Help me Spec a HTPC capable of 1080HD

lurkio

lurkio

lurkio

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Hi folks,
I am seeking some advice on re-building my HTPC, my current rig is too power hungry and I want to try to build a lower power version.

I was thinking of triying an APU based system does anyone have any advice
on this , would this be fast enough ? I will most likely be using media portal

I was thinking of using

AMD A4 Series Dual Core (A4-3400) 2.7GHz Accelerated Processor Unit (ACU) 1MB with Radeon HD 6410D Graphic Card

and a

ASRock A75M Motherboard Socket FM1 AMD A75 FCH Hudson-D3 Micro ATX RAID Gigabit LAN AMD (Radeon HD 65XX/64XX)
https://webcache.googleusercontent....en-US:official&client=firefox-a&hl=en&ct=clnk

Anyone else built a HTPC using an APU chip ?

Current hardware carried over
2G DDR3 ram
2 x PCI Nova-S2 tuners
1 x USB Nova-TD 500
case
power supply
HD's
 
Foxconn nt330i is also capable, as that is what I currently use to playback 1080p mkv's. No problems :)

Load it with Windows 7 Media Centre, and you a fully working(with a tv tuner) tv, recorder, pause live tv, and with a couple of addons, mkv playbacks smooth as :) just put 4Gb RAM into :p
 
lurkio said:
Will it be able to fit my 2 x PCI cards ?

Anyone else using APU based media PC
Click to expand...

The answers no looking at the size & height of the case.

I plan on building a Trinity based HTPC soon, going to post a thread in GD when I decide on a parts list. :)
 
lurkio said:
Will it be able to fit my 2 x PCI cards ?

Anyone else using APU based media PC
Click to expand...

I have an E350 based media PC. It is fine playing back any HD content that can be offloaded to the GPU - which is all bar Silverlight. So if you're wanting to be able to use Netflix, Lovefilm or SkyGo then you NEED something with more CPU grunt.

This thread may help; http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18425335

easyrider said:
Raspberry pi @ £30
Click to expand...

stupid idea.

The pi makes a rubbish media player, the ONLY thing it has going for it is that it is cheap. Cheap isn't always a good thing.
 
GeX said:
stupid idea.

The pi makes a rubbish media player, the ONLY thing it has going for it is that it is cheap. Cheap isn't always a good thing.
Click to expand...

Care to eloborate? I don't know...I have tested mine running Raspbmc and it has played and streamed all the films I have on my server no problem in 1080p in my cinema room
 
Using mine side by side with my E350 based HTPC is like night and day. Both run up to date version of XBMC / raspbmc and on the pi it is frustratingly slow when I'm used to the E350 system. A friend of mine is constantly complaining that his pi takes ages to browse his vast library of films / music, and I can believe that - the pi is NOT a quick device when dealing with large amounts of data.

Looking back at the OP; he wants TV capture / tuner cards in there, and wants to add storage. The pi is not suitable for that really is it, yes I know that the newer versions of Raspbmc can handle PVR functions.. but it's still not going to do it in a hurry. It will take time to evolve, and iron out the bugs - even when done, it's still going to be limited by the lack of power on the pi.

I use my HTPC for things other than XBMC, as mentioned - Netflix/Lovefilm/SkyGo. I use it for browsing video sites (this includes youtube, but there are others) and that is something you just don't get the freedom to do with a pi. My HTPC runs Windows (and is the only Windows PC in my house!) - purely so that I don't have the faff of making things work. Silverlight / Flash can be troublesome on a x86/x64 Linux system, nevermind on an ARM system. You just don't need that hassle with a media PC.

I admit, using CEC to control the pi is cool and negates the need to buy a media remote - and if you're on a budget then it does make an 'ok' media player. However, there are much better alternatives, and certainly better options for the OP. Just boshing in with "pi @ £30" isn't helpful at all.
 
I never really considered a pi for my Htpc (even if I didn't want to game on it) I just can'tbelieve it can handle all that tthe op would throw at it.

If I didn't want to play games I would have gone with a llano honestly. You never know what extras you might want the Htpc to do in the future.

I have an I3 in mine but only because I play some games
 
Thanks for the replies guys

My current HTPC is a bit too beefy / power hungry (was built with parts from olde game rig)

Current Spec
Q6600 @ 2.4G
H50 water cooler
P45 gigabyte mobo
Nvidia GTX280
2G ram
2 x PCI Nova-S2 tuners
1 x USB Nova-TD 500
500G 2.5" HD
500G 3.5" HD
Tagan 580W psu

I have a NAS with 4 x 1.5TB Raid 5 config , so not much storage needed on this box.
 
I wonder if I should get a nas.

Have 8Tbs of storage in my Htpc across 3 drives (another 3 on an external)
 
Last edited:
To Nas or not to Nas that is the question .....


For me it was easy , i have 4 devices that can access a DLNA server and play stuff

So I bought a Qnap 409 and stuck 4 x 1.5TB drives in it
it servers as a ftp , samba and dlna server for me and powers drives down if no accessed for 15 mins
 
lurkio said:
Anyone else using APU based media PC
Click to expand...



I'm using a A3870K APU setup and couldn't be happier, runs everything I throw at it sweet as a nut, perfect for an htpc and add in a bit of mild gaming and you're laughing :D even the Mrs is happy as she gets to play those annoying zynga games on facebook lag free..lol
 
Ok , time for an update on this (in case anyone wants to know)

I ended up building the system last week and have tested it out , I adjusted the specs

Mobo
http://www.msi.com/product/mb/A75A-G35.html

CPU
AMD A4 Series Dual Core (A4-3400) 2.7GHz Accelerated Processor Unit (ACU) 1MB with Radeon HD 6410D Graphic Card

Performance is great , I tried out 2 new tuner cards as well

1 x TBS6220 PCI-E DVB-T2/T TV Tuner Card
and
1 x TBS6981 PCI-E DVB-S2/S Dual Tuner Card

Cards are excellent, using mediaportal to run it all
 
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