The Official HTPC Thread

Post by **enderzero** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 10:05 am

Ion 2 looks like it will be a stand alone graphics solution... fine by me I suppose but it will equal more expensive applications.

Right now the dream Netbox/HTPC setup would be a PineTrail 510 with an Ion2 but Intel and Nvidia just won't get along. It looks like summer at the earliest so I'm seriously considering buying an Acer Aspire 1600 and running a very cheap Linux XBMC Live HTPC (strictly for media) until the market matures a bit more and I can get one that will run both Linux and W7 well for real PC tasks.

McNevin · Post by **McNevin** » Tue Mar 02, 2010 3:30 pm

Do we have a HTPC thread? Oh well, this netbook thread kinda deals with both topics.

Anyway, have a look at this jobbie!

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 9:36 am

Looks amazing, and would even do fairly well in the emulation department too. Maybe not Wii emulation as I've grown accustomed to in my living room, but it would do the classics in tip-toppity fashion. The netbooks I've had even run N64 emulators well, so at least up to that era works well.

Post by **enderzero** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 2:46 pm

Now we do.

That shuttle is officially teh HAWTest HTPC yet!

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 3:30 pm

Go HTPC Thread!!!

So I don't know if I've posted what's in mine, but I got a nice small Silverstone case (really shallow depth, average height, and average width black case with thick aluminum front panel.) It's not completely aluminum like my old Lian-Li one, but it's small, has 3 120mm fans crammed in it, and looks quite good.

It has a Gigabyte uATX board, with triple core Phenom II processor, and 4GB DDR3. Using a 5770 for video.

This is a very cheap system, and seems to play games nearly as well as my main PC does. It's quiet, and is complete overkill for my lowly 720p (768 actually) TV.

I went through several coolers before I found one that fit, and wasn't extremely loud. My usual vertical Zalman choices don't fit, because the BDROM sits right over the CPU socket. I got an all copper flat Zalman (the round kind) with PWM fan control, and it appears to be covered in nickel or something like that because even though it's all copper, it looks silvery.

Anyway, it's an amazing HTPC+EGPCG for very little $.

Beeeph · Post by **Beeeph** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 11:07 am

just bought one of these for $84 on sale. It works really well, looks and sounds gorgeous, and so far it's handled ever HD format and Bluray file I've thrown at it. And even better, I can finally ditch my Xbox360 for streaming HD movies!

No good for the emu's, but great for vids!

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 11:52 am

Revised...

Post by **enderzero** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 12:21 pm

How's the UI beeeeph?

McNevin · Post by **McNevin** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 5:42 pm

While I'm waiting for the XS35 to come out...

...I've upgraded my original XBOX to the latest stable, and (likely last ever) release of XBMC for the classic XBOX. Bought a component cable off of eBay, and I'm enjoying the 1080i HD version of the Project Mayhem Skin PM3.HD.

McNevin · Post by **McNevin** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 1:02 pm

Nobody cares about my original xbox, well maybe you care about this:

http://usb.brando.com/rii-mini-wireless ... 34d15.html

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 1:22 pm

I have a mod chip for my original XBox. I still haven't put it in though.

I still do want to put it in, and load it up with my old favorites... But... Not really as a media player...

Post by **enderzero** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 3:09 pm

Wow that's teh HAWT remote.

Post by **enderzero** » Sun Mar 28, 2010 12:21 am

Some good new options out there on the tail end of 330s. With the 510s coming very soon as well as the Boxee (Tegra), it is driving down 330s. I think it might be time for me to jump in.

I'm liking this guy for $310 on a newegg super deal: Zotac Ionitx-f-e + Coolermaster + DVD + 2GB + 750GB Seagate

Then there is this new Asus Board with every bell and whistle for $200. But seems like there aren't a lot of Mini-ITX cases out there w/o power supplies.

Then again the XS35 and ZBOX are on the way - but it might be a little while.

McNevin · Post by **McNevin** » Sun Mar 28, 2010 12:35 am

Are any of the non XS35/ZBOX ION2?

Post by **enderzero** » Sun Mar 28, 2010 11:09 am

There is a bit of controversy circling Ion2. Officially it doesn't even exist. Any Ion with an Atom 330 or lower is Ion1 but Pinetrail (any Intel higher than a 330) doesn't support integrated nvidia graphics so anything being called Ion2 (like this board) is actually just Pinetrail + a Geforce210.

Here is a good round up of all Pinetrail options. And here is the Ion2 thread at XBMC.

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The Official HTPC Thread