DIY HTPC vs Pre-Built

[alyx]

So I'm considering building my own HTPC. Been reading Assassin's guides (etc). However, yesterday I bumped into Zotax Zboxes (as well as others) that seem to be very simple barebone HTPCs which people report support tuners and WMC.

Now my question, is it really worth spending ~$500+ on a custom built HTPC, when you can get a Zbox for $250-350? What will I be missing out on if I really only want the HTPC to replace my Comcast set-top boxes.

[adam1991]

Nothing. Only the satisfaction of it being built to your specifications, while going off-the-shelf may require that you compromise in some fashion.

Although to be fair, I don't think I spent more than $450 for hardware when I built mine.

What is the real cost once you get a large storage disc and some RAM?

[WarrenH]

Well, and the choice of components and their quality

[alyx]

Of course, all good points.

How about atom processors, are they really as under powered as many say?

My largest cost for building my own htpc is currently the proc. Since IvyBridge i3s aren't out yet, I'm stuck basically needed to get an i5, and for the one I want that's an easy $230 right there.

I guess I can just wait for IvyBridge i3 to come out and then make my decision...

I guess I'm in a position where if I'm going to invest time, money in building a machine, I might as well make it more multi-purpose. And with that cost will probably go up as I tried to add more and more capabilities.

[bobbob]

i'm considering a prebuilt for a client htpc but i'd want the flexibility in my main box

[adam1991]

My largest cost for building my own htpc is currently the proc. Since IvyBridge i3s aren't out yet, I'm stuck basically needed to get an i5, and for the one I want that's an easy $230 right there.

Why do you think you need an i5? An i3 is more than enough--and I paid $100 for mine, all 3.2GHz goodness of it. I plugged it into my $52 Intel DH55 mobo. Magic happened.

I guess I'm in a position where if I'm going to invest time, money in building a machine, I might as well make it more multi-purpose.

To do what things?

If you want reliability, you want it to do *fewer* things.

[Wolfshadw]

AMD Athlon II X2-250

Sapphire Radeon HD 6670

This is the processor I just installed into my HTPC. I was doing some dusting and decided today was a good day to swap my cabled PSU for my modular one and heck, if I'm doing that, I might as well go ahead and swap the X2-240 for the X2-250 I have. Of course, with DRM, I'm now in the process of reinstalling Windows, but for a system completely dedicated to media playback, do you really need anything more than this (and a discrete graphics card)?

Just because it's out-dated doesn't mean it's useless. Pair that with the AMD HD 6670 and at $130, you've got a system more than ready to handle any HTPC duty.

-Wolf sends

[assassin]

Build your own.

[alyx]

Build your own.

Of course you would say that

@Assassin - I've got a suggestion for a paid guide you can do. You could create a chart/table summarizing how different processors compare in terms of system tasks that they can handle (when it comes to HTPC). I already subscribed your guides and would definitely be interested to see more paid hardware related guides!

[Venom51]

Personally as a viewing device I find the little Atom/Ion systems to be just fine. I wouldn't want to be recording adn watching on the same box but for playback they are more than capable. My main HTPC that does all the recording is a Core2 6300 and that's plenty for what we do with it.

[assassin]

Personally as a viewing device I find the little Atom/Ion systems to be just fine. I wouldn't want to be recording adn watching on the same box but for playback they are more than capable. My main HTPC that does all the recording is a Core2 6300 and that's plenty for what we do with it.

Why would anyone buy an atom? They ARE underpowered and already can't do some of the things that I want my HTPC to do (like 1080p Netflix). This doesn't bode well for what the atom or zacate platform will be able to do in the next few years.

You can get a G530/G620 based system for the same or not much more than the atom which will be many fold stronger and better than the atom.

Atom N530 Passmark Score: 297
G530 Passmark Score: 2274
G620 Passmark Score: 2475

I don't recommend the atom or zacate at all in my free hardware guide anymore.

[WarrenH]

Agree with Assassin, ask anyone who's actually using an Atom
Search Tomshardware.com for processor comparisons

[itznfb]

Llano/Trinity > IntelHD.

[tommo]

is it worth holding out the ivybridge i3's ?

I was going to build a new itx rig soon and just from glancing at a few reviews it looks like the ivybridge platform may mean I can play a few games on the HTPC (nothing too taxing) without a dedicated card.

[assassin]

Llano/Trinity > IntelHD.

For what? Gaming?

For 1080p there is absolutely no difference in PQ.

