Building an ITX media hub.

[Falcor]

got a budget of £200ish not including hard disk, and dont want anything too ott, all it needs to do is:

Play media
Contain a 1tb hd.
Wireless link to my network.
Browse internet
Run simple programs like office.
Relitively quiet
DVD drive if possible
Wireless
Simple click on/power on off/power off would be good

Main thing i need help with is what mobo/processor, im used to building normal pvs so this is the only bit i dont know about, as i have no itx experience Also what windows verision what other softward is good for a media hub

thanks in advance.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would probably look at something like the following:

Zotac ION Motherboard with Intel Atom N330 Dual Core Wi-Fi Mini-ITX Motherboard ( with 90w PSU ) ~£121

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/165386

Basically this has the CPU,motherboard,integrated graphics and PSU in one package.

4GB PC2-6400 ~ £45

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/128662

Chyang Fun mini-ITX case ~ £40 with delivery

http://linitx.com/viewcategory.php?catid=1020

I would remove the included 150W PSU as the one which comes with the motherboard will be more efficient and quieter.

SATA DVD rewriter ~ £16

http://www.ebuyer.com/search?sort=pr...imit=10&page=1

Here is a review for the Zotac motherboard:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3562

[cptwhite_uk]

Further images of the case CAt linked too:

http://www.techenclave.com/pc-periph...es-131517.html

[Falcor]

thanks, would that be suitable for video watching?

can u do any upscaling with it to HD from normal def?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

thanks, would that be suitable for video watching?

can u do any upscaling with it to HD from normal def?

I would look at the review TBH. Mini-ITX based setups are not that cheap though.

[Falcor]

well i can afford to stetch my budget a little if necessary

[Biscuit]

Software-wise i like using XBMC on ubuntu and using the kit which CAT has linked you above you can easily set up a system which will use it effectively to upscale media and play 1080p etc.

Check out the XBMC forums they have guides on how to get yourself set up and working with it

If you really do want to have a little bit more grunt then there is a similar ZOTAC mobo which takes socket 775 and a couple which take AM2 you could take a look at... more power hungry though.

[spoon_]

Sure that N330 will cope with 1080p? I'm not that certain.

You can always remux the video over the network as transcoding wont happen simply because you won't have enough horsepower in your CPU...

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Sure that N330 will cope with 1080p? I'm not that certain.

You can always remux the video over the network as transcoding wont happen simply because you won't have enough horsepower in your CPU...

The Nvidia IGP in the Ion motherboards offloads the bulk of the decoding of videos off the CPU. I would check the review I linked too. Remember that HD flash can be now decoded by newer generation ATI and Nvidia IGPs.

Also the motherboard comes with a built in PSU meaning it will be very quiet as many of the SFF power supplies under 200W can be quite noisy.

There are other socket 775 and AM2+ based mini ITX motherboards but these are not that cheap if you look for one with a decent IGP which can offload video decoding from the CPU.

[Biscuit]

Sure that N330 will cope with 1080p? I'm not that certain.

You can always remux the video over the network as transcoding wont happen simply because you won't have enough horsepower in your CPU...

As long as you set it up to pass the decoding to the GPU there shouldnt be any issues

[Falcor]

ive been looking at the zotac, given its also got wifi it seems a good choice for me, providing it can do what im after. Aslong as it can play my standard def movie files, and perhaps make them look somewhat higher definition, and also play stuff from bbc i player etc etc it will do for me

As for software i definately want to stick with windows...as i wont be the only person using it,

For cases, is there anything smaller? that perhaps take a slim dvd drive instead? id really like to keep it as compact as possible, but need space for 1 3.5 in HD

Am i right in thinking that linking this to my HDMI port on my tv will with correct setup ofc, give me both sound and picture? ive had loads of problems getting sounds accrossHDMi on my M1330 laptop.

[Biscuit]

yeah it will definately take that in its breeze buddy, very tidy solution dor ya

[Falcor]

Ack forogt one more thing!

Need a good HTPC keyboard, one with a mouse pad/ball built in or something

any recommendations?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Ack forogt one more thing!

Need a good HTPC keyboard, one with a mouse pad/ball built in or something

any recommendations?

I would check these ones out:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/104608

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Keyso...d-touchpad-USB

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Keyso...ncluded-Silver

Also getting to small a case will probably mean worse ventilation than a larger case and you do not want the CPU,GPU and hard disk to be start overheating as it will reduce their lifespan.

[InkZ]

I really like the look of the Asrock Ion 330. Does everything you need and don't need to fiddle in the tiny case as it's already done for you

Hard disk isn't as big as you'd like though.

[ma9mwah2]

does anyone have a comparison chart of all the Zotac IONs? there seems to be around 8 different versions which are subtly differnt but it's not always obvious what changes between them