ScottSilver Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I've been a long time Neowin reader (2 years or more!) but have finally decided to join. I feel a little cheeky with this being my first post but what better reason to join? I'm looking to build ~?300 HTPC. I want to be able to run XBMC on it and it must be able to play Blu-rays at 1080p. Therefore, I'm looking to include a Blu-ray reader also. I'm guessing it'll need to handle 20MB/s video playback to be able to display it at 1920x1080 flawlessly. I've had a look on Scan and got a build just short of ?300 with a Blu-ray drive and a 2TB HDD but I'm not sure if motherboards such as this can cope with Blu-ray output. Oh, and don't worry about Windows as I have a spare copy of Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, or I may even use Linux... if I can figure out how to install XBMC on it and keep it updated. I'll be very appreciative of anyone who takes the time to help me make my choice :) Thanks for having me! Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1012062--/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDavy Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I've been a long time Neowin reader (2 years or more!) but have finally decided to join. I feel a little cheeky with this being my first post but what better reason to join? I'm looking to build ~?300 HTPC. I want to be able to run XBMC on it and it must be able to play Blu-rays at 1080p. Therefore, I'm looking to include a Blu-ray reader also. I'm guessing it'll need to handle 20MB/s video playback to be able to display it at 1920x1080 flawlessly. I've had a look on Scan and got a build just short of ?300 with a Blu-ray drive and a 2TB HDD but I'm not sure if motherboards such as this can cope with Blu-ray output. Oh, and don't worry about Windows as I have a spare copy of Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, or I may even use Linux... if I can figure out how to install XBMC on it and keep it updated. I'll be very appreciative of anyone who takes the time to help me make my choice :) Thanks for having me! I had an AMD 880G motherboard and Phenom II X6 1055T running in an Antec NSK-2480 micro ATX chassis with an LG GGC-H20L Bluray reader - the integrated Radeon HD 4250 was able to handle Bluray playback @ 1080p. I even used it to backup Bluray movies to the HDD via AnyDVD HD. If you're looking at building a low-cost system, I'd definitely recommend going down the AMD route. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1012062--/#findComment-594157350 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottSilver Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 I had an AMD 880G motherboard and Phenom II X6 1055T running in an Antec NSK-2480 micro ATX chassis with an LG GGC-H20L Bluray reader - the integrated Radeon HD 4250 was able to handle Bluray playback @ 1080p. I even used it to backup Bluray movies to the HDD via AnyDVD HD. If you're looking at building a low-cost system, I'd definitely recommend going down the AMD route. I've done research and apparently this AMD integrated CPU/GPU board can handle YouTube 1080p, MKV 720p/1080p and Blu-ray at 1080p. So, I wanted to thank you and yes I will be going with AMD. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1012062--/#findComment-594158678 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottSilver Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 I've just popped over to Novatech and managed to put a build together for just under ?299. See the image below for the build components: What do you guys and gals think? :) Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1012062--/#findComment-594158954 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Fusion E350 will handle 1080p bluray just fine. Also, Linux version of XBMC doesn't support the latest AMD chip out of the box. So save yourself the trouble and just put Windows 7. Also, you don't need 1333MHz memory. In fact you will see little to no difference if you use 1066. And it will also save you some money. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1012062--/#findComment-594159050 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vice Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Have you considered buying a used system on Ebay and repurpose it? You can pick up a very small system on ebay for around ?150-?300. This system looks great for ?279 http://cgi.ebay.co.u...=item2c5d64afbb And this one is only ?185 http://cgi.ebay.co.u...=item1c1d0820a9 I love to build my own computers but I must admit there are some compelling deals to be had especially if you have a small budget and don't mind buying something used. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1012062--/#findComment-594159092 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_ph0enix Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 I'm not sure what the price of them is now - but I use an Acer Aspire Revo as my media centre [twinned with 2x2TB HDDs] - it's small [it's actually mounted on the back of the screen], quiet, and didn't cost all that much. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1012062--/#findComment-594159098 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottSilver Posted July 16, 2011 Author Share Posted July 16, 2011 I've done some digging and apparently the Fusions cannot handle 3D Blu-ray. I can also now go up to ?500 IF needed. I just don't want to spend this kind of cash to suffer frame drops etc on media. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1012062--/#findComment-594165260 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan~ Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Scott have you tried ebuyer.com? Novatech HQ is near me so I only use to buy HDD's or thngs I need NOW and end up paying a few quid over compared to ebuyer Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1012062--/#findComment-594165402 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konstanov Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Try and save another 50 quid so you can afford at least two hard drives so you can run RAID, unless you have a NAS to store media. Having a drive fail and losing all your media is a terrible experience. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1012062--/#findComment-594165404 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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