My quest for a perfect (or as close to perfect as possible !) HTPC has made me change my HTPC setup multiple times over the last few years to find the right balance between power consumption, noise, size and flawless 1080p movie play. After the last upgrade this month, I think I have the almost perfect HTPC player.
CPU/Motherboard : AMD Fusion E350
The AMD E3509 is the perfect CPU and motherboard for media playback. A 1.6ghz dual core processor combined with the AMD Radeon HD 6300 on-board graphics takes care of any media that you throw at it, more importantly has on board component and optical outputs for Audio and HDMI that is capable of doing Video+Audio.
It is important to note that XBMC live works by default with a Geforce based solution because of native geforce drivers, butI prefer the Windows 7 combination with DVXA2. The second option works perfectly with both Radeon and Geforce solutions.
The best part of the solution is that the whole platform takes a measly 19watts of power. It is really unbelievable that such a powerful HTPC can work off just 19watts for the CPU and motherboard.
I got the MSI E350 board, available everywhere for less than 7k :
Msi E350IA-E45--AMD Fusion Platform | eBay
Note that when I got the motherboard from the shop, the fan was running really fast and making more noise that I liked. After a BIOS update to the latest on the MSI speed, the fan is hardly heard and is really silent now.
RAM : 2gb or 4gb DDR3
DDR3 is dead cheap now and it makes a lot of sense to get 4gb of memory to run Windows 7 comfortably.
The cheapest ram I got, 1600 for two sticks of 2gb each : EVM Strontium 2GB DDR3 Desktop RAM Memory Module | eBay
Cabinet :
Choice 1 : CFI Cube A8989
This is a beautiful cabinet that is really small and absolutely cute. It comes with a 150w PSU and is perfect as a HTPC if you intend to use a large (3.5") hard drive.
If you want some specific details of the cabinet, look at this site:
CFI Cube Casing for Intel Atom | Surfnux's Weblog
Choice 2: PANACHE T3311 : Panache
This is the one I choose. It is a really small cabinet and is very cramped, but works very well if you have a external hard drive to store your movies and only need a 2.5" small drive to boot Windows 7 and XBMC. More importantly, it comes with a DC power convertor in the small chassis that provides power via a laptop like adaptor. So no fans and zero noise from the PSU.
Hard drive : Determined by the cabinet choice above !
I went for a Kingston 30gb SSD for Rs 3300 from Primeabgb. Loads Windows and XBMC in less then 10 seconds and browsing movies is instant. This ia a perfect choice with the Panache. If you went for the CFI cabinet, you can get a 2tb internal hard drive for cheap and add a 30gb partition for Windows 7 and XBMC.
Getting it all together
Assemble the above, install Windows 7, the ATI drivers and XBMC 10.1. Start XBMC and enable DVXA2 in the system settings and you will find that every movie plays flawlessly over HDMI and CPU consumption never exceeds 15%.
Add a good media remote control for about Rs 1000 and it all works flawlessly.
It is now almost perfect HTPC solution :-)
CPU/Motherboard : AMD Fusion E350
The AMD E3509 is the perfect CPU and motherboard for media playback. A 1.6ghz dual core processor combined with the AMD Radeon HD 6300 on-board graphics takes care of any media that you throw at it, more importantly has on board component and optical outputs for Audio and HDMI that is capable of doing Video+Audio.
It is important to note that XBMC live works by default with a Geforce based solution because of native geforce drivers, butI prefer the Windows 7 combination with DVXA2. The second option works perfectly with both Radeon and Geforce solutions.
The best part of the solution is that the whole platform takes a measly 19watts of power. It is really unbelievable that such a powerful HTPC can work off just 19watts for the CPU and motherboard.
I got the MSI E350 board, available everywhere for less than 7k :
Msi E350IA-E45--AMD Fusion Platform | eBay
Note that when I got the motherboard from the shop, the fan was running really fast and making more noise that I liked. After a BIOS update to the latest on the MSI speed, the fan is hardly heard and is really silent now.
RAM : 2gb or 4gb DDR3
DDR3 is dead cheap now and it makes a lot of sense to get 4gb of memory to run Windows 7 comfortably.
The cheapest ram I got, 1600 for two sticks of 2gb each : EVM Strontium 2GB DDR3 Desktop RAM Memory Module | eBay
Cabinet :
Choice 1 : CFI Cube A8989
This is a beautiful cabinet that is really small and absolutely cute. It comes with a 150w PSU and is perfect as a HTPC if you intend to use a large (3.5") hard drive.
If you want some specific details of the cabinet, look at this site:
CFI Cube Casing for Intel Atom | Surfnux's Weblog
Choice 2: PANACHE T3311 : Panache
This is the one I choose. It is a really small cabinet and is very cramped, but works very well if you have a external hard drive to store your movies and only need a 2.5" small drive to boot Windows 7 and XBMC. More importantly, it comes with a DC power convertor in the small chassis that provides power via a laptop like adaptor. So no fans and zero noise from the PSU.
Hard drive : Determined by the cabinet choice above !
I went for a Kingston 30gb SSD for Rs 3300 from Primeabgb. Loads Windows and XBMC in less then 10 seconds and browsing movies is instant. This ia a perfect choice with the Panache. If you went for the CFI cabinet, you can get a 2tb internal hard drive for cheap and add a 30gb partition for Windows 7 and XBMC.
Getting it all together
Assemble the above, install Windows 7, the ATI drivers and XBMC 10.1. Start XBMC and enable DVXA2 in the system settings and you will find that every movie plays flawlessly over HDMI and CPU consumption never exceeds 15%.
Add a good media remote control for about Rs 1000 and it all works flawlessly.
It is now almost perfect HTPC solution :-)
5 comments:
pictures please
Hi vinayaga,
Thanks a lot for your blog on HTPC. Request to help to build Media PC primarily targeted towards Audio playback feeding to Stereo amplifier.
What's the best way around?
Do we have sound cards with RCA output which i can plugin into amp?
Thank
Chid
Your post has given me a good place to start with. I have an old pc of SFF which is just lying in the trash, so if I pick up this mother board and the RAM you suggested, I should be just good to go. The existing 300w PSU and 120 gb HDD in the pc should work fine for me?
Thanks
Ravi, 300w psu should be more than enough for a basic machine assuming the CPU is not a high end power guzzzler. 120gb hdd is also a perfect choice. Let me know hpow it goes.
Hey Buddy.. I just saw your thread on HFV and your your post here.. I have a Intel C2D + intel 965 mobo based HTPC and want to reduce its size as its lying on the floor and making the room messy. Initially i was trying to see if i can just change the case but seems like all ATX cases are of more than 15 inches of height and depth, and i can have max 12 inches of depth / height so that i can put my htpc inside a drawer...
Then i came across your Almost Perfect HTPC thread..and looked at the cases you had considered.. seem like CFI cube will be perfect for me and is also not too expensive.. however i may have to change the mobo to mini ATX...
Now i have one question for you.. i have Radeon 4850 vedio card.. and for that reason i had changed my psu to a 500 watt psu ( or may be 400 wats ) so i may want to use that psu even in the CFI Cube ( if i am buying it)
Is it possible to remove the psu that comes with the CFI Cube and replace it my PSU that i am using currently ( the one with 400 or 500 watts)
I am not sure if PSUs come in different sizes, hence this question.
Also do you have any other VFM solution for me in mind? if so please do share that as well..
Thanks for your help in advance and hope to hear from you soon.
Regards,
Naren
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