Help with HTPC spec check before I order please

[Participant]

Hi all, I'm building a Mini ITX-based HTPC system this weekend and was hoping for some input as to how this sounds:

It will be running W7 with XMBC and mainly playing high definition MKV and ISO files. It'll also be playing the odd games of FIFA and Tiger Woods and anything else 'consoley' that it'll run.

How does it sound?
Anything you'd change / add?

Many thanks .

 

[95thrifles]

Errm firstly how about it not blatntly being from another suppliers website? If youre gonna use somewhere else at least have decency to type so no one can tell too easily
Secondly why you doing a ITX build then putting it in an mATX case, either just do mATX build or get ITX size case
Eg change case to this or mobo to this
Other than that it looks ok, however be aware that the new gen of Intels due out are meant to have vastly superior built in gfx, if you can wait

 

[1Day]

I have the exact same set up with one addition. I included a discrete graphics card. The reason I did that was because of the new feature on the Dharma XBMC release. Namely off loading nearly 100% of the CPU load to the graphics card when you enable DXVA2. I simply added a cheap low profile HD4550 graphics card. Perfect for my needs. Used the HDMI connectors directly to my LCD TV.

If you wish to play PC games at a med or high level then the card I use is not suitable.

 

[Participant]

Errm firstly how about it not blatntly being from another suppliers website? If youre gonna use somewhere else at least have decency to type so no one can tell too easily

How is it blatant? There are no references to the supplier. Anyone that can guess just from that picture clearly already shops there, so it hardly makes any difference. I'm sure a real mod will be along to sort it out if there's a problem.

Secondly why you doing a ITX build then putting it in an mATX case, either just do mATX build or get ITX size case
Eg change case to this or mobo to this

Well spotted. I'm going to jack in the idea of Mini ITX and change the motherboard, as everything ITX is too expensive (2.5" hard drives, notebook optical drives, etc.).

Other than that it looks ok, however be aware that the new gen of Intels due out are meant to have vastly superior built in gfx, if you can wait

I see. Do you have any links that will explain what the new gen is in detail and when it's likely to appear?

I have the exact same set up with one addition. I included a discrete graphics card. The reason I did that was because of the new feature on the Dharma XBMC release. Namely off loading nearly 100% of the CPU load to the graphics card when you enable DXVA2. I simply added a cheap low profile HD4550 graphics card. Perfect for my needs. Used the HDMI connectors directly to my LCD TV.

If you wish to play PC games at a med or high level then the card I use is not suitable.

Thanks for this...but will the i3 not offload HD decoding to its onboard GPU also?

 

[95thrifles]

Its quite clearly not OcUK though is it
link

 

[Participant]

Its quite clearly not OcUK though is it

Correct. However, I still don't think I've broken any rules as I have removed all references to the company in question including product ID codes.

You can disagree 'til the cows come home, but until someone that is actually in charge rather than just wants to be in charge comes along and states that I am wrong, please stop spamming my thread with your wannabe mod comments.

Thanks for the link.

 

[95thrifles]

Erm dont know what Ive done to deserve the attitude, apart form try and help you with your build and provide you with links you asked
I never told you to take it down, just pointed out that imo its a but cheeky, but nvm

 

[Freddie1980]

I have to agree with 95thrifles on this that’s bad form, if your going to post a picture of a virtual shopping basket at least use OCUK’s if not just list what parts you’re planning to use.

The onboard GMA on the Core i3’/i5’s (dual core i5’s only) is perfect for HTPC and is perfectly capable of running Blu-Ray and HD movies the only reason why you might want a discrete video card is to run Bit stream HD audio which can be done with the Radeon 5000 series cards.

I would also reconsider the use of the Samsung F3 spinpoint, it’s a fast drive (at least for a mechanical drive) but it’s not the quietest and when building HTPC’s that presumably going in the living room you will want to keep noise down to a minimum so consider swapping it with one of those ‘Green’ 5200 RPM drives as you can always put the HTPC on standby/sleep mode if you want to turn it on and off quickly.

 

[Participant]

Erm dont know what Ive done to deserve the attitude, apart form try and help you with your build and provide you with links you asked
I never told you to take it down, just pointed out that imo its a but cheeky, but nvm

I have to agree with 95thrifles on this that’s bad form, if your going to post a picture of a virtual shopping basket at least use OCUK’s if not just list what parts you’re planning to use.

