New HTPC for OpenELEC

SavellM

SavellM

SavellM

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Joined
15 Nov 2010
Posts
668
So im thinking of building a new HTPC.
These are the parts so far.

Motherboard
Asus P8P67-M PRO
Ram
Kingston LoVo HyperX 1.35v KHX1600C9D3LK2/4GX
PSU
Coolermaster Silent Pro 500w RS500-AMBAD3-EU
Blu-Ray
LiteOn Blu-ray Reader iHBS112-115
Case
Moneual 312
CPU
Intel 2.6GHz 35w i3-2120T
HDD
Kingston SSD Now 8gb
GPU
Asus ENGT220
CPU Cooler
Scythe Shuriken SCSK-1100


I already have the SSD, and GPU.
This will be going in a shelf, so I want it so be low power and low heat.
Hence the 2120T processor, and the Kingston ram, as it can run at 1.25v (1333MHz)

So I have a few questions, I know Linux does not support Blu-Ray playback, but I do know OpenELEC has Libaacs built in.
Is it hard to get it to work? Not asking for a guide just a difficulty rating...

I will be using the Optical Out on this Mobo into my AMP (doesnt have HDMI) will this be an issue with the GPU?

And I noticed this case has a built in IR receiver, and a power on feature thing, that goes into the 24pin mobo power connector.
Will this boot it from an off state?

Also will this CPU be powerful enough, considering I have a dedicated GPU?

Will these parts be supported by XBMC, and OpenELEC?

Thanks guys.
 
Is this not serious overkill? Why use the GPU? The 2120T will handle even the meanest 1080p content on its own.

Ditching the gpu will also mean you can run a nice silent power efficient picopsu.

Even the ram and ssd seems overkill, openelec is tiny! My openelec box runs perfect from a pen drive (its all loaded into ram) and on 1gb ram half of which is dedicated to the apu.
 
SavellM said:
Mainly because I have the GPU already from another old machine.
So might as well use it :)
Click to expand...
Might as well use it yet you state "low power and low heat" so your going to add a power hungry heat generator, that will need a massive psu for absolutely no reason bar the fact you have it laying round? Ok, good luck with your build dude :-D
 
I also heard that the Intel GPUs' have some issues with 24p playback.
Especially when playing video from XBMC.

If this is resolved then ye I might not use the GPU.
But I also like the ability of upgrading in the future, so like if HDMI 1.5 comes out I can change the GPU to a new one that has 1.5 support.

But if its built into the Mobo, lets say it has 1.4a now, but is it possible via a firmware update to upgrade it to 1.5?
 
saitrix said:
They have admitted to improving but not totally sorting the issue on Ivy Bridge. For me Llano is the way to go for a htpc.
Click to expand...

Not under Linux AFAIAA.

Last I checked (not long ago) the advice was a GT220 or GT430 and don't go near AMD.
 
zel said:
Not under Linux AFAIAA.

Last I checked (not long ago) the advice was a GT220 or GT430 and don't go near AMD.
Click to expand...
Yup. I'm all Intel/Nvidia powered here - my 3 media centres run Linux. It's down to the fact Nvidia have much better Linux driver support - something AMD have lacked sadly.
 
Yeah it is a shame, though personally I keep with Windows 7 for my htpc so I must admit it doesn't go through my mind!
 
I'm going to invest in a Raspberry Pi and test it as a media machine- if its too slow I can still use it as a NAS control box and it only costs £30 to test it out. I hardly ever use 1080p or 720 so as long as its ok with standard avi's / mpgs that will do for me just fine. Having seen the quake 3 demo running on it I have high hopes :)
 
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