Cheap HTPC...

miikeeyy92

miikeeyy92

miikeeyy92

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I had the opportunity to buy a Mac Mini reasonably cheap which I now use as a HTPC as it is very convenient and handy. Having now done more research into different HTPC set ups, it is bugging me (not that I'm complaining about the current set up) that I can't get HD audio or proper 23hz, both I know are impossible to get through the mac.

What would be the cheapest HTPC set up to be able to play both HD audio and at 23hz from an mkv, and have a blu-ray drive? No need for storage as i have HDD's already.

Thanks
 
 
Perfect question and answer ive been after for a little while. The link about the set up does puzzle me a little about the dual core playing 1080p content. Im also after a budget set up just for the same reason as the OP. im not to bothered about browsing just for kodi and to play 30gig MKV's with HD audio so something over the £400 price point would be overkill for the needs. I also asked this question in small factor thread about the primno that OC sell with Dual core and was told that might struggle with MKV files. But the set up link says it be ok
 
I didn't have a problem with a G3220 in my HTPC last year, the Core i3 4330 isn't either. My only problem is setting up Linux mint 17.1 with Kodi to play back HD Audio. W7/8.1/10 isn't though.
 
Grimley said:
Best I could do;

YOUR BASKET
1 x intel pentium k anniversary g3258 socket lga1150 processor - retail £55.99
1 x silverstone milo ml03 htpc case - black (sst-ml03b) £47.99
1 x asus h81m-plus intel h81 (socket 1150) ddr3 micro atx motherboard £41.99
1 x superflower golden green hx 350w "80 plus gold" power supply - black £39.95
1 x pioneer bdc-207dbk 8x bluray rom / dvdrw sata-ii optical drive - black (oem) £34.99
1 x corsair xms3 4gb (2x2gb) ddr3 pc3-12800c9 1600mhz dual channel kit (cmx4gx3m2a1600c9) £26.99
total : £262.00 (includes shipping : £11.75 ex.vat).



based on this thread

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/26-ho...simple-beginner-htpc-buying-guide-2015-a.html

Setup:

http://www.ezoden.com/htpc/4/how-to-setup-htpc-introduction
Click to expand...

Why merci beaucoup! Is it capable of bitstreaming HD audio?
 
miikeeyy92 said:
Why merci beaucoup! Is it capable of bitstreaming HD audio?
Click to expand...

It should do. But then I'm not familiar with the H81 Chipset, only the G3220. It may well be a bit of a faff to setup but you should be able to setup Kodi with HD audio MKV's or use Anydvd HD & MPC-HC for blu-ray, I managed to get it to work with the latter & W10 earlier in the year with a Z97 board & a Z87 board with Kodi last year.

proof that it should work with a haswell CPU;

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7007/intels-haswell-an-htpc-perspective/4
 
Last edited:
If your running kodi. Go with openelec (linux). It's simples and free, try it. Only reason to use windows would be gaming or something requiring silverlight
 
I don't mind getting a better rig and saving on windows aslong it does the things i want really. See we have a laptop and an HTPC in our bedroom. So we wouldn't be downloading or gaming or nothing like that its only a living room HTPC we are after so its ok with KODI so we can play 30gig 1080p MKV files with HD Audio. And USB so we could plug my external drives in
 
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