[snowjim]

Hey!

I have used the XBMC on XBOX for some years now and are really impressed with the software!

But when upgrading the TV I needed something that could play HD-material which the XBOX couldnt do

I began to look at alternatives like MediaPortel, but there was simple to much problems. Then I bought a popcorn hour A-100 which obviously shouldn't be released from 2009 or 2010.

To my glad surprise I found that XBMC could be runned on a HTPC with Windows(preferred) or Linux.

I have now tested the XBMC for Windows on the following setup:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad 2,4 Ghz
Memory : 2 GB
Graphic : Geforce 8800 GTS 320MB

The XBMC runs really nice on this setup, even the HD-material works grate! Its a big difference comparing to other media centers!

I was before rejecting the HTPC thought be course of lack of good media center software but if I could get a XBMC for windows to work as good as it do on my setup then it would be a different story.

The setup I am thinking of for a HTPC is as fallows:
CPU : Intel Core 2 Duo E8300 2,83GHz Tray
Motherboard : Asus P5E-VM HDMI
Memory : Corsair XMS2 Xtreme TwinX DDR2 PC6400/800MHz CL4 2x1GB

My main demands on the software is as follows :
1. Fast and good looking GUI
2. Fast forwarding and stepping in al kind of movies
3. Possibility to play all songs in random order located in a catalog structure
4. Play almost all media files(even HD-material).
5. Stream the media from server with out long buffering times.

I have some questions on this :

1. Will my HTPC handle the XBMC smoothly even when playing HD-material? note that the motherboard have the built in graphic card.
2. I could not found any bugs when I did a fast test, is there any that I need to know about?
3. Will the XBMC use the decoders that are installed on the computer or is these already built in?
4. How could I connect the XBOX remote control to a HTPC?

Best Regards
snowjim

[Gamester17]

1. Yes it should, all Intel Core 2 Duo 2,5Ghz (code-names: Penryn and Wolfdale) or better should at least in theory be capapble of decoding all 1080p H.264 videos, (and as the months progress the FFmpeg software decoder in XBMC is getting more and more optimized and thus more effective).
2. As with all software there are bugs (especially at the alpha and beta stage), you reporting those bugs helps us find them and squash them.
3. No external codecs are currently supported, XBMC only uses the internal built-in codecs supported by FFmpeg (the open source codec suit XBMC uses).
4. If you like to use the original Xbox remote and controller then just buy or make a USB converter cable for the reciever dongle, there are numurous topic-threads about this so just search.

[zeuss-axis]

4. If you like to use the original Xbox remote and controller then just buy or make a USB converter cable for the reciever dongle, there are numurous topic-threads about this so just search.

To this point, if you have a USB PCI addon card or anything with an internal USB header connector on one end, its just as simple to solder the Xbox remote receiver to this and install it inside your case (since most motherboards have loads of expansion ports) for a cleaner solution. I originally had an ugly-ass modified dongle hanging off the front of my case, and kicked myself for not thinking of it sooner :o

[mace]

1. I would rekomend an E8400 or 8500 to have little more HP to spare, Intel is supposed to cut prices on E8400 this week so it should be a realy good bargin in about a week or so.

4. I would mount it internally to. No cables laying around makes the HTPC look so much better. Just did a similar mod to the MCE remote reciver. Removed the top cover and the front "lens". Covered the pcb with tape to avoid a shortcut and then i just flipped it uppside down and mounted it on top of the PSU in a HFX box. (the psu is mounted in the front on them )

[snowjim]

Thanks for the answers!

I have looked at the quad, but the problem simes like it is not that much faster on encoding hd-material and its warmer so it will be a E8400.

Is there any way to use an other ir adapter for the remote or do I have to modifie the existing?

[Gamester17]

Currently a dual-core should be better than a quad-core for XBMC (as FFmpeg, the open source codec suit used by XBMC does not scale so good to multiple processors/cores so today it is better to have high MHz/GHz on a only a couple of cores than low MHz/GHz on multiple cores).

Is there any way to use an other ir adapter for the remote or do I have to modifie the existing?

Yes, again search the forum (multile discussion about this as well), but in my opinion it is easier to either modify the original Xbox reciever dongle (it is just standand USB with 4 color coded cables inside it and the outside sheilding, you should not even have to solder them to get it to work, just expose the copper cable then twist them together and use tape to seal it), ...or if you are happy with an external solution then buy a Microsoft MCE (Media Center Edition) Remote and IR-reciever, you can find it for less than $50(US), or even a other brand than Microsoft which is even cheaper:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url...ter+remote

[Djsnake]

Currently a dual-core should be better than a quad-core for XBMC (as FFmpeg, the open source codec suit used by XBMC does not scale so good to multiple processors/cores so today it is better to have high MHz/GHz on a only a couple of cores than low MHz/GHz on multiple cores).

Yes, again search the forum (multile discussion about this as well), but in my opinion it is easier to either modify the original Xbox reciever dongle (it is just standand USB with 4 color coded cables inside it and the outside sheilding, you should not even have to solder them to get it to work, just expose the copper cable then twist them together and use tape to seal it), ...or if you are happy with an external solution then buy a Microsoft MCE (Media Center Edition) Remote and IR-reciever, you can find it for less than $50(US), or even a other brand than Microsoft which is even cheaper:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url...ter+remote

does xbmc for win automaticatly map the buttons of these new ir-remotes?
thanks for the patience