Your opinions have already been noted, several times. There's really no need to keep harping on about it, that's the point. If a mod deems it to be against the rules then I will have absolutely no problem with that (not that it would make any difference if I did), but until them it would be good if we could just discuss the actual topic.

The onboard GMA on the Core i3’/i5’s (dual core i5’s only) is perfect for HTPC and is perfectly capable of running Blu-Ray and HD movies the only reason why you might want a discrete video card is to run Bit stream HD audio which can be done with the Radeon 5000 series cards.

I would also reconsider the use of the Samsung F3 spinpoint, it’s a fast drive (at least for a mechanical drive) but it’s not the quietest and when building HTPC’s that presumably going in the living room you will want to keep noise down to a minimum so consider swapping it with one of those ‘Green’ 5200 RPM drives as you can always put the HTPC on standby/sleep mode if you want to turn it on and off quickly.

Audio via HDMI is a good point, had forgotten about that.

The quieter Spinpoint is also a good idea.

Sandybridge isn't due until Q1 2011, at which point I'd imagine it'll be expensive anyway. I'm therefore tempted to ditch the idea of onboard graphics and get a cheap AMD setup with separate GPU.

 

[Freddie1980]

Audio via HDMI is a good point, had forgotten about that.

The Intel Core i3 support this as well as most board come with HDMI on the backplate (along with VGA and DVI some even have DP) but that doesn't mean it can deliver true HD bit streaming audio for which you need one of those 5000 series Radeons. I think the new Nvidia cards also support true HD bit streaming but the drivers are a bit flakey.

 

[Liampope]

The idea of using i3/i5 onboard graphics wont help with the consoley game playing, will it? Unless I either underestimate the onboard graphics or overestimate the demands of Fifa and Tiger Woods.

 

[1Day]

As to XBMC being able to offload the work via having the DXVA2 enabled - short answer no. The guys who are working on the new release for XBMC are no able to get the same kind or results. There are a number of issues with 1080p MKV media and the onboard graphics of the i3 CPU's. And while we do hope they are resolved in the future it is quite unlikely due to the evolution of the new on-die GPU/CPU due for release from Intel in the next 4 months or so that the dev's on XBMC will bother.

That is the reason I went cheap discrete card.

 

[Participant]

The Intel Core i3 support this as well as most board come with HDMI on the backplate (along with VGA and DVI some even have DP) but that doesn't mean it can deliver true HD bit streaming audio for which you need one of those 5000 series Radeons. I think the new Nvidia cards also support true HD bit streaming but the drivers are a bit flakey.

Understood, thank you. However this link states 'The i3 does retain all of the sweet TrueHD/DTS-HD MA bitstreaming support that makes Clarkdale the perfect HTPC platform.', so maybe it's just less effective?

The idea of using i3/i5 onboard graphics wont help with the consoley game playing, will it? Unless I either underestimate the onboard graphics or overestimate the demands of Fifa and Tiger Woods.

i3 530 can run Batman AA at 28fps at 1024x768 and the i5 661 at 35fps. I totally accept your point that I shouldn't set my hopes too high though. I think low res low details Tiger Woods and FIFA should be manageable? TW in particular doesn't really rely on epic framerates anyway.

As to XBMC being able to offload the work via having the DXVA2 enabled - short answer no. The guys who are working on the new release for XBMC are no able to get the same kind or results. There are a number of issues with 1080p MKV media and the onboard graphics of the i3 CPU's. And while we do hope they are resolved in the future it is quite unlikely due to the evolution of the new on-die GPU/CPU due for release from Intel in the next 4 months or so that the dev's on XBMC will bother.

That is the reason I went cheap discrete card.

Thanks for that. This thread has been very educational and revealed how little I knew about the current world of small form processing, thanks .

 

[Freddie1980]

Understood, thank you. However this link states 'The i3 does retain all of the sweet TrueHD/DTS-HD MA bitstreaming support that makes Clarkdale the perfect HTPC platform.', so maybe it's just less effective?

I must admit I did quickly skim read the Anand review to see if the i3 supported bitstreaming so that serves me right for skimming it and not reading it properly in any case I wouldn't worry about it being less effective it either works or doesn't work.