Spec me: HTPC/Seedbox

yerjam

yerjam

yerjam

Associate
Joined
28 Feb 2012
Posts
67
Location
Northern Ireland
Hey. I'm planning a HTPC/Seedbox build but I have no experience with HTPCs; I'm not sure what components would be right for my needs and I'm not even sure what OS or anything I should run. I plan to use the HTPC as a seedbox as well, so I need something which can run 24/7 and not use a huge amount of power. So just a few questions:

  • Is it wise to use a single system as both a media centre and a seedbox? Would I be safer using a NAS as a seedbox and just running a standalone HTPC?
  • Should I run Windows or Linux? All the machine will be doing is running XBMC and a torrent client and I don't really want to have to pay for another copy of Windows.
  • Micro-ATX or Mini-ITX motherboard?
  • Which processor would be best for my needs? I realise I may be opening a can of worms here, but who makes the best CPUs for HTPCs? AMD or Intel?
  • Do I need a graphics card? This machine will not be used for gaming at all and I know a lot of CPUs these days have pretty decent onboard graphics but would I still need a cheap video card to run 1080p video smoothly?
  • What sort of RAM should I use? How much do I need?
  • What size PSUs should I be looking at?
  • I plan to run the machine 24/7: do I really need an SSD? I'd obviously prefer to have one as a boot drive but omitting one would give me more money to spend on HDDs.
  • Can anyone recommend a decent horizontal case with plenty of room for hard drives (I'm thinking of running about four)? I'd like to be able to put the system in my TV unit.

I haven't set myself a budget yet but I'd like to keep things sub-£400.
 
I have an N40L microserver doing all that and it runs fine, if you have no plans to game then a 5450 or GT210 will be more than enough, you need the HDMI out.

Comes with a 250Gb 3.5" drive and 2Gb or RAM, i would get another 2GB of the cheapest DDR3 money can buy just to speed things up.

Room for 4x 3.5" drives and a 5.25" drive(you need a molex to sata power adaptor and a sata cable to use the 5.25" bay) and you can run a linux OS off a USB stick on the inside of the case if you really want to go nuts.

TBH i dont think you need SSD's for this sort of application your just not going to see much of the benefit, mine draws 31Watts from the wall and runs 24/7, have even run it with the fan disconnected and the temps didnt get too bad.

all in you looking at about £150-160 after the cashback on the server, gives you lots of pennies for the storage drives. Only downside is its not the shape your after
 
Gav_881 said:
I have an N40L microserver doing all that and it runs fine, if you have no plans to game then a 5450 or GT210 will be more than enough, you need the HDMI out.

Comes with a 250Gb 3.5" drive and 2Gb or RAM, i would get another 2GB of the cheapest DDR3 money can buy just to speed things up.

Room for 4x 3.5" drives and a 5.25" drive(you need a molex to sata power adaptor and a sata cable to use the 5.25" bay) and you can run a linux OS off a USB stick on the inside of the case if you really want to go nuts.

TBH i dont think you need SSD's for this sort of application your just not going to see much of the benefit, mine draws 31Watts from the wall and runs 24/7, have even run it with the fan disconnected and the temps didnt get too bad.

all in you looking at about £150-160 after the cashback on the server, gives you lots of pennies for the storage drives. Only downside is its not the shape your after
Click to expand...

Interesting Gav thanks for the reply. Would I need a soundcard to go along with this as well?
 
no the GPU's do integrated audio over HDMI, make sure you get one with a low profile bracket though, most come with them but check to be sure
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom