2011-01-24, 03:20
So this is yet another "How's my hardware?" post...
I've been trying to put together a parts list for a new Win7 XBMC machine running Aeon with all the bells and whistles turned on. What I've come up with should be overkill for anything I plan on doing with it now but this should be futureproof for quite some time.
This box will live in the family room and be a front end with all content being retrieved off of a wired LAN. Drive will be for booting and OS use only.
Outside of the case fans (which I may not need more than 1-2 of) and the CPU cooler the machine should be silent.
The budget for this is about $1000:
Case: Moneual LAB Black Aluminum MonCaso 312B Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case
PSU: SeaSonic X Series SS-400 Fanless 400 Watt
CPU: i5 2500K
Cooling: Scythe Big Shuriken SCBSK-1000
Ram: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
Motherboard: Intel BOXDH67BL LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
HDD: OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTX40G 2.5" 40GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Blu-Ray: LITE-ON Black 4X Blu-ray Reader SATA Model iHOS104-06 - OEM
Extra case fans (3): EVERCOOL FAN-EC4010M12CA 40mm Case Fan
I spent a lot of time looking at cases before deciding on the Moneual one. I probably looked at every model offered on half a dozen sites this weekend. It's expensive but looks like it'll fit in perfectly with the rest of my home theatre gear. Reviews seemed generally positive (outside of a goofy remote that I probably won't use).
The i5 2500k should allow me to get away without needing a discrete GPU.
I went with 8Gb of RAM as it sounds impossible to add more later without having to remove the CPU cooler. I'll pay $50 more now so I can avoid the hassle of having to take the whole thing apart to add more RAM in 3 years.
I almost randomly selected a SSD. I know nothing about different models so I just clicked on one that seemed large enough for Win7. Suggestions for better models would be appreciated. The same for the motherboard and the CPU cooler. I know that's the right Intel board for what I need but I don't know about other manufacturers.
Any big criticisms?
I've been trying to put together a parts list for a new Win7 XBMC machine running Aeon with all the bells and whistles turned on. What I've come up with should be overkill for anything I plan on doing with it now but this should be futureproof for quite some time.
This box will live in the family room and be a front end with all content being retrieved off of a wired LAN. Drive will be for booting and OS use only.
Outside of the case fans (which I may not need more than 1-2 of) and the CPU cooler the machine should be silent.
The budget for this is about $1000:
Case: Moneual LAB Black Aluminum MonCaso 312B Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case
PSU: SeaSonic X Series SS-400 Fanless 400 Watt
CPU: i5 2500K
Cooling: Scythe Big Shuriken SCBSK-1000
Ram: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
Motherboard: Intel BOXDH67BL LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
HDD: OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTX40G 2.5" 40GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Blu-Ray: LITE-ON Black 4X Blu-ray Reader SATA Model iHOS104-06 - OEM
Extra case fans (3): EVERCOOL FAN-EC4010M12CA 40mm Case Fan
I spent a lot of time looking at cases before deciding on the Moneual one. I probably looked at every model offered on half a dozen sites this weekend. It's expensive but looks like it'll fit in perfectly with the rest of my home theatre gear. Reviews seemed generally positive (outside of a goofy remote that I probably won't use).
The i5 2500k should allow me to get away without needing a discrete GPU.
I went with 8Gb of RAM as it sounds impossible to add more later without having to remove the CPU cooler. I'll pay $50 more now so I can avoid the hassle of having to take the whole thing apart to add more RAM in 3 years.
I almost randomly selected a SSD. I know nothing about different models so I just clicked on one that seemed large enough for Win7. Suggestions for better models would be appreciated. The same for the motherboard and the CPU cooler. I know that's the right Intel board for what I need but I don't know about other manufacturers.
Any big criticisms?