Another XBMC build

xs2man

xs2man

xs2man

Soldato
Joined
21 Jul 2008
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Okay, so I have this spare mobo,

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-447-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2575

And, to be honest, I don't really like it for my main PC. So I'm thinking of building a small xbmc pc. So I am wondering, is there a small-ish case that I can put it in? That will lie horizontally in a AV stand set-up?

Then, I'll pretty much need the rest of the build too. Well, case / ram / psu / processor. I have a couple spare HDD's kicking around (only really need one, as most of the media will be stored on the main PC and streamed out to this one), but would consider a cheap ssd / hybrid for the OS I guess.

It is important to note, I will ONLY be playing media on this machine. No real need for transcoding media, or storing or gaming or any of that. Would like it to be as cheap as is possible too (preferably under £200), as I am going to have to fork out a decent chunk of coin for the new mobo for my main machine.

Quiet is key also. I don't want a hoover sitting there.

Or am I better off just selling the mobo and starting a fresh with a more suitable base?
 
Ok. Will go that route then I guess. I was really just going that way to use the mobo as it might be a hard sell.

So what NUC to go for then?
 
Depends what your budget is.

I just recently bought the Haswell i5, with 8GB RAM, Intel AC 7260 wifi card, and 60 GB mSATA SSD for £424 including shipping. For Openelec, this is vast overkill, and in reality you need:

- i3 (£70 cheaper than the i5)
- 2GB RAM
- USB stick to boot from

So probably less than £300 all up.
 
I went for the following:

- Intel ICE Canyon NUC Core i3-3217U 1.8GHz QS77 DDR3 2xHDMI / Gbit LAN / USB
- Crucial CT032M4SSD3 32GB M4 SATA III 6Gb/s mSATA MLC Internal SSD
- Crucial ram memory 8GB kit (2 x 4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800,1600MHz
- USB - CEC Adapter
- UK plug to C5 3 pin Laptop power lead

Massive overkill I'm sure for simply running OpenElec XBMC but I wanted the best possible solution!

If you do go this route, make sure you don't forget to buy the power lead - it seems Intel thought people would need a little gadget that plays the Intel "jingle" when you open the box more than a power lead to plug it in!?!?! :confused:
 
StevieP said:
If you do go this route, make sure you don't forget to buy the power lead - it seems Intel thought people would need a little gadget that plays the Intel "jingle" when you open the box more than a power lead to plug it in!?!?! :confused:
Click to expand...
The Haswell NUCs include the power lead. And I have to say, that little jingle is SO AWESOME. What a great little touch.
 
StevieP said:
- Intel ICE Canyon NUC Core i3-3217U 1.8GHz QS77 DDR3 2xHDMI / Gbit LAN / USB
- Crucial CT032M4SSD3 32GB M4 SATA III 6Gb/s mSATA MLC Internal SSD
- Crucial ram memory 8GB kit (2 x 4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800,1600MHz
- USB - CEC Adapter
- UK plug to C5 3 pin Laptop power lead
Click to expand...
I'd be really interested to hear how the CEC adapter works. Is it short HDMI -> CEC Adapter -> Long HDMI -> TV?

And does your TV remote allow you to have up/down/left/right etc? i.e. all the buttons you need to navigate XBMC?
 
rotor said:
I'd be really interested to hear how the CEC adapter works. Is it short HDMI -> CEC Adapter -> Long HDMI -> TV?

And does your TV remote allow you to have up/down/left/right etc? i.e. all the buttons you need to navigate XBMC?
Click to expand...

It's fantastic to be honest!

It's a little gadget that has short HDMI and short USB cables going into it from the NUC and then your usual longer HDMI into the TV.
The trick is that you need to make sure your TV supports it! (I think mine is called "Bravia Snyc" or similar!)

Basically my usual Sony remote lets me navigate through the XBMC interface with the up/down/left/right buttons as well as the "options" bringing up what would normally be the "right mouse button" click! (plus I'm sure other buttons have additional functionality but I don't use them!)

I love it - took zero configuring as I just plugged it in and it worked!

