[fricfrac]

I have been a long time user, and big fan, of XBMC for the XBOX.
But, quite some time ago the lan port died and I’ve been stuck with putting files on a thumb drive to be able to play them back on the Xbox which has become a real PITA.
So, it’s time to build a new rig and would like some opinions on how capable my setup will be when I get it finished.

Here is the Hardware I have:

Asus M3N78-VM motherboard (8200 nvidia)
AMD Athlon II X2 240 (2.8 GHz)
Corsair XMS2-6400 DDR2-800 (2X1GB)
2X 320gb Seagate Barracuda Hard drives (sata2 3gb/s)

I also have an HP USB IR receiver and hope to soon get a Thermaltake Bach case and a power supply so I can finally put it all together.
I plan to use XBMC Live or maybe Linux so I can use VDPAU.

Will this build handle anything I can throw at it or will I have to be careful with the files I want to playback and the skins I choose to use?
Also, will I have any problems setting up my Harmony 880 remote to control this system?

Thanx for any feedback.

[ion_man]

Your hardware selection looks very good, in fact it's very similar to what's recommended in the example build in the "Best Linux HTPC Motherboards" article on Linuxtech.net.

Don't worry, it will handle anything you can throw at it.

[marlboroman1]

I think the 8200 has a hardware bug when using VDPAU as do some other Nvidia 8 series cards so changing for an Nvidia 9 series solution it might be a better option. I did a quick search and seems you may able get that card working if your up for a little linux jiggery pokery

http://forum.xbmc.org/search.php?searchid=3892071

Your cpu should be able decode most content in any event as far as your hardware compatibility with linux in general I can't help.

[ion_man]

I think the 8200 has a hardware bug when using VDPAU as do some other Nvidia 8 series cards so changing for an Nvidia 9 series solution it might be a better option. I did a quick search and seems you may able get that card working if your up for a little linux jiggery pokery

http://forum.xbmc.org/search.php?searchid=3892071

Your cpu should be able decode most content in any event as far as your hardware compatibility with linux in general I can't help.

It's not a hardware bug, the 8200 is perfectly fine, XBMC apparently has a bug in the stable release that affects it, therefore you need to get a more recent svn version.
Don't blame the hardware for a software bug!
(certainly no need to buy a new mobo!!)

[fricfrac]

So the stable release isn’t all that stable
Thanx for the replies.
Is a basic USB based IR receiver all I‘m going to need to control my setup?

[ion_man]

Is a basic USB based IR receiver all I‘m going to need to control my setup?

If it's compatible yes. Most (if not all) MCE compatible USB IR-receivers work fine with XBMC.

[rbonon]

One detail: make sure your motherboard has good support for Wake-On-USB, so that you can easily and quickly put your box on Suspend to Ram and wake it back, for example using a remote.

Sometimes it is assumed this is an included feature when it is not. Recently I put together my HTPC, and I scrapped ASUS. Despite they have good hardware, quite some of their mobos strangely do not support this.

I chose a Gigabyte GA-E7AUM-DS2H, and I am VERY happy with it. Wake-On-USB and resume work perfectly, as does audio over HDMI on Linux and VDPAU with the Intel 9400 GPU.

Good luck with your setup.

[fricfrac]

rbonon, the wake on usb is somthing I'll look at but not a deal breaker, I've got no problem getting off the couch to turn the HTPC of and on.

Thanx again ion_man for the replies.