Spec me, a 'smart TV' upgrade

Chris [BEANS]

Chris [BEANS]

Chris [BEANS]

Soldato
Joined
30 Dec 2003
Posts
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Bigger box!
Hi all,

Recently bought a TV and although I had zero interest in a 'smart' TV, it seems you can't get a decent TV these days that isn't smart, so I ended up with one. Despite my initial lack of interest I've had a play with it and now it seems to be a great idea!

Only problem is, the 'smart' functions of the TV suck, badly.

So I figured I'd sling a PC on there and do it properly.
It only needs to be very basic. All I'd be using it for is streaming HD video (mainly Netflix), browsing, iTunes occasionally and as it's not too power hungry I'd have MAME and a few emulators installed too.

Obviously I'll be using a wireless keyboard (probably with an integrated track pad) and a wireless game pad.

I know very little about windows 8, but the little I've looked at leads me to believe that it'll be ideal for this type of thing, right?

I knocked up the below, but I think I've gone way over spec so if anyone who's done something similar or knows better can help out that'd be great :)

Cheers

YOUR BASKET
1 x Shuttle XH61V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) Barebones - Black £159.98
1 x Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £89.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £79.99
1 x Xebec iTouchpad Diamond Series Wireless Keyboard with Built In TouchPad - Black £35.99
1 x Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless Controller - PC / Xbox 360 (JR9-00010) £28.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1333C9D3B1K2/4G) £25.99
Total : £432.94 (includes shipping : £10.00).



EDIT: Probably obvious, but HDMI too please :)

Edit 2: Aside from installing the OS, I'm not sure I need an optical drive....
 
Last edited:
Have you considered an ouya or a google tv option?
It's not quite out yet but the ouya should be about 100 quid and xmbc have said they're doing an app for it. The whole basis around the ouya is home grown games etc so might be an option for you.

In regards to the spec, I'd say you've gone over your needs. I'm not up to speed on mame but I wouldn't be suprised if you could get away with an amd e450 or low end fm2 option.

You can get a complete acer revo l70 for around 250 quid with - AMD E450 1.65, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, AMD HD 6320 and Windows 8 or if you wanted a bit more cpu, the l80 with Intel Core i3-2377M 1.5GHz and a dvd drive for 350, it does lack on the gpu side though.


Netflix/lovefilm/streaming video should all make use of the gpu on the amd and I assume on the intel too so it's not like you'll need the cpu for that.
 
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