sam9s HTPC Project! powered by XBMC!!

[baijuxavior]

FYI - I assembled an HTPC using AMD fusion and the total cost excluding HDD and OS is approximately 12K. Components I used are -

GIGABYTE GA-E350N-USB3 Motherboard

CORSAIR 4GB DDR3

Cooler Master Elite 100

You will also need wifi dongle, remote control and HDMI cable.

 

[sam9s]

well i would like to go DIY way with OS and XBMC. I don't have any old hardware. I use laptops only. I do have one old laptop, I guess it can be of no use for HTPC.
For display, I have LG 42" full HD 1080P LCD and PJ.
I would like to build a media server / storage. As i had mentioned earlier I do have WD media player with 1TB external HDD for storage. However, I'm not very much satisfied with WD player. That's the reason I would like to go with HTPC with at least 1 TB internal storage which i can use with my external hard drive as well.
I don't want to go with ready made HTPCs like Zotac or Mebo. They are either too expensive or don't fulfill my requirement.

Ok so you wanna prefer to buy the assembled hardware and then configure the OS and XBMC on it ... right.

Lets start with this ... with a budget of 15-16K this is a steal deal ...

Zotac ZBox nano Plus ........

I am recommending this product for people who want an HTPC without the DIY route. Its has all the features for a decent HTPC. would play all HD content will full HD audio Bitstreaming.
It has inbuilt wifi n and bluetooth. Comes in a small form factor and should fullfuill all your requirements most of all it full fills all you points and requirements you have stated above.

Since its a PC you can pretty much install anything, including XBMC,
Its plug and play, all you need to do us install windows, install GPU drives, install XBMC.

This was AMD APU platform, we you wanna go Intel Sandybridge way then this is what I will suggest ...

Any Intel H67 micro ATX board. I will suggest Intel DH67BL ... The board is around 5K maybe less.

Couple it with an Core i3 2100 .. again not more then 5K
Add 4GB RAM ...................1.2K
1TB HDD ......................... 2.5K
Misc (cabinet keyboard mouce ...... 2K

Total :: 15700 and this might be a 1K or 2 more as I dont have the exact price of the Proc and Mobo.

A bit expensive coz we have gone latest Intel Sandy bridge way. If we go AMD way we can save a couple of more Ks. I dont like Fusion as I didnt have an exactly good ecperience with it. However with Fusion you can come up with an HTPC for as low as 12-13K


Let me know your thoughts ....

 

[esanthosh]

Any Intel H67 micro ATX board. I will suggest Intel DH67BL ... The board is around 5K maybe less.

Couple it with an Core i3 2100 .. again not more then 5K
Add 4GB RAM ...................1.2K
1TB HDD ......................... 2.5K
Misc (cabinet keyboard mouce ...... 2K

Total :: 15700 and this might be a 1K or 2 more as I dont have the exact price of the Proc and Mobo.

i3 could be a tad higher in some places. DH67 should be around 5-5.5K, though some online dealers quote it at close to 6K.

But the hard disk price is where it would hurt. Even 500GB has jumped to 3.5K and around these days post the Thai flood and Rupee depreciation. For instance, eBay price could go up-to 6K for internal HDD, though it should be available for less elsewhere (if they are not OOS that is)

 

[captainrizal]

Ok so you wanna prefer to buy the assembled hardware and then configure the OS and XBMC on it ... right.

Lets start with this ... with a budget of 15-16K this is a steal deal ...

Zotac ZBox nano Plus ........

I am recommending this product for people who want an HTPC without the DIY route. Its has all the features for a decent HTPC. would play all HD content will full HD audio Bitstreaming.
It has inbuilt wifi n and bluetooth. Comes in a small form factor and should fullfuill all your requirements most of all it full fills all you points and requirements you have stated above.

Since its a PC you can pretty much install anything, including XBMC,
Its plug and play, all you need to do us install windows, install GPU drives, install XBMC.

This was AMD APU platform, we you wanna go Intel Sandybridge way then this is what I will suggest ...

Any Intel H67 micro ATX board. I will suggest Intel DH67BL ... The board is around 5K maybe less.

Couple it with an Core i3 2100 .. again not more then 5K
Add 4GB RAM ...................1.2K
1TB HDD ......................... 2.5K
Misc (cabinet keyboard mouce ...... 2K

Total :: 15700 and this might be a 1K or 2 more as I dont have the exact price of the Proc and Mobo.

A bit expensive coz we have gone latest Intel Sandy bridge way. If we go AMD way we can save a couple of more Ks. I dont like Fusion as I didnt have an exactly good ecperience with it. However with Fusion you can come up with an HTPC for as low as 12-13K


Let me know your thoughts ....

