XBMC Box on the cheap.

E

EndersShadow

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
1,228
So I just spent my last week ripping all my audio to FLAC. Now I want to build myself a cheap XBMC box to play it. I also want to use it to rip DVD's and blu-rays (eventually). I have two different builds on Newegg. They are both about the same price, but VERY different.

One uses a 3 Ghz dual core AMD processor and another has a 1.6 Ghz dual core Intel processor.

Want your opinions on which build to go with and if I can even go a bit cheaper. I plan on using a 320 gig HDD to start with, or hell even running XMBC off a USB drive till I can get a nice 2 TB HDD.

Also note I am not needing a blu-ray drive in it either yet. My main rig (see sig) can handle any decoding I need to start with.

Ion Build

Ionbuild.png



AMD Build
AMDbuild.png
 
Last edited:
the AMD rig will be many many times more powerful than the atom for $10 more. Easy choice IMO
 
Activate: AMD said:
the AMD rig will be many many times more powerful than the atom for $10 more. Easy choice IMO
Click to expand...

That was what I thought. Any suggestions on a aftermarket cooler for that case? I know its a very very tight fit. Not looking to overclock this setup, or even run it full tilt.
 
I'm running the stock cooler on my i5 750 and it's not loud enough to notice in the case. The psu fan is louder usually.

A lot is going to depend on the room in the case your getting. ;)
 
nmanley said:
I'm running the stock cooler on my i5 750 and it's not loud enough to notice in the case. The psu fan is louder usually.

A lot is going to depend on the room in the case your getting. ;)
Click to expand...

Well the Sugo 5 is a very small case, and I dont believe their is a PSU fan :)...

so one 120mm fan (which I plan to run at around 1000 rpm)....
 
Danny Bui said:
Hmm? There is indeed a fan in that PSU (Exact PSU used in the SUGO 5):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104075
Click to expand...

Yeah I looked quick but didnt see one....

Either way I want to keep the noise floor on this as low as possible. Like I said I plan on running this 24/7 but it wont be at load much if at all to start. Eventually I will be adding in a massive HDD to rip all my DVD's and blu-rays too, but thats after I purchase a slim Blu-ray player lol...

To start with I am looking at case, cpu, motherboard and psu only. I might move up to a 5xxx series card at some point as well so I can not send the audio over LPCM, but thats later... Saw the Sugo 5 thread and a bunch of folks are using this for their CPU.

I figure that heatsink plus one of my extra Noctua fans should provide more than enough airflow
 
Last edited:
EndersShadow said:
Yeah I looked quick but didnt see one....

Either way I want to keep the noise floor on this as low as possible. Like I said I plan on running this 24/7 but it wont be at load much if at all to start. Eventually I will be adding in a massive HDD to rip all my DVD's and blu-rays too, but thats after I purchase a slim Blu-ray player lol...

To start with I am looking at case, cpu, motherboard and psu only. I might move up to a 5xxx series card at some point as well so I can not send the audio over LPCM, but thats later... Saw the Sugo 5 thread and a bunch of folks are using this[/URL ]for their CPU.

I figure that heatsink plus one of my extra Noctua fans should provide more than enough airflow
Click to expand...

I'm using that HSF in my HTPC (e5200) and its very quiet and does a good enough job at cooling. Kind of annoying to install, but other than that its pretty decent
 
Last edited:
So next question. I am trying to figure out what kinda powersupply I am going to need for this. I plan on running the following items on the build:

updatedamdbuild.png


Add in of course 1 or 2 case fans and one hard drive....

My concern is the silverstone case I am looking at as well as an inwin case are both 200 watts powersupplys, and AMD's site recommends no less than 400 watts for even the 5450...
 
Last edited:
Seriously, why don't you run a Zacate board? It would eliminate the need for the processor and the video card, you'd save about $100
 
ShepsCrook said:
Seriously, why don't you run a Zacate board? It would eliminate the need for the processor and the video card, you'd save about $100
Click to expand...

The video card would be added on later (as would the blu-ray drive) as the mobo listed has a 4250 which wont bitstream DTS-Master audio but send it as LPCM. Eventually that would matter but for the time being I could deal with it.

In addition I like the processor option since I can upgrade and also use the box to rip my DVD's and not worry about it taking forever.

That and you can find the mobo I listed in an open box for like 98 bucks, so it wouldnt be substantial enough of savings to justify it.

So its more of a motherboard v. motherboard and for that the mobo + processor beats out a Zacate board, or the Ion platforms handily for just a couple bucks extra...


To begin w/ this build will be a basic box and need only the following: CPU, Mobo, PSU, Case, Memory. All other things (HDD, Aftermarket CPU heatsink, GPU, ect) would be added on at a later date.

**edit** just noticed the zacate board has a 6xxx series AMD GPU on it....that makes it a bit more interesting....

I am still debating if this is the route I want to take. I plan to spend next Saturday installing XBMC on a external HDD I have to play around with it to see if I like it or not.
 
EndersShadow said:
So its more of a motherboard v. motherboard and for that the mobo + processor beats out a Zacate board, or the Ion platforms handily for just a couple bucks extra...
Click to expand...

uhhh... The zacate outperforms the Ion platform AND does DTS-MA bitstreaming. The full dual-core AMD will still blow it out the water CPU wise, but the Zacate is definitely a step above the Ion. That and you can still run it off only a picoPSU in a mini-ITX case
 
Activate: AMD said:
uhhh... The zacate outperforms the Ion platform AND does DTS-MA bitstreaming. The full dual-core AMD will still blow it out the water CPU wise, but the Zacate is definitely a step above the Ion. That and you can still run it off only a picoPSU in a mini-ITX case
Click to expand...

