one in the combo). I can help you with that too, I have built two...

[Flomaster]

jizz in my pants...... if only I had the funds when I built my setup

-=Jason=-

[poofyhairguy]

jtap06, I think you can take that as proof I found you the perfect HTPC setup!

[Flomaster]

I was on the fence on getting an core i3 I wish I would have done it. I had no idea I could have bought a cheapo video card that would have solved my problems. that would have been the ONLY thing making an i3 more expensive then my zotac setup.

-=Jason=-