Cheapest media centre PC?

Goose

Goose

Goose

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My brother has grown tired of his PS3 and wants me to build him a media centre for him that wont break the bank. I've never done a media centre before so I dont know how cheaply they can be done. He's gonna be using it for the usual stuff like playing Blu-Ray's, 1080p mkv video files, Netflix etc. all through his 1080p TV (42" i think).

Can they be done for £300? I'll spec something up myself now but as i have no knowledge I'm not 100% where the money needs to go and where it can be saved and what have you.


Cheers.
 
Does he need a BluRay player or will they be played from online/storage drive? If he does want a BluRay player, does it need to write as well?

Does he need Windows?
 
If he doesn't want BluRay, just get a RaspberryPi and stick XBMC on it. £30 and you're done.
 
Danny75 said:
Does he need a BluRay player or will they be played from online/storage drive? If he does want a BluRay player, does it need to write as well?

Does he need Windows?
Click to expand...

I think he'll want BluRay player, i'll have to check. Is Windows absolutely necessary as i thought XBMC was sort of like its own little OS?
 
Rilot said:
If he doesn't want BluRay, just get a RaspberryPi and stick XBMC on it. £30 and you're done.
Click to expand...

A Raspberry Pi would not be able to cope with Netflix.

My advice would be to get an AMD A series APU and compatible FM2 motherboard. The A series would offer more than enough grunt for HTPC duties, and the integrated graphics will be able to decode HD video (a la netflix and youtube etc) without breaking a sweat and also allow for a little light gaming. FM2 boards usually have HDMI built in, too.
 
 
Goose said:
I think he'll want BluRay player, i'll have to check. Is Windows absolutely necessary as i thought XBMC was sort of like its own little OS?
Click to expand...

No, doesn't have to be Windows. Just asking if he wanted it. It can be installed on another platform (Pi, Linux). See here for list of options:

http://xbmc.org/download/


Idleman said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Silverstone Milo ML03 HTPC Case - Black (SST-ML03B) £55.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A88XM-HD3 AMD A88X (Socket FM2+) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £52.99
1 x AMD A6-5400K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Dual Core Processor (AD540KOKHJBOX) £47.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £44.99
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L8 400W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in £39.95
1 x TeamGroup Elite 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED34GM1600HC11DC01) £32.99
1 x OcUK Value 4x BD-ROM (Black) - OEM £26.99
Total : £315.98 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Click to expand...

The PSU is (officially) 150mm and the case says max 140mm PSU. Would it/does it fit anyway?
 
Unfortunately XBMC wont play BR From the optical drive or BR Folder structure. I think it does if its the windows version but not 100%

BTW I would say the best media Pc I have purchased was my Arctic MC001. Fantastic bit of kit. Its a real pity they stopped making them for some reason. Mine is used daily and is running constantly.
 
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Just playing around with case/PSU options. This would give you room within the budget for a good BluRay writer, and storage HDD can be increased to larger size if required (£8 more for a 1TB).

Cons: (1) not your typical media centre case, although it is slim and may therefore fit tidily somehow, against a wall for example, and not take up too much room. (2) The PSU won't be great in terms of life-span.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte F2A88XM-HD3 AMD A88X (Socket FM2+) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £52.99
1 x AMD A6-5400K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Dual Core Processor (AD540KOKHJBOX) £47.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) HDD £35.99
1 x OcUK Value Black Slim Micro Case 300W PSU - S003B £35.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED34GM1600HC11DC01) £32.99
Total : £218.84 (includes shipping : £10.75).




Linux seems to be okay now with XMBC and BluRay playback from ISO or disc but I don't know first-hand (or how much of a headache it is to get it work).

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?titl...y_or_HD_DVD_playback_with_or_without_menus.3F


With Windows and budget BluRay reader:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02733) £67.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A88XM-HD3 AMD A88X (Socket FM2+) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £52.99
1 x AMD A6-5400K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Dual Core Processor (AD540KOKHJBOX) £47.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 500GB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA050) HDD £35.99
1 x OcUK Value Black Slim Micro Case 300W PSU - S003B £35.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED34GM1600HC11DC01) £32.99
1 x OcUK Value 4x BD-ROM (Black) - OEM £26.99
Total : £314.42 (includes shipping : £11.25).

 
Thanks a bunch guys, really appreciate it. I think that slim ocuk case will be a winner because i dont think a cube one will fit his tv unit.
 
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