Thanks for your suggestions. I think you misunderstood me. I have clearly mentioned in earlier post that I would like to go DIY way and would like to know the components to assemble to build a decent HTPC which can give me good PQ and hd sound. Also it should be remote controllable.
In your above post, are you suggesting me to install Intel H67 micro ATX board in Zotac mini PC? Sorry I got bit mixed up in second part of above post.
Btw, who sells Zotac mini PCs in India? I had read another mini PC called Mebo elsewhere in this forum. Is Zotac mini PC better than Mebo?

 

[rajadeep]

Thanks for your suggestions. I think you misunderstood me. I have clearly mentioned in earlier post that I would like to go DIY way and would like to know the components to assemble to build a decent HTPC which can give me good PQ and hd sound. Also it should be remote controllable.
In your above post, are you suggesting me to install Intel H67 micro ATX board in Zotac mini PC? Sorry I got bit mixed up in second part of above post.
Btw, who sells Zotac mini PCs in India? I had read another mini PC called Mebo elsewhere in this forum. Is Zotac mini PC better than Mebo?

What sam has suggested is if u want a prebuilt branded htpc in a small form factor(zotac fits in you palm) then buy a zotac zbox for around 15-16k ... If you want to go the diy route then use the components like the intel h67 & the i3 processor like he has mentioned in his post... For zotac dealers you might be able to get the list from their website...

 

[sam9s]

Thanks for your suggestions. I think you misunderstood me. I have clearly mentioned in earlier post that I would like to go DIY way and would like to know the components to assemble to build a decent HTPC which can give me good PQ and hd sound. Also it should be remote controllable.
In your above post, are you suggesting me to install Intel H67 micro ATX board in Zotac mini PC? Sorry I got bit mixed up in second part of above post.
Btw, who sells Zotac mini PCs in India? I had read another mini PC called Mebo elsewhere in this forum. Is Zotac mini PC better than Mebo?

rajadeep interpreted correctly (thanks raja), I have suggested components for a DIY only, with different options, as raja said, you can either go for a pre-built ITX based (small form factor) HTPC, in which case Zotac really is a good deal OR, you can assemble/get assembled a regular Micro ATX based HTPC with the hardware I have suggested. (i3 H67 combo)

If i3 H67 combo looks a bit expensive then we can look in to AMD counter part or AMD Fusion (which personally I dont like).

I;d say go for Zotac, that would save you from collating and assembling the hardware. Nano Plus has all the juice for a decent HTPC, plus it has a really small form factor. If by any chance you are unable to get it, then, Lets just purchase independent components and if possible get it assembled from the dealer itself from where u will purchase it. Usually they do by taking a couple of bucks extra, that would save you from doing the hardware part by yourself.

We can then take over the OS and XBMC part.

Zotac mini PC are sold by their dealer in India, as raja said, a list of which can be obtained from their indian website. Anyway I have searched it for you, follow the link below to get the list of all Indian Zotac dealer across india.

ZOTAC - It's time to play! - Where to buy

 

[captainrizal]

rajadeep interpreted correctly (thanks raja), I have suggested components for a DIY only, with different options, as raja said, you can either go for a pre-built ITX based (small form factor) HTPC, in which case Zotac really is a good deal OR, you can assemble/get assembled a regular Micro ATX based HTPC with the hardware I have suggested. (i3 H67 combo)

If i3 H67 combo looks a bit expensive then we can look in to AMD counter part or AMD Fusion (which personally I dont like).

Thanks Sam, I think I will go for assembled HTPC. Looks like Nano plus doesn't come with a remote and keyboard for browsing. I will check with the dealers for more details tomorrow after the market opens. In the meantime I checked with Theitdepot - India's First IT Online Shopping Store for silverstone cabinet which is available with or I can go for coolermaster cabinet as one of the forum member suggested. All I need now is a list of components for assembling to make a decent HTPC within budget of 12-15k. Trust you can help me in thid matter. The HTPC should be remote controllable and with HD sound. I can get all the components assembled here.

 

[sam9s]

^^ Ok sounds good, for the remote, I prefer the smartphone route, as physical remote will require to purchase additional hardware (the IR receiver etc). So if you have an Android/iOS smartphone, all you need is an XBMC offical remote and you can control your XBMC from it remotely.

Coming to cabinet, silver stone cabinet are expensive, Cooler master does not have any HTPC exclusive cabinet, though you can use any cabinet for the same. Mine is LC10 I guess (check the first page) which is the basic start for silverstone AFA HTPC cases goes. It was around 7K.

Lastly the hardware, which route would you prefer to take, Intel ix, or AMD. If intel is what you wanna take, the cheapest best combi is i3 H67 which I have discussed above. It has build in HD3000 GPU which can provide you full 1080p HD with HD audio. Intel DH67BL is a good board, however if you wanna go for better quality ( and a bit expensive as well) you can opt for ASUS H67 line of series

 

[captainrizal]

^^ Ok sounds good, for the remote, I prefer the smartphone route, as physical remote will require to purchase additional hardware (the IR receiver etc). So if you have an Android/iOS smartphone, all you need is an XBMC offical remote and you can control your XBMC from it remotely.



