Budget HTPC for living room (1080p/DTS-MA etc).

RimBlock

RimBlock

RimBlock

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Expat in Singapore
Hi,

I am looking at the possibility of putting a HTPC in the living room to connect to my Plasma TV and projector.

Specs;

  • Runs Win7 (will be connecting to my WHS 2011 machines shared folders to get the media).
  • HDMI connection to my Yamaha 667 AV amp
  • Able to stream HD audio (DD HD and DTS MA etc) over HDMI
  • Video up to 1080p (1080i also supported)
  • Can handle 40+GB Bluray ISOs (pref with menus) pulled from a network share (Gbit network already in place)
  • Can handle some internet browsing.
  • Will work with wireless keyboard, mouse and IR remote (already have remote and receiver from creative labs).
  • Smallish case (Smaller than my amp, so sort of set top box, DVD player or xbox360 size would be great).
  • Low power and low cost. Something like the Revo, ION based or i3/AMD equiv would all be fine.

Cost is more important than power as long as the above specs are met.

I was thinking to using XMBC but very open to other suggestions.

I will be upgrading from an AC Ryan HD2 / WD LiveTV so a media player is not what I am looking for.

Ideas, suggestions, advice please.

Thanks
RB

Update: I currently also have 4GB DDR3 ram floating around.
 
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Gigabyte GA-E350N-USB3 Zacate with HD6310 iGPU - AMD Fusion (ITX) £120
Silverstone Sugo SG06B Mini ITX Case - Black (with 300 W PSU) £94
OCZ Vertex 2 50GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive £72

or

Shuttle SH55J2 Intel i3 / i5 / i7 H55 Express DDR3 Barebones £168
Intel Core i3 530 2.93GHz (Clarkdale) (Socket LGA1156) - OEM £70
add a hard drive or ssd

you then just add your 4gb ram and your set to go.
 
Hi, you're probably going to need to look elsewhere for a htpc case. The OcUK cases are a little pricey. But it all depends on what you want really.

I had a good chat with a guy the other day about a htpc: have a read if it helps here

What kind of budget do you have in mind?
 
Thanks guys, will take a look at the thread R088ieS86.

Had a dig around and came up with the following (prices in USD as OCUK do not ship to where I am).

MB: MSI AMD Zacate E350/dual core AMD Hudson M1/DDR3/A&V&GbE/Mini ITX Motherboard E350IS-E45.
US$130
Harddrive: WDC 3200VS SATA 2.5inch 320GB 5400RPM 8MB HD
US$48
Case: Apex MI-100 4BAY Desktop Blk/Silver 250W ATX12V Mitx
US$55

So around US$230 -> S$270 -> GBP135 + delivery & tax.

Not sure if the case will be small enough though. The shuttle cases are to tall I think as the XBox 360 just fits nicely in my TV unit. Also need to confirm the motherboard can handle DTS-MA etc.

Also looking at a remote with trackpad or the like. Have come across the following, anyone have experience of them (all around 25-30 quid) ?

Superior Loftek Rii Touch N7 Mini Wireless Keyboard.
Rii Mini Wireless Keyboard with Touchpad (RT-MWK01).
Boxee Remote.

Thoughts ?

Thanks
RB
 
Trying to find info on the M1 Hudson boards isn't easy.
Worst case senario put a low model silent 5400/6400 series graphics card in.
They all support what you need:
◦Integrated HD audio controller
•Output protected high bit rate 7.1 channel surround sound over HDMI with no additional cables required
•Supports AC-3, AAC, Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio formats
Click to expand...

This case: Silverstone Milo ML03B Micro ATX
If it is available to you is shorter height wise but slightly longer width wise. But you will need a PSU.
 
R088ieS86 said:
Trying to find info on the M1 Hudson boards isn't easy.
Worst case senario put a low model silent 5400/6400 series graphics card in.
They all support what you need:
Click to expand...

Thanks for that.

R088ieS86 said:
This case: Silverstone Milo ML03B Micro ATX
If it is available to you is shorter height wise but slightly longer width wise. But you will need a PSU.
Click to expand...

Not bad. Found this as well though which looks pretty small.

Antec Mini-ITX Case for Motherboards ISK 310-150 - US$80 inc external 50W power.

RB
 
The UK sites for that case show an internal pATX 150W PSU.

Either way its a good find. Looks nice and is pretty tidy.

This guy seems to like the E350 combo on here

It looks like it uses an AMD 6310D GPU. if thats the case then it should also support DTS-MA, DHT etc.

AMD don't list the intergrated graphics features on their site though. a bit of a pain!
 
The shuttle i recommended is the best option power wise and if your unsure about hd audio support over hdmi just add a £25 graphics card.

I have built a machine with the antec mini itx case it was horrible and if you check out the reviews for e350 board there not that great a socket 775 setup with one of the cheap dual cores is better which theres a shutle barebone for that too £100.

Could you post up a picture of the place you plan to put it?
 
I've got a Revo R3610 running ubuntu server with Boxee. Plays everything I want it to, small, quiet, comes with a mount for the back of the TV if you wanted it hidden.

EDIT/ I would definitely buy another rather then build my own in the future.
 
edGfaCTor said:
Gigabyte GA-E350N-USB3 Zacate with HD6310 iGPU - AMD Fusion (ITX) £120
Silverstone Sugo SG06B Mini ITX Case - Black (with 300 W PSU) £94
OCZ Vertex 2 50GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive £72
Click to expand...