[assassin]

is it worth holding out the ivybridge i3's ?

I was going to build a new itx rig soon and just from glancing at a few reviews it looks like the ivybridge platform may mean I can play a few games on the HTPC (nothing too taxing) without a dedicated card.

The HD4000 iGPU is a rough equivalent of the ATI 6570 for gaming.

And the i3 CPU will be plenty for most games and won't be the limiting factor.

[itznfb]

Llano/Trinity > IntelHD.

For what? Gaming?

For 1080p there is absolutely no difference in PQ.

For anything video related. Especially Bluray and recorded 1080 playback. If you're saying there's no difference for a media center then you're smoking something.

[assassin]

Llano/Trinity > IntelHD.

For what? Gaming?

For 1080p there is absolutely no difference in PQ.

For anything video related. Especially Bluray and recorded 1080 playback. If you're saying there's no difference for a media center then you're smoking something.

There is no difference as tested by myself, Nevcairal (creator of LAV and one of the foremost experts on picture quality on the PC), Shark007 (creator of the Shark007 codec pack) and many others.

Show me one comparison that uses actual picture quality (not benchmarks) to show a difference. There simply is not any.

So it appears you are the one who is "smoking something".

From Nevcairal:

There is no difference.

If there is, you're suffering from the "default configuration" syndrome. The default settings between vendors are vastly different, which gives them quite distinct "out of the box" experiences. If you like an over-satured and over-processed image (as many people do, they think on the first glance it looks more "life like"), then you will think AMD/ATI looks better.

If you bother to turn all post-processing off (or turn it on for NVIDIA/Intel), then it'll look pretty similar.
Sadly this isn't widely known, and AMD/ATI keeps turning on all the post-processing to win those people over.

PS:
I've actually tested a wide range of GPUs in my HTPC, both from NVIDIA and AMD/ATI, and i'm quite positive that given equal configuration, they do look the same. Getting the same configuration out of both vendors setups isn't always trivial, because options have different names or may even be hidden to some degree, though. Intel i haven't tested all that much, i only have an HD3000 in my main PC, which is not connected to the TV.

From Shark007:

100% agreed. I test with all 3 top manufacturers... on a daily basis.
none has an advantage over any other.

[Jade10145]

Of course, all good points.

How about atom processors, are they really as under powered as many say?

My largest cost for building my own htpc is currently the proc. Since IvyBridge i3s aren't out yet, I'm stuck basically needed to get an i5, and for the one I want that's an easy $230 right there.

I guess I can just wait for IvyBridge i3 to come out and then make my decision...

I guess I'm in a position where if I'm going to invest time, money in building a machine, I might as well make it more multi-purpose. And with that cost will probably go up as I tried to add more and more capabilities.

From my experience, the atom is pretty darn underpowered. I used to have (still do just collecting dust at this point) a Acer Revo Aspire 3600 with one of the first gen atom processors in it I think. It was all stock except for 1GB of readyboost. It was capable of playing 1080p content without issue but in general the whole experience and naviagation in WMC was very very slow. I noticed alot of hang ups when trying to open items and move around WMC. Now keep in mind that I was also running a few side apps but even when I removed apps that were taking the processor and RAM the machine still ran awfully slow.

So basically I could play ripped blu rays, but it took forever to actually get there. It WAS NOT fiance friendly at all.

I ended up building my first machine because I wanted something I knew would be able to keep up and would meet the WAF. Although it was a bit harrowing to build my own machine at first it taught me alot. Not sure if this is your first machine or not, but it was definitley a learning experience for me and I am glad that I did it. If anything it helped me understand pre-built machines a lot better.

I think you should ask yourself some questions.

Is this machine going to be a standalone or act as a server for other clients?
Do you want to grow from this machine? Add stuff, tv tuners etc. as time goes along?

As for the i3 Sandy Bridge, I have one and it works just fine. I only realized the IB's were on there way after I bought the SB. I thought about it and it did kind of suck, but really with technology nothing stays current for very long. Maybe since you know the i3SB's are around the corner you should wait. How bad do you want it LOL? Personally I ave very little patience.

PS I realize that the atoms are way past the first gen now. Not sure how fast they are though and if there worth it.

Edit: Take my words with a grain of salt. I am pretty new to this whole arena.

[itznfb]

I'm not talking about image quality. I'm talking about playback performance. The Intel chips (with exception of HD4000) struggle at HD playback. Especially uncompressed. Media center often crashes or videos will just stop playing. Obviously mmv depending on the actual content.