Quote:Your Very First HTPC? But Where do You Start?
,,Relevant as of Mars 2012,,
Hi there!
You probably end up on this thread because you were looking to buy your first HTPC!
Well you've come to the right place!
First thing first,
since no one wants to waste money,
it's really important to know what to look for in an HTPC!!
And to help you do that,
I strongly suggest you to find out in which Group you belong!?
Like me, I bought a Group#7 HTPC!!
Ok, you don't know what I'm talking about right!?
To find out in which Group you belong, click --> Here!
By now,
I'm sure you know which group suits you best!
So if you go the Pre-Built/Nettop way, fine by me!
but if you ever decide to build your very own HTPC from scratch,
the following 7 HTPC builds will guide you on what can be done and what price!
Also, please note that these are BareBone builds...
Meaning, RAM and Hard Drives aren't included...
Those are left-out purposely so you can choose them yourself according to your needs!
That being said, here are the builds!!
(USA Pricing)
[Mini-ITX] Celeron-G530 (2x2.4Ghz) + GT210 ($245) --> Average CPU Mark: 2384
[Mini-ITX] A6-3500 (3x2.1Ghz/2.4Ghz) + HD6530D ($245) --> Average CPU Mark: 2850
[Mini-ITX] i3-2105 (2x3.1Ghz) + GT210 ($322) --> Average CPU Mark: 3841
[Micro-ATX] Celeron-G530 (2x2.4Ghz) + GT210 ($275) --> Average CPU Mark: 2384
[Micro-ATX] A6-3500 (3x2.1Ghz/2.4Ghz) + HD6530D ($277) --> Average CPU Mark: 2850
[Micro-ATX] A8-3850 (4x2.9Ghz) + HD6550D ($322) --> Average CPU Mark: 5603
[Micro-ATX] i3-2105 (2x3.1Ghz) + GT210 ($352) --> Average CPU Mark: 3841
Q. Out of those builds, which one can play 2D 1080P movies?
A. All of them!!
Q. Out of those builds, which one can play 3D 1080P movies?
A. Only the Celeron builds can't till you add one of these 2 GPU Cards:
* XFX HD6450 1GB DDR3 64-Bit Fanless Low Profile ($47 + $5) (Windows O/S only)
* ASUS GT430 1GB DDR3 128-bit Low Profile ($60 + $0)
Q. Out of those builds, which one can Bitstream DOLBY TRUE-HD & DTS-HD MASTER audio?
A. Only the Celeron builds can't till you add one of these 3 GPU Cards:
* ASUS HD5450 512MB DDR3 64-Bit Fanless Low Profile ($35 + $0) (Windows O/S only)
* XFX HD6450 1GB DDR3 64-Bit Fanless Low Profile ($47 + $5) (Windows O/S only)
* ASUS GT430 1GB DDR3 128-bit Low Profile ($60 + $0)
(Note that as of today, this is a Windows only feature
and you'll need to use this XBMC HDAudio (50.3MB) version)
Q. Out of those builds, which one can accommodate a WiFi Card?
A. Only the Mini-ITX builds can't, so just get a USB Wireless Network Adapter for them instead!!
Q. Out of those builds, which one can Stream files from Servers at blazing Gigabit speeds?
A. All of them!!
Q. Out of those builds, which one can be turned into a DVR by using a Video Capture Card?
A. All the Micro-ATX builds if their PCIe x1 slots aren't occupied by WiFi Cards!!
Q. Out of those builds, which one can Stream 1080P Netflix movies?
A. All of them!! (Windows O/S only)
Q. Out of those builds, which one can Stream 1080P Hulu movies?
A. All of them!!
Q. Out of those builds, which one can accommodate a 5.25" Optical Disc Drive?
A. All of them!!
(Note that as of today, XBMC can't natively play Bluray Discs)
Q. Out of those builds, which one can be used with XBMC for Windows?
A. All of them!!
Q. Out of those builds, which one can be used with XBMCbuntu (Linux)?
A. All of them!! (A6 & A8 builds will work, but might require tinkering here and there)
Q. Out of those builds, which one can be used with OpenELEC (Linux)?
A. All of them!! (A6 & A8 builds will work, but might require tinkering here and there)
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