You can even set the on/off button to wake the NUC if you set it to hibernate rather than turn the unit off all together (personally I shut it down all together because the boot up only takes a few seconds anyway!)
 
rotor said:
The Haswell NUCs include the power lead. And I have to say, that little jingle is SO AWESOME. What a great little touch.
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong, I smiled when the jingle piped up but mine had no power cable and I just had to think, hmmmm, which do I need more?? :p
 
Last edited:
StevieP said:
It's fantastic to be honest!

It's a little gadget that has short HDMI and short USB cables going into it from the NUC and then your usual longer HDMI into the TV.
The trick is that you need to make sure your TV supports it! (I think mine is called "Bravia Snyc" or similar!)

Basically my usual Sony remote lets me navigate through the XBMC interface with the up/down/left/right buttons as well as the "options" bringing up what would normally be the "right mouse button" click! (plus I'm sure other buttons have additional functionality but I don't use them!)

I love it - took zero configuring as I just plugged it in and it worked!

You can even set the on/off button to wake the NUC if you set it to hibernate rather than turn the unit off all together (personally I shut it down all together because the boot up only takes a few seconds anyway!)
Click to expand...
Oh man, this is fantastic news. I also have a Sony TV (about 5 years old), which according to the manual does have Bravia Sync.

Another £30 spent on the NUC, here I come!

PS. What is the "back" button? Is it the one to the bottom left of the joystick (says "Return" above it and has like an arrow looping backwards)?
 
rotor said:
PS. What is the "back" button? Is it the one to the bottom left of the joystick (says "Return" above it and has like an arrow looping backwards)?
Click to expand...

Yep, that's the one!

rotor said:
One more question: what's the lag like? Is the remote still very responsive?
Click to expand...

As responsive as using the remote with the TV - no noticeable lag at all as far as I can tell!
 
Be careful with the CEC-HDMI as the functionality depends on your TV. It appears that Samsung TVs do not pass the 'info' button through the CEC link so you cannot use it. If you use a Logitech Harmony then it is fine as you can map some of the other buttons that you do not use to achieve the same outcome, but for me I cannot use the Samsung remote with MediaPortal or XBMC as it simply doesn't map all the commands and Samsung haven't said they'll do anything about that in the next firmware update.
 
Have you guys looked at the FLIRC IR reciever for xbmc, It looks like its would be perfect for your setups, They are about £20 and Ill be getting one soon hopefully.
They let you program it just for xbmc to use existing remote to do any functions to xbmc.
 
BlizzardX said:
Be careful with the CEC-HDMI as the functionality depends on your TV. It appears that Samsung TVs do not pass the 'info' button through the CEC link so you cannot use it. If you use a Logitech Harmony then it is fine as you can map some of the other buttons that you do not use to achieve the same outcome, but for me I cannot use the Samsung remote with MediaPortal or XBMC as it simply doesn't map all the commands and Samsung haven't said they'll do anything about that in the next firmware update.
Click to expand...

Yep Panasonic is the same as well. That's why I sent the cec back and bought FLIRC
 
So Panasonic have stupid CEC button restrictions too? Dumb.

is the Flirc a line of sight device? The advantage of the CEC system is the unit can be hidden away (a godsend for those with small kiddy fingers who like to press things). I either need a wifi based remote, full CEC passthrough OR a tv than can be fully controlled by a tablet (plus a spare tablet soley for this purpose!).
 
BlizzardX said:
So Panasonic have stupid CEC button restrictions too? Dumb.

is the Flirc a line of sight device? The advantage of the CEC system is the unit can be hidden away (a godsend for those with small kiddy fingers who like to press things). I either need a wifi based remote, full CEC passthrough OR a tv than can be fully controlled by a tablet (plus a spare tablet soley for this purpose!).
Click to expand...

I know its a massive departure from XBMC based NUC, but you could have a plex server, a chromecast on your tv and tablet running the plex app. Not sure how much you use local storage vs xbmc apps.
 
I've just put a Zotac Zbox based openelec xbmc box together tonight. More than enough for what is needed, £95 for the box brand new, £15 for 4 gig of ddr3, and an old 2.5 hard disk. The box is using a celeron 1007u, and is more than sufficient for running this.

Seeing this CEC adaptor on here has made my night, and should finish the setup superbly
 
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