heen2001
2008-11-17, 01:32
I've been trawling through the forums, and am trying to nail down a decent spec htpc system to replace my current xbox - but i'm still a little confused with regards to some hardware compatibilities.
Essentially I want to build a system which plays HD-DVDs and plays back x264 content with no problems, is fairly quiet and isn't too big.
I have seen some mini itx boards such as the jetway JNC62K
http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=34#jnc62k
This seems to have all the tricks, audio over DVI/HDMI, Gigabit Ethernet, small form factor and an integrated GeForce 8200 chip for HD video decoding. Its also nice and low powered, so it can be on for extended periods without drinking the juice.
However one of my concerns is hooking up an IR device with something like this? What is compatible with xbmc over Linux? An external USB one, that comes with a Windows MCE remote? or one that comes built in with the case?
Also there are not many mini itx cases out there which support a full height 5.25" external DVD drive - but plenty of micro ATX ones. Has anyone seen any low power micro atx boards with a case of this size?
Any help/advice would be much appreciated. I have been reading the forums and i've seen people post specs of machines but many of them are either way to high powered or big - I will playing most of the content from my NAS which is hooked up over gig-e so having a big hard drive is not a concern.
Essentially I want to build a system which plays HD-DVDs and plays back x264 content with no problems, is fairly quiet and isn't too big.
I have seen some mini itx boards such as the jetway JNC62K
http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=34#jnc62k
This seems to have all the tricks, audio over DVI/HDMI, Gigabit Ethernet, small form factor and an integrated GeForce 8200 chip for HD video decoding. Its also nice and low powered, so it can be on for extended periods without drinking the juice.
However one of my concerns is hooking up an IR device with something like this? What is compatible with xbmc over Linux? An external USB one, that comes with a Windows MCE remote? or one that comes built in with the case?
Also there are not many mini itx cases out there which support a full height 5.25" external DVD drive - but plenty of micro ATX ones. Has anyone seen any low power micro atx boards with a case of this size?
Any help/advice would be much appreciated. I have been reading the forums and i've seen people post specs of machines but many of them are either way to high powered or big - I will playing most of the content from my NAS which is hooked up over gig-e so having a big hard drive is not a concern.