Mini ITX HTPC Build

[Martynt74]

Hi Guys

Having just bought an Acer Revo L70 to replace an Apple TV running XBMC in the bedroom. I’m now thinking I might replace the Boxee downstairs with something else running XBMC to keep everything in sync. I’m using the Aeon Nox skin upstairs and whilst it's not too bad performance wise it's certainly not the best. Mainly whilst clicking play for a movie (Tv shows are generally fine).

With it going downstairs and me currently being in the market for a new TV, I wondered if it was worth trying to future proof it with 3D capability even though it won’t be used much.

I’m still going to be after something Mini-ITX based to keep the size down so looking at these cases from an aesthetics/practicality approach)

Streacom F1C EVO (Nice looking case with built in optical slot)
Streacom FC8 EVO (Bit bigger than the above but comes with a passive cooler which would save money on a heatsink)
Akasa Passive Case (Cheaper than the others, comes with cpu cooler attached (max 35W) and power supply, no optical slot though)
Zeno NT-TX2000 (Quite pricey but looks nice and minimalist and has a powerful passive cooler. Also bigger than the others)

CPU wise, providing I wasn’t to get the above Akasa case I’m open to both the offerings from AMD (A6/A8) or the Intel I3/I5 range (probably the I3 for cost purposes)

SSD – I’ll probably go with a 60gb Samsung 840

I’ll be using Windows 8 with XBMC installed. I’ve got that on the revo and I’m more than happy with boot times which should only get better with a better processor.

Does anyone have any thoughts to help sway me one way or another and do I need anything specific to be able to play 3d movies?

 

[notthemilkybark]

It might be worth looking at some prebuilt machines- I got a Zbox ID82 for my girlfriend, and it's a seriously good piece of kit. i3 processor in a box smaller than most miniITX cases. I'd take a look at it, or some of the others Zotac have coming out- the ID83 is basically the same concept as the 82 but with an Ivy Bridge processor, while the ID42 combines a Sandy Bridge Celeron and a discrete Geforce GPU, if you want to focus more on graphics grunt.

If you do go with one of them, I recommend getting the barebones kit and building it up yourself- the "plus" models tend to have some pretty low quality RAM and hard drive arrangements, and a DDR3-1600 dual channel kit and 7200rpm HDD will perform much better. (And probably wind up cheaper.) The faster RAM especially makes a difference on one using the integrated graphics.

 

[Martynt74]

I have looked at those options, however i like the idea of it being completely silent and whilst my Acer Revo is pretty quiet it isn't silent all the time. Plus i like the idea of adding a bluray drive in the future and i figured by the time i added an SSD to something like that Zotac i could build something a little more future proof.

Currently seem to be torn between the AMD A10 5700 and the Intel I3 5700. Think the board limitations of the AMD might sway me elsewhere though.