[Haggy]

If you got a 120W external PSU it may be enough. Normally you get 90W PSUs which may be not enough under load at stock speed and voltage. I'm running an nvidia 8300 board with and AMD 4850e and a notebook hdd (no optical drive) which is handled well by the 120W pico, but your hardware may need about twice as much energy i think.

[Bdan629]

I have been through a similar upgrade and ended up with:

- Travla C138 mini-ITX case - (had to replace the psu with a 120W picoPSU)
- Zotac GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi Mini-ITX (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 MOBO
- Pentium Dual-Core E5200 2.50GHz
- Corsair 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory
- Western Digital 320GB 2.5" Scorpio WD3200BEVT SATA
- Samsung SN-S083A/BEBE Slimline Internal DVDRW Black SATA - OEM
- Cyberlink Media Center Remote Control - With Mini USB IR Receiver

Probably overspeced (and overpriced) but does what I wanted ie runs XBMC/vdpau/1080p and at a reasonable temp 45C - will probably replace the stock fan with AKASA AK-955 Intel Cooler.

good luck, paul

I think I am going to built this too. How much did you end up paying for everything? Just so I know good prices when I see them. Do you have any complaints about this setup? I am just looking for a solid setup running windows or linux that can play 1080p. Might get a blueray dvd drive instead so I can rip my blueray movies to it as well. Also I am going to put in a 3.5" 1tb harddrive instead for some more space (the case says you can put in a 3.5" and block the pci slot (unneeded for me).


do you have xp or vista running on it?

also 32 bit or 64 bit?

[pshepherd]

I think I am going to built this too. How much did you end up paying for everything? Just so I know good prices when I see them. Do you have any complaints about this setup? I am just looking for a solid setup running windows or linux that can play 1080p. Might get a blueray dvd drive instead so I can rip my blueray movies to it as well. Also I am going to put in a 3.5" 1tb harddrive instead for some more space (the case says you can put in a 3.5" and block the pci slot (unneeded for me).


do you have xp or vista running on it?

also 32 bit or 64 bit?

I posted some comments and link to pictures on:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthrea...st16530476

In general it's good ..

1) h/w build was a bit complicated due to replacing the stock internal supply - easy to do but it did add to cost and additional cables etc.

2) in the end I used 1GB which was sufficient and left the memory module next to the picoPSU board empty

3) s/w install was fairly easy - I run a minimal ubuntu intrepid 32bit install as per the archived article at:

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=HOW...ldid=12537

Main problem was with the remote - not all keys worked so I binned it and modded my old xbox DVD remote and used LIRC. Had to play with the sound a bit to get it working over hdmi.

4) assuming a 3.5" drive fits I would be a bit wary due to size as it will occupy a bigger volume and impair ventilation compared to a 2.5" laptop drive - it will also consume more power. I would go for a small internal drive and put content on an external media server, NAS or an external USB/eSATA box - if it doesn't have to be in the case, put it somewhere else. I put content on a linux server with cat5 cable (not tried the wireless card).

5) I am still playing with the fans a bit - Zotac have had issues with automatic control via the bios, I run with them manually set to low revs. I added a 40mm scythe fan on the IGP and replaced the noisy case fan.

6) I haven't got suspend working properly, suspends ok but remote is n/a after it's woken up. Zotac have screwed up the suspend (usb power downs so you can't use the remote to wake it up, see avsforum thread and here http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1384187

7) sample HD content plays fine however I am not sure that I have got xbmc set up correctly re interlacing etc. I mainly watch SD and have a mythTV backend recording UK digital terrestial TV and use xbmc to watch it.

8) overall cost was £400 - shipping costs add up if you start to play with the initial configuration

paul

[Bdan629]

why did you end up replacing the stock psu with the picopsu? I found the case coming with a 120 watt power supply...could I just use that?

[pshepherd]

why did you end up replacing the stock psu with the picopsu? I found the case coming with a 120 watt power supply...could I just use that?

I believe it provides the wrong power distribution ie current at each voltage - EPIA/VIA mobos have a different current demand for 12v 5v etc than intel atx/itx mobos. There is a thread here or on avsforum that the zotac mobo will not boot on a EPIA/VIA psu as there is insufficient current at 12v.

[Bdan629]

I ended up getting this case instead (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6811163149) the silverstone sugo sg05-b.

