Budget XBMC build - what memory/cooler?

Brok

Brok

Brok

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9 Mar 2004
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1,650
Hi folks,

I am looking to build a cheap(ish) xbmc box and so far have the following:-

YOUR BASKET
1 x ASRock FM2A75M-ITX AMD A75 Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £68.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5 SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT064M4SSD2) £59.99
1 x Akasa Crypto Vesa Mini-ITX Case with 80W PSU - Black £59.99
1 x AMD A6-5400K Black Edition 3.60GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Dual Core Processor (AD540KOKHJBOX) £49.99
1 x Samsung SN-208DB/BEBE Slimline 8x DVD±RW SATA Drive - OEM £17.99
Total : £256.94 (includes shipping : FREE).



3 questions really

1) Any advice on memory for this? 4GB sounds like plenty, just not sure which ones to pick
2) Does the CPU come with a heatsink/fan? It looks like a retail box so I assume so but again, not sure.
3) Any better options for the components I have already chosen?

I dont need much internal storage as all media is on a NAS. It will be running XBMCBuntu so doesnt need an OS.

Thanks!
 
Amd A series benefit from faster memory so my pref would be 2133-1866-1600mhz but only if you going to play occasional game, if no take 1600mhz as they seem to be cheapest.

And yes 4gb is enough
 
If it is literally just for xbmc then I would take a look at the E350. It will save you £70 on the above system and handle everything spot on. I built a similar system using an E350 and it handles everything I throw at it on XBMC. Pulls all media off my nas

In answer to your questions though 4gb is plenty. It's a retail cpu so will come with the stock heatsink and for another option consider the E350/or E450 if you can get one for the right price.
 
Unfortunately its micro ATX and the case I was looking at is Mini-ITX.

I'm in a bit of a quandry to be honest, still cant decide whether to stick with a seperate NAS and a small htpc, or just build a combined file server/htpc.

I have a seperate NAS and Revo at the moment, but the Revo is unstable and needs offlining for a rebuild but the htpc is used so much I wanted a replacement to slot in first. The main issue with the Revo is it doesnt have an optical drive I could get rid of a PS/3 and a DVD player just by having a machine with one in. Also the NAS was a cheap dlink one and its performance is pretty shabby and has no further room for expansion.

I thought I had a solution based on this motherboard and a Bitfenix Prodigy case, but then realised the motherboard only has 4 SATA ports and I cant find an FM2 motherboard with more than 4 in the mini ITX form factor which kind of kills off one of the major benefits of the case (lots of room for disks). Most Micro-ATX and ATX cases are too big to fit where I want it to go, or dont offer enough storage drive space.

Then I started looking at HP Microservers but its going in the TV cabinet so needs to be quiet and I see a lot of reports of noise from these things.

Its a blummin minefield I tell ya!

Ideally I want a single, quiet box that can do the following:-

Run XBMC 24/7 with flawless menu transitions and 0 stutter, including optical media
Store all my media with room for expansion(~4TB at the moment, current NAS is nearly full)
Act as a download box
Act as a file server
Be quiet!

If I cant find a single box that does all this, then I am probably looking at a small htpc build and a new NAS. Costwise both options look to be roughly the same.

Project currently on hold whilst I weigh up my options.
 
Just a note about the HP microservers. You said you had heard they had problems with noise, I cannot vouch for all of the different models but I have owned one for a little while now (n40l) and it has always been deathly silent. I am using it for similar jobs to those you have listed. Just FYI.
 
Sorry to hi-jack the thread (and for asking such a noob question) but don't you need a GPU for a media centre?

I've often thought of putting one of these together myself but really don't know where to start!
 
Hey :)

I've actually gone for a Microserver in the end and I'll see how I get on with the noise. Cant really pass up that kind of flexibility for so little cash.

@ StevieP, you dont necessarily need a discrete GPU for a media centre. If you have a modern cpu with a reasonable onboard gpu this is enough to drive HD outputs for something like XBMC.

Its never going to be a pixel crushing monster but you dont need that for movies.

If literally all you want to do is use it to play streamed content from a NAS, you cant go far wrong with something like an Acer Revo. Small box, silent, low power consumption and more than capable of running xbmc (I found it sucked with Win7, but ran super smooth under linux)
 
I have a HTPC running an E350 and for xbmc it is great, doesn't miss a beat. Handles HD streams and iplayer etc all perfectly. When in desktop on win 7 its not the fastest but that doesn't matter once you start a film.

I think currently a trinity build is a the perfect setup. Low cost/power and great performance with fantastic built in gpu. The ops build is spot on in fairness
 
Brok said:
Hey :)

I've actually gone for a Microserver in the end and I'll see how I get on with the noise. Cant really pass up that kind of flexibility for so little cash.

@ StevieP, you dont necessarily need a discrete GPU for a media centre. If you have a modern cpu with a reasonable onboard gpu this is enough to drive HD outputs for something like XBMC.

Its never going to be a pixel crushing monster but you dont need that for movies.

If literally all you want to do is use it to play streamed content from a NAS, you cant go far wrong with something like an Acer Revo. Small box, silent, low power consumption and more than capable of running xbmc (I found it sucked with Win7, but ran super smooth under linux)
Click to expand...

The major issue for me was no S3 support so you couldn't put the damn thing to sleep, that plus loud PSU in the later models made it a deal breaker
 
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