Is that AMD E-350 Dual-Core processor going to be powerful enough to handle video files not processed by the GPU and only the CPU

would the CPU be able to handle such things?

i have a £500 budget

thanks
 
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techmob said:
Is that AMD E-350 Dual-Core processor going to be powerful enough to handle video files not processed by the GPU and only the CPU

would the CPU be able to handle such things?

i have a £500 budget

thanks
Click to expand...


£500 budget you want to be looking at i3 or amd llano

how much space do you have for a case there's the shuttle options or even htpc desktop style if you have the room.

regarding the comment about revo sorry but they are rubbish i have people come to me about them all the time because they have issues with stuttering with 1080p and hd audio over network dxva helps but you can see it's not got enough juice and the e-350 beats the atom/ion in revo.
 
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It can be either a full ATX or a MATX.

all depends on the case really, i would want one shaped like an AMP.

i was thinking Antec fusion case so that meant an MATX

however i just didn't know what to look for, so to answer your question, space isn't an issue however the look of the case is and aslong as it is like an AMP shape then that would be fine

cheers
 
techmob said:
It can be either a full ATX or a MATX.

all depends on the case really, i would want one shaped like an AMP.

i was thinking Antec fusion case so that meant an MATX

however i just didn't know what to look for, so to answer your question, space isn't an issue however the look of the case is and aslong as it is like an AMP shape then that would be fine

cheers
Click to expand...

Zalman HD501 Home Theatre HTPC Desktop Aluminum Case, Black, w/o PSU £110
OCZ ModXStream Pro 500w Silent SLI Certified Modular Power Supply £50
Gigabyte GA-A75M-UD2H AMD A75 (Socket FM1) DDR3 Motherboard £85
AMD Llano A6-3650 2.60GHz (Socket FM1) APU Processor (AD3650WNGXBOX) with FREE DIRT3 PC Game £84
OCZ Vertex 30GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-1VTX30G) £46
Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G) [KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G] £32
Samsung SH-B123L/BSBP 12x BluRay ROM / 16x DVD±RW Lightscribe SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (OEM) £47

total £454

to save some more off the case take a look at the silverstone htpc on there site without lcd screen they tend to be under £80 and some could be saved off different mboard but i thought for the price you can have all the fancy bits also wasn't sure if you had amp with hdmi audio support so the board has spdif/optical.
 
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cheers for that

couple of questions, that motherboard will allow true hd and dolby hd audio over hdmi, correct?

Just read your edit / yes we have a HD audio amp and the motherboard must pass HD audio over HDMI

the case is there anyway to facilitate that with a harmony remote and possibly control XBMC, not sure if you are familiar with this?
 
techmob said:
cheers for that

couple of questions, that motherboard will allow true hd and dolby hd audio over hdmi, correct?

Just read your edit / yes we have a HD audio amp and the motherboard must pass HD audio over HDMI

the case is there anyway to facilitate that with a harmony remote and possibly control XBMC, not sure if you are familiar with this?
Click to expand...

yes the board can do hdmi audio the gigabyte site seize it supports 8 channels hd audio http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3928#manual you can read the manual for the board

if you can plug in an ir receiver the case will work with it i know for extra £50 you can get the zalman case including a screen built in receiver and it comes with a remote or you could go with the antec fusion remote black which i have heard harmony remote should work with imon.
 
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edGfaCTor said:
The shuttle i recommended is the best option power wise and if your unsure about hd audio support over hdmi just add a £25 graphics card.

I have built a machine with the antec mini itx case it was horrible and if you check out the reviews for e350 board there not that great a socket 775 setup with one of the cheap dual cores is better which theres a shutle barebone for that too £100.

Could you post up a picture of the place you plan to put it?
Click to expand...

I have a LGA775 dual core CPU and board knocking about (and memory) but the board is pretty big and I cannot remember the CPU model.

This is where it will go (bottom shelf, replacing the WD LiveTV which is second from the left). I cannot put any more on the top as the projector screen comes down to the top of the center speaker. Yes the bunnys are for the Chinese year of the rabbit and this was taken during our renovation so the wall is painted properly now.

DSCN1558.jpg
DSCN1558.jpg


RB
 
Thought I'll chime in and say I have an E350 and it handles BluRays, 720p MKV's and 1080p flash without issue along with recording tv with a duel tuner card. The case I used was a relative of the Antec Fusion, the Antec 2480. Same case just doesn't have the front LCD panel or volume control knob.

All fits perfectly with only one fan used for air flow and so far not had any issues with it :)
 
RimBlock said:
I have a LGA775 dual core CPU and board knocking about (and memory) but the board is pretty big and I cannot remember the CPU model.

This is where it will go (bottom shelf, replacing the WD LiveTV which is second from the left). I cannot put any more on the top as the projector screen comes down to the top of the center speaker. Yes the bunnys are for the Chinese year of the rabbit and this was taken during our renovation so the wall is painted properly now.

DSCN1558.jpg
DSCN1558.jpg


RB
Click to expand...

I can see now your limited for space here's an option

Antec ISK 310 - 150 Mini ITX Case - With 150W PSU £66
Biostar TH61 ITX SKT 1155 VGA DVI HDMI 8 Channel Audio ITX Motherboard £63
Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £92
Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G) [KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G] £32
OCZ Vertex 30GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-1VTX30G) £46

£300
 
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