Cheapest, low power Media box?

[Andeh13]

Hi guys,

Looking at setting up a XBMC powered, media centre. I have all the 3.5" HDDs I need, but am keen to see what people can spec me for the cheapest, low power, media PC?

Have HDD, so would need all other parts. No need for DVD/CD drive etc, and I have a spare copy of Windows 7 i can use. Would need to be able to handle full HD content, prob nothing 3D.

Cheers

[Bonebreaker777]

For full HD content any low powered version of today available CPUs should be more that enough, even more if hardware acceleration via the IGP is enable/possible (doesn't matter if Intel or AMD in this case).

Not sure if the following manual will be helpful, but the author paid a great deal of attention to power saving and reliability (you can always adjust the individual settings and/or components to your specific needs).

PART 1
Computer / server with low power consumption
Second Want him ... why?
Where can I find the use of part 1
Where can I find the use of part 2
Reliability, availability, management
RAID array
Error Correcting Code (ECC) RAM
What you need to run ECC RAM

PART 2
Selecting the power supply according to consumption
picoPSU and external adapter
Choose platform - CULV and ULV
CULV - Intel Atom
CULV - AMD Fusion "Bobcat"
ULV - AMD Athlon II ULV
ULV - Intel Xeon E3
What is the TDP, look out for underclocking
Selecting RAM, disk, motherboards and cabinets
Selecting a hard disk
Choosing motherboard

PART 3
Building a computer
Set economy modes in the BIOS
Check the Windows environment
Measuring power consumption
Temperature Measurement
Evaluation

But if you would like to make it easy, I would say go and:
-buy the cheapest APU (even eBay to drive the overall cost down)
-a non-MSI compatible board (so you can underclock to reduce consumption)
-a 4-8GB memory module (for a media box you don't need dual channel)
-good and silent PSU (you can always copy the picoPSU described in the manual above, or just buy a passive PSU),
-a nice case (whatever you fancy, but if it will stay hidden, buy the most practical one)
-and a good cooler (if the case will allow, but a tower passive cooler so you can allow for lack of active cooling like Xigmatek Thor's Hammer)

[MaddAussie]

Use a Pi?

[Bonebreaker777]

I think when he mentioned that he has all the 3.5" HDDs he may need he ment that he would appreciate a home server/media centre hybrid.
Actually he would make a good use of the entry level HP servers which were mentioned here quite often by other members due to frequent cash back offers and the ability to satisfy most of the needs of a home user.

[Andeh13]

Thanks for the responses guys, Would a Pi be compatible with 3.5" SATA drives? Will have a google for the HP servers.

[Biscuit]

HP servers are quite cheap at ebuyer at the moment with 50quid cash back offer. Think they come out at around 130.
Not sure I would go for that though. Think I would go for an AMD APU based system in a Fractal Design node case if the idea is to be a hybrid NAS/HTPC. The trick is finding an itx mobo with enough ports :-\
Also bare in mind the next gen of APU are out in a couple of weeks (supposedly) so might be worth waiting for that.

[PsychoPoo]

I have a HP N40L Microserver. It has 4 HDD hot swappable HDD bay's. I use the Microserver as a central store for my files (Amongst some other pretty cool things). I have 3 raspberry pi's behind each TV in the house (1 in the living, 1 in my room and 1 in my room mates) The raspberry pi's are running openELEC (Free to download) which is a precompiled build of XBMC. Each of the raspberry pi's then point to a folder share on the microserver allowing us to stream videos over the network to the raspberry pi.

I personally prefer to have a central storage for my files with separate devices for the fronted, this leaves me options to do some extra cool things. For example, my server is running a database that stores the XBMC library data, so that if I start watching a program in the living room I can stop it and continue from the same spot in my bedroom.

[Andeh13]

That sounds like a brilliant setup! How do you control each of the Pis from each of the rooms?

[capt_cornflake]

On some TVs you can just use CEC, and use the original TVs remote, which passes the signal over HDMI. Otherwise you can pick up relatively cheap IR sensors, or use android or iOS XBMC remote apps.

[Biscuit]

I havent used openELEC but does this work with it?
I use unified remote with most of my computers, its particularly useful for HTPC usage but the server software is windows based. You can also get the controller software for windows phone.

[PsychoPoo]

Yes it will work =] I use "XBMC remote free" on my Nokia Lumia 800 and it works a treat ^_^ I know theres better Apps out their available for Windows Phone but i'm quite happy to stick with the free one.
OpenELEC is just a redistribution of XBMC. Has a couple of addons and such preinstalled and opens XBMC by default as soon as the device is turned on.