HTPC Build - Comments and Criticisms Please

jkulas

jkulas

jkulas

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12 Jun 2004
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382
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Berkshire
Been nailing down my components for a while, and I think I've finally got enough information to run it by you knowledgeable lot ;)

* I want it to go under the TV as a media box with internal storage capacity, so I need it to be able to support two 3.5" hard drives.
* I would also like to be able to include a TV tuner at some point so that it can be used as a PVR box.

At the moment I am planning on using XBMC, probably using the live CD, which is based on stripped down version of ubuntu, but I am also open to the windows route. Since it is going under the TV it needs to be quiet, and it will be on most of the time so I would like it to use as little power as possible. I am also planning to run SickBeard and sabnzb on the box.

Case: OrigenAE HTPC S10V
Mobo: ZOTAC IONITX-F-E Atom N330
RAM: 4GB DDR2-800 (will look for some low-ish power stuff)
Media: Sony BDROM slimline laptop version (since it needs to be slot loading)
Storage: 2x WD 2TB Greens
picoPSU 150w

I had the idea of using this setup from initially looking at the M10 case, but it doesn't have enough space for onboard storage, and I really don't want to use a NAS type box if I can help it. The M10 uses the pico 150w psu so I wanted to use that in the larger S10V case to save on noise.

I have a few questions about this proposed solution:

* Will the Zotac ITX board fit in the microATX case? I have read the mountings are the same.
* Will I be able to run the above on the picoPSU 150w, so that I won't need an actively cooled psu in the box?
* Will I have enough power to add a TV Tuner card at a later stage?

I have also read that the atoms struggle with proper hi-def stuff, so if this becomes a problem, I will be adding one of the broadcom crystalhd cards to the onboard mini-pci slot in place of the wireless card. Can you see any issues which may arise from that?

If anyone can advise me with any aspect of this build I would greatly appreciate it.

Cheers.
 
Thanks very much for the reply chipps, to answer your question its mostly about power and noise. I would like this to sit under the TV and run the media centre/PVR without me having to worry about the heat/noise produced.

I have seen the crystalhd cards demoed on netbooks which struggled with video playback, and the difference is night and day, for £40 or so that seems like a no-brainer if I find I need a bit more clout.
 
Last edited:
chipps101 said:
with an atom there's not much to pick up the slack with :(

even with the e2180 on my 9300 itx as soon as i add a couple of filters it can struggle and drop frames :(
Click to expand...

That's exactly what the crystalhd card does, and I don't intend on doing any post-processing so sounds like it will be ok without one. My main concern was the power consuption with the 2 full size hard drives, but if you are sure the 150w will be enough I will get this project moving :D
 
RAM is so cheap at the moment that it would be a bit of a false economy to go for 1GB DIMMS I think. I'm assuming that you can run 64bit OS on the atom, but now that I think about it, I haven't actually checked. Any ideas?

The S10V case comes with the whole VFD IMON malarkey, and a remote which is capable of powering on the device, and is compatible with lcdproc etc in linux.

I was planning on using the xbmc live build, which is basically a stripped down ubuntu but I was wondering myself if it supports blu-ray playback. I don't currently have any drives that I can test it with, anyone know?

The crystalhd card basically offloads from the cpu, but as far as I've seen so far the ION does a great job of that itself. Check this out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98iYnuT7y-c
 
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