Minimal win7 HTPC - what's available?
- DigiTechMedia
- Posts: 24
- Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2012 7:36 am
- Location:
- HTPC Specs:
+1
Mobo and CPU are exactly what I use in my builds. Different case though. Rock solid and have had no RMA's on the hardware. Ever.
Billy
Mobo and CPU are exactly what I use in my builds. Different case though. Rock solid and have had no RMA's on the hardware. Ever.
Billy
-
- Posts: 154
- Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 1:52 pm
- Location:
- HTPC Specs:
so thats $100 processor and memory
$100 for mobo - link does not work
$100 for box and power supply
$100 for mobo - link does not work
$100 for box and power supply
-
- Posts: 145
- Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 12:17 am
- Location:
- HTPC Specs:
Zotac with the AMD-350 runs GREAT! You can get a full setup for 300 only missing a tuner. It has on board Radeon graphics that get the job done. It handles HDTV coming from my prime, plays HD MKV's perfectly, and handled HD netflix once I threw another $15 at it to upgrade it to 4gigs of ram. I use it on my office TV and there is no difference compared to my living room server except for bootup time. (my server has a SSD)
-
- Posts: 726
- Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2011 2:56 pm
- Location: Barnsley Sth Yorks
- HTPC Specs:
Not sure why anyone has problems with Intel for HD either I've got a sandybridge Celeron that runs 1080p (over gigabit lan) without issue. I had 1st gen clarkdale and it was fine too.
I would recommend the msi itx board i have in my bedroom and dare say ivy bridge would be even better with 7th gen graphics.
Quite frankly find the mac mini being put forward absurd... Eye candy - yes, will it work - yes, do you need a mortgage to buy one - yes!!!!
I would recommend the msi itx board i have in my bedroom and dare say ivy bridge would be even better with 7th gen graphics.
Quite frankly find the mac mini being put forward absurd... Eye candy - yes, will it work - yes, do you need a mortgage to buy one - yes!!!!
Lee
-
- Posts: 726
- Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2011 3:02 pm
- Location: Amherst, NY
- HTPC Specs:
slowbiscuit wrote:And suffer with crappy performance if you cheap out that much...
Not sure if that response was meant for the Atom suggestion. If someone wants a simple "DVR" there is no need for super duper hardware. Atom/Hudson (or whatever is AMD's version) is more than capable of running 2-3 TV tuner streams to a hard drive. It is not like he/she is planning on running commercial skip and encoding on the machine. They just want a "DVR"
Atom/Hudson based DVR will still be light years ahead of what is commercially available from Motorolla/Scientific Atlanta/TiVO.
-
- Posts: 96
- Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2013 2:44 pm
- Location:
- HTPC Specs:
I agree....using teh Zotac ID80 strictly for a DVR and works great!
blueiedgod wrote:slowbiscuit wrote:And suffer with crappy performance if you cheap out that much...
Not sure if that response was meant for the Atom suggestion. If someone wants a simple "DVR" there is no need for super duper hardware. Atom/Hudson (or whatever is AMD's version) is more than capable of running 2-3 TV tuner streams to a hard drive. It is not like he/she is planning on running commercial skip and encoding on the machine. They just want a "DVR"
Atom/Hudson based DVR will still be light years ahead of what is commercially available from Motorolla/Scientific Atlanta/TiVO.
-
- Posts: 1477
- Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2012 6:52 pm
- Location:
- HTPC Specs:
I've had great luck with refurbs from Tigerdirect. I got one for my parents recently and added some memory and a $15 AMD 6450 for video and was good to go, for well under $200 total. Got my other parts (tuners, etc.) second hand as well.
-
- Posts: 154
- Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 1:52 pm
- Location:
- HTPC Specs:
Now looking at the JYNXBOX running XBMC as an alternative to all others.
-
- Posts: 154
- Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 1:52 pm
- Location:
- HTPC Specs:
JYNXBOX costs $120
-
- Posts: 586
- Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2011 10:42 pm
- Location:
- HTPC Specs:
I saw a few things at Microcenter like these the other day also, no idea on how well it works, but worth checking out, Android based so probably pretty open to tinkering with.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/3945 ... dia_Player
http://www.microcenter.com/product/3945 ... dia_Player
-
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sun Nov 11, 2012 1:57 pm
- Location:
- HTPC Specs:
Well, it won't have a TV tuner capability and would only give streaming (netflix/hulu/amazon/etc) but you can put xbmc on a raspberry pi for as little as $30.
For windows media center, I would go with an htpc case or a mini case that can be put horizontally on your stand/rack since you can't hide it.
For windows media center, I would go with an htpc case or a mini case that can be put horizontally on your stand/rack since you can't hide it.
-
- Posts: 154
- Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 1:52 pm
- Location:
- HTPC Specs:
Thinking this is an eventual direction with some OPENELEC software installed on the RASPII but you still need a tuner and a remote. maybe find an external USB tuner with a remote that can run under LINUXMichianaMCR wrote:Well, it won't have a TV tuner capability and would only give streaming (netflix/hulu/amazon/etc) but you can put xbmc on a raspberry pi for as little as $30.
For windows media center, I would go with an htpc case or a mini case that can be put horizontally on your stand/rack since you can't hide it.
Last edited by offroad on Thu Jul 04, 2013 11:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
-
- Posts: 154
- Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 1:52 pm
- Location:
- HTPC Specs:
mdavej wrote:I've had great luck with refurbs from Tigerdirect. I got one for my parents recently and added some memory and a $15 AMD 6450 for video and was good to go, for well under $200 total. Got my other parts (tuners, etc.) second hand as well.
these are terrific prices and look like a serious direction to go for those who want a cheap HTPC. Thanks Lucky Day, and hope folks realize that this is always the direction to take.