I think it will provide me with the space I desire for the 3.5" harddrive and it has a 300 watt power supply which will be plenty for what I need. People also say that the fan provides good airflow and is pretty quiet. So my final setup will be:

SILVERSTONE Sugo SG05-B Black SECC Steel Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case SFX 300W 80Plus Power Supply

ZOTAC GF9300-D-E LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 9300 HDMI Mini ITX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Wolfdale 2.8GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E7400

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

LG Super-multi Slim Notebook DVD Rewriter Black IDE Model GSA-T40N


its definitely overspeced.....but I plan to use it for some other things too besides XBMC. I will just have it perminently attached to my 52inch 1080p tv and be able to use it to surf the web and do various tasks......store my blueray movies, stream nonblueray movies from my desktop.....In the future I might upgrade the dvd drive to a blueray drive (dont have the money right now).....and I might get a 5 bay sata enclosure which I can add more 3.5" harddrives for more space using the esata port on the back. What do you think?

I think I am going to run windows on it. Is there any disadvantages of this? I have to choose between 32 or 64bit and xp vista or windows 7.....not sure what I am going to use....any suggestions?

[pshepherd]

Choice of Windows v Linux depends on too many factors for someone else to make a recommendation. If you are not familiar with linux then there will be a learning curve but I found it interesting and the best choice for me.

[Weatherman]

I am considering taking one of my old P-4 2.6 or 2.8Ghz HP small form factor systems and loading up the the Linux version of XBMC. If I disable the onboard Intel video - and install Nvida cards - I am really interested to see if I can do 1080i or 1080p.

I have tested it with the Windows version, and 1080 is super chopping and laggy (with the integrated Intel video and Windows).

Do you think it is worth the effort to give Linux and buying a nVida card for one of these to test?

Thanks.

- Mark

[Haggy]

A friend of mine runs xbmc on a P3 with 1000MHz and an nvidia 8400GS PCI w/512MB RAM ...and he's watching 1080p movies on that junk. That should answer your question

[Weatherman]

Haggy - Even H.264 encoded video with high bitrates? That is AWESOME if that is the case!

I have a boat load of old HP small form factors all P4 2.6 or 2.8 Ghz systems that I could basically turn into 1080p XBMC stations! I still use (3) modded original Xbox systems with XBMC - and have been waiting for an inexpensive solution to move up to native HD.

If this works, this shouldn't cost more than the (2) nVidia cards you mentioned. I also will have to investigate if I can use my Xbox controller -> USB on the PC. I saw they have drivers and the hardware for that type of connectivity. I'm no Linux expert, but this will make me learn it..

- Mark

[Haggy]

Yes, h264 for most of the files. Note that h264 is fully supported by VDPAU on all cards whereas VC1 and MPEG2 only get partial acceleration on most 'better' cards. You should have a look at nvidia's readme to choose the right card. AFAIK the 8400GS is a G9x chip which has full decoding support. Here in germany such a card is about 25 EUR, so give it a try.

[Weatherman]

Haggy - Would this one work?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814141094

It seems like the card you are talking about. Not that expensive at all - considering I wouldn't need a super PC to achieve this now.

Thanks..

[Haggy]

Yes, that would do. Newer 8400GS cards are based on the G98 chipset series which provide full decoding support for h264, vc1 (wmv) and mpeg2. Video decoding is done entirely on the GPU so it is nearly unimportant what CPU you're on.
You could also go for this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814121235 if you don't need a direct HDMI out (DVI->HDMI cable will always do), which is even cheaper (25$) after rebate. Just look for the newer 8400GS and 512MB VRAM. Newer cards have a gpu clock of 567MHz, the older ones 400MHz. Detailed VDPAU info and supported chips can be found in the nvidia driver readme: http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Li...dix-h.html

[sion28]

I was doing some background price-checking, in case I decide to build an XBMC box... and I got to wondering, what's the benefit of an ION-based system over a mini-ITX board with a Celeron (for example)?

Here are two newegg wish lists I put together:
Celeron-based XBMC box
and
ION-based XBMC box

Both are virtually identical save for the cpu/mobo/gpu, and both are the same price ~$295USD.

Although the Celeron system has a GF9300 gpu and the ION has the GF9400, I gotta think that either one will suffice for 1080p XBMC joy, and the Celeron cpu most likely kicks the hiney of the Atom...

Not to mention the 9300/celeron system has 802.lln wireless and faster & more memory capability

So ... what's so great about the ION system? Am I missing something?

Thanks...

[sion28]

Maybe those links aren't as "public" as I thought... Basically the only difference between the two is the cpu/mobo choice:
Celeron system:
Zotac GF9300-D-E $139.99
Celeron E1400 2.0GHz Dual-core $49.99

ION System:
Zoltac IONITX-D-E $189.99

Pick your own case, hdd, memory & media drive.

Virtually the same price, $190 for mobo/gpu/cpu, but it seems like the Celeron/9300 system kicks the butt of the Atom/9400 system...

Thoughts?