Ok for remote I have apple iphone and Ipad 2. I think apple have apps for XBMC. I checked with silverstone dealer in chennai, they have cabinets which cost about 5.5k excluding shipping. I will decide cabinet later. For Hardware, I will go with Intel DH67BL with i3 processor and at least 2TB internal hard drive. I think HDD prices has gone up dramatically in last few months. Tht's where it hurts. I will check with how much it costs to assemble all these components and then decide.
I checked few Zotac Nano videos on youtube and found it playing XBMC effortlessly. Have you used it personally? I'm bit double minded after watching the videos. I will be travelling to Kolkata in couple of days I will check the performance of Zotac Nano there and then decide.

 

[sam9s]

Haven't used NANO personally, but I have assembled an HTPC for one of my customer (friend) based on similar hardware as NANO. As I said, it has enough juice to play all content easily. The plus point is its compactness and tiny form factor. Plus the case has a very polished look.

Here a reference how small it is ...

 

[captainrizal]

Haven't used NANO personally, but I have assembled an HTPC for one of my customer (friend) based on similar hardware as NANO. As I said, it has enough juice to play all content easily. The plus point is its compactness and tiny form factor. Plus the case has a very polished look.

Here a reference how small it is ...

Yeah Nano looks very compact and tiny. I will check with dealers in Kolkata. Hope they have the stuff. Btw, do you assemble HTPC for your friends?

 

[baijuxavior]

zotac is available in ebay. ZOTAC AMD ZBOX NANO AD10 WIFI REMOTE MINI PC USB 3.0 HDMI MEDIA CENTER | eBay

ZOTAC AMD ZBOX NANO 2GB 250GB AD10 WIFI REMOTE MINI PC USB 3.0 HDMI MEDIA CENTER | eBay

 

[s_sachin]

The nano looks cool , competition for the media players and with all the software options available. Only wish it had an optical out for music set up apart from the USB.

 

[baijuxavior]

You can use HDMI if you have AVR.

 

[s_sachin]

actually i had pc to DAC connection in mind for stereo. something I do with my HTPC today, coaxial to DACMagic. And this is better than USB input.

 

[haisaikat]

sam9s, thanks for posting the pic. this is so small, just cannot beleive. this box looks like ZOTAC from what is written on it. What was the entire configuration? Can you help me in finding out a configuration that supports remote (but without the remote) so that I can use Logitech Hamony? I heard that xbmc supports remote (non mobile) but have no further gyan on this.

 

[s_sachin]

I think sam uses his mobile as a remote with the xmbc remote app. I use my harmony 525 with xmbc and it works great. I had a cheap media center remote that i boutgh from ebay, using its IR usb attachment but with the harmony remote. You add device as media center to harmony. If it does not get any commands just learn from the basic remote and you are good after that.

 

[baijuxavior]

You will need a IR receiver to use your Logitech Harmony. I am currently using the IR receiver of this remote: Multimedia IR PC Remote Controller with USB Receiver | eBay

I configured my Harmony 525 to control xbmc using this IR receiver and a supporting software called EventGhost. Works great. But I am specifically looking for HP MCE Remote Control.

 

[sam9s]

Yeah Nano looks very compact and tiny. I will check with dealers in Kolkata. Hope they have the stuff. Btw, do you assemble HTPC for your friends?

Yep been assembling PCs for ages now.(as an interest). Usually I charge a small amount for the efforts, but if its a close friend of mine, I do it for free.

sam9s, thanks for posting the pic. this is so small, just cannot beleive. this box looks like ZOTAC from what is written on it. What was the entire configuration? Can you help me in finding out a configuration that supports remote (but without the remote) so that I can use Logitech Hamony? I heard that xbmc supports remote (non mobile) but have no further gyan on this.

As sachin/baijuxavior mentioned any media center IR remote will work with XBMC. Usually people go for with windows media center remote or xbox media center remote, but any basic IR device works. It then can be configured with Harmony as any IR devide. I personally use Android XBMC remote, which is a bit more versatile to use plus no line of sight needed for it to send command (unlike IR remote) so I find it more convenient to use.

 

[captainrizal]

Yep been assembling PCs for ages now.(as an interest). Usually I charge a small amount for the efforts, but if its a close friend of mine, I do it for free.

Sam I'm getting Zotac Nano AD10 without HDD and RAM for 15K from a Kolkata dealer. With 4 GB corsair RAM and tax its costing about 17K. Is that okay? I'm planning to use my external 1TB HDD with Zotac Nano for time being as the hard drive prices are sky rocketing now. Can you get assembled same config cheaper than 17K? Can I use Zotac Nano remote for XBMC?:indifferent14: