looking to build a htpc advice please?

[theron]

how much ddr2 ram do i need for a htpc that will be used to stream bbc iplayer, watch hd movies, play dvds and record tv programs?

how fast would the ram need to be? 800mhz? 667? etc

is an atom330 up to the job?

do i need a tv with a vga/dvi/hdmi input?

can linux run on such a system or is it better to go with win7?

im trying to build one for around £300.

 

[Columbo]

how much ddr2 ram do i need for a htpc that will be used to stream bbc iplayer, watch hd movies, play dvds and record tv programs?

Just stick 2gb in if cost is a factor

how fast would the ram need to be? 800mhz? 667? etc

Doesn't matter

is an atom330 up to the job?

Yep, without question because most of the decoding wont be done by the CPU.

do i need a tv with a vga/dvi/hdmi input?

For the best result the without a doubt

can linux run on such a system or is it better to go with win7?

Depends on your technical ability. Linux would run happily on such a PC but Linux is quite daunting when you first start out imo. Which is why I put W7 on mine and wouldn't look at anything else now.

im trying to build one for around £300.

See below

This hardware should play everything you could throw at it. No OS included of course but that will obviously be a choice for you.

 

[theron]

thanks for the reply. its good to see that i can get a system worthy of the job for around my budget.

im still weighing up my options, it may be worth just getting a media hub or soemthing, but id like to be able to use bbc iplayer etc.

the new tv requirement is a real idea killer

 

[vila]

Don't the atom / ion systems still have problems with streamed HD material like on iplayer?

 

[Baboonanza]

Personally I'm sceptical about the Atom/Ion platform for an HTPC that includes recording/viewing live TV. I think it might have trouble recording in the background while watching something else. But that's just my suspicion, I haven't any proof.

And you only have to spend £20 more to get something like the Athlon 240e & 785g chipset mobo, which is much more capable CPU-wise.

Also, if you want TV functionality I would suggest Windows 7. While it's possible to set up XBMC on Linux with MythTV you either have to be very knowledgeable or very lucky to get it to work properly.

 

[z0mbi3]

Personally I'm sceptical about the Atom/Ion platform for an HTPC that includes recording/viewing live TV. I think it might have trouble recording in the background while watching something else. But that's just my suspicion, I haven't any proof.

You'd be suprised, with the right setup (i.e. xbmc live) the cpu is about 80% free when playing back any video on account of the ion chipset. You can really get away with doing all sorts on it.

Also, if you want TV functionality I would suggest Windows 7. While it's possible to set up XBMC on Linux with MythTV you either have to be very knowledgeable or very lucky to get it to work properly.

Negtive. XBMC Live comes with tvheadend installed. It's about 15 mins work, after which you have a you can watch live tv, pause it, and schedule recordings via a web gui. It's pretty cool.

 

[theron]

ok so i should look at something a bit more power hungry than an atom based pc then?

im really trying to keep electricity costs and heat produced to a minimum. i wana make it as silent as possible, that was the idea behind atom.

windows7 would be good cause it has that quick boot time, kinda useful for getting quick access to media i guess.

 

[z0mbi3]

Atom is the way to go, it'll do everything you want to and keep the electricity costs down.

You'd be mad not to go with an Xbmc Live install imho.

Power on to the xbmc dash is about 11 seconds for me, resuming from sleep is like 3.