Yeah, that board is looking better and better. I have a super pimped out system for encoding the videos if I had to (since its basically just do it once per dvd lol). The HTPC would be for playback only via XBMC.

Now I really like two boards (Board one) (Board Two). One is 100 more than the other, but its totally fanless which I prefer. However its got features I dont really need or would use. So if I can run the cheaper motherboard w/o the fan that would be preferred.

Anyone have experience w/ that?
 
EndersShadow said:
Yeah, that board is looking better and better. I have a super pimped out system for encoding the videos if I had to (since its basically just do it once per dvd lol). The HTPC would be for playback only via XBMC.

Now I really like two boards (Board one) (Board Two). One is 100 more than the other, but its totally fanless which I prefer. However its got features I dont really need or would use. So if I can run the cheaper motherboard w/o the fan that would be preferred.

Anyone have experience w/ that?
Click to expand...

I have some experience with the asrock board you linked in a small habey 800b case. I would absolutely not run it without a fan, but the fan on it could certainly be replaced with another.. If the one I had was for me I would swap the heatsinks for ones of the same heigth (about that of the CPU cooler) & slap a large slim fan on there (like a scythe slipstream) to keep everything cool & minimize the noise.

The asus is definitely the more attractive board because its fanless, but ECS has a mITX Zocate that is fanless that hasn't showed up on us soil yet that I am waiting for. Given there normal cost I would guess it will end up at about 75-90 price wise.
 
ShepsCrook said:
Why has noone mentioned a Zacate board yet?
Click to expand...
I did a few posts back, considering a Zacate board will do everything the OP is askin for I'm going to have to re-quote myself:
CrimandEvil said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157228
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154091

If you want to do something a little more like an Atom but with better performance you could go with that. I'd suggest slipping in a 120mm fan into the side of the case by the CPU area and removing the fan from the Zacate board. Performance would be in between a lower speed dual core Athlon 2 and an Atom. It will also save you a little more money in the process too
Click to expand...
BTW, I have that case and was able to use a Celeron 430 passively with only a 120mm fan keeping things cool along with keeping a dual core Athlon 2 passively cool too. No undervolting needed.
The Donut said:
I know you can't rip things on it, but the AppleTV 2G runs XBMC quite well :)
Click to expand...
From what I understand the ATV still has some issues and isn't 100% WAF certified yet.
 
CrimandEvil said:
BTW, I have that case and was able to use a Celeron 430 passively with only a 120mm fan keeping things cool along with keeping a dual core Athlon 2 passively cool too. No undervolting needed.
Click to expand...

Not to sound stupid but where did you mount the 120mm fan? I dont see any mounting holes for one...
 
bastage said:
The asus is definitely the more attractive board because its fanless, but ECS has a mITX Zocate that is fanless that hasn't showed up on us soil yet that I am waiting for. Given there normal cost I would guess it will end up at about 75-90 price wise.
Click to expand...

Yeah I looked that up and it looks promising, but with no release date we will see. I figure with the asrock board I can set the CPU fan really really low in manual mode and let the 80mm fans do their thing. That and I can look to get a 40mm to 60mm fan adaptor and then possibly a 60 to 80 and run a less noisy fan lol...

EndersShadow said:
Not to sound stupid but where did you mount the 120mm fan? I dont see any mounting holes for one...
Click to expand...

Read the silentpcreview of that case and see where they added that fan. I think I have the full build together. Now keep in mind this is what it will look like once I get all the parts I want installed, which isnt something I plan to do from the get go.

To start with I will have the mobo, case, psu, memory and maybe 2 fans & filters (of 4 possible total). I plan to run XBMC off a USB drive and then eventually add in either a SSD for the OS (once I figure out how much space I need for the OS only) or a big fat 6 gps HDD (like the one I posted). Then I plan to rip all my DVD's and blu-rays and see if I need more storage at that point.

Finalizedbuild.png


Any thoughts would be appreciated...
 
Last edited:
If you aren't going with an SSD, I'd pick a "green" drive like the Samsung F4 before the black drive. Yes, the black will be faster, but also hotter, noisier and more expensive for the capacity. They're plenty fast for the application
 
Activate: AMD said:
If you aren't going with an SSD, I'd pick a "green" drive like the Samsung F4 before the black drive. Yes, the black will be faster, but also hotter, noisier and more expensive for the capacity. They're plenty fast for the application
Click to expand...

Makes sense. Any suggestions on a SSD for the OS only?

Also any reason not to go w/ 6.0 gig per second transfer rates over 3.0?
 
Danny Bui said:
Crucial C300 64GB SSD
Click to expand...

Do I really need that much space for Windows 7 + XBMC?

To start with I am going to try out XBMC Live on a USB 2.0 8 gig drive. I figure if I like it enough by itself I might just run everything off a flash drive to start with (with internal storage). Then if I want to go w/ Windows 7 + XBMC I will get a 32 gig Corsair SSD.
 
Ryokurin said:
Go with at least 40gb. I once installed my htpc with 32, and little else and in the end that was cutting it a little close. this old thread kind of goes into detail why. http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1523491
Click to expand...

Interesting read.

Going to give XBMC Live a shot this weekend via a flash drive. If it works well I might just go with a physical drive for my media and then a flash drive for XBMC, or a small SSD.

We will see. I just hate spending that much on a OS drive.

I might just say screw the noise hit and go with a physical drive for the OS and just partition it into an OS drive and then media section...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top