Media HTPC spec please

MonsterMoshi said:
Do you need storage or is it streaming from elsewhere?
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I think I'm going to build a NAS or Microserver (another topic) so I'd only need a small SSD. My current desktop will stream to it initially.

I'm well behind tech wise, could someone throw a quick and reliable spec together?
 
 
I would say so
For most uses I would never say AMD over Intel but for a HTPC I would go AMD as its much better value for money when only playing video files and basic usage
And with the SSD, I doubt you'd notice the CPU slowing anything down
 
 
Before you throw in the SSD consider this. I stream 1080P from my server/ gamer rig upstairs to my HTPC in the lounge via Gigabit Lan.
I through in a 60 GB Vertex II and ended up distraught.
SSD's in general do not have any cache. So my HTPC grabbed a chunk of film, played it, then grabbed some more film. The result was horrific. Stuttering every few seconds.
I tried all media playing software to see if any had a way of coping with this built in, but none did at that time.
I ended up putting my HDD drive back in and selling the Vertex 2 after only a few days.
If you are streaming SDD is not the way to go in my experience.
Just thought it worth mentioning.
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Plextor M5S 128GB Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5S) £82.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85XM-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 micro ATX Motherboard £61.99
1 x AMD A6-5400K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Dual Core Processor (AD540KOKHJBOX) £55.99
1 x Adata XPG Xtreme v1.0 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C10 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AX3U2133XC4G10-2X) £44.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020058-UK) £39.98
Total : £285.95 (includes shipping : FREE).



If you head over to youtube and do some searching you will see the A6 APU is actually surprisingly gaming capable to a degree.

3 year warranty on all the parts (RAM is lifetime) I don't think the 60GB SSDs are good value to be honest. I've used a 128GB and moved away from the sandforce controller, seeing as it could play games the extra storage could come in handy. Modular PSU might be handy for cable management
 
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