Media/Internet PC

S

silent_wolf

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2014
Messages
182
Reaction score
0
Hello fellow forumites!

I need some help deciding what would suit my needs, basically I need something that I can use to surf the internet, watch a few videos on and downloading stuff, so it will be on almost 24/7.

I would also like to maybe add a blu ray drive to play movies from but I dont know if the cpu will be up to the challenge. I have a 23" hdmi screen at the moment, but if the cpu is strong enough to play blu rays off a disc it will being playing on a 40" hd tv.

I've taken a look at these so far

Intel BOXDN2820 NUC

Mini ITX HTPC -from what i hear the psu in this is quite noisy

ECS Liva

I'm open to other suggestions but I would like to keep the form factors small and I would prefer if it was windows based as my parents may also use it and wont be able to figure out linux.
 
New 5th gen NUC/Brix should be available within the next few months, I'd hang out for one of those.

What is your budget?
 
silent_wolf said:
... my parents may also use it and wont be able to figure out linux.
Click to expand...

You'd be surprised. My mother has been using Fedora on her laptop for 3 - 4 years now, I just set it up in a way that is easy to use.

I'll admit she never really used a computer before that so she wasn't Windows-trained, made my job easier.
 
CamiKaze said:
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/684014-New-quot-Tiny-quot-PC-Build

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/674966-Microserver-Alternatives/page2
Click to expand...

Thanks! will take a read through those.



kayvee said:
New 5th gen NUC/Brix should be available within the next few months, I'd hang out for one of those.

What is your budget?
Click to expand...

I don't exactly have a budget but I don't really want to spend more than R4k unless I really have to, do you have a link to the specs and prices on the new NUCs?
 
silent_wolf said:
Thanks! will take a read through those.





I don't exactly have a budget but I don't really want to spend more than R4k unless I really have to, do you have a link to the specs and prices on the new NUCs?
Click to expand...

NUC looks pretty but not a good idea in my opinion when it comes to expansion.
I still believe that an AMD AM1 cpu with a mini ITX board is the best setup that you can go for.
The only problem that I have with that is that it is hard to find a mini ITX desktop case that looks appealing.
 
CamiKaze said:
NUC looks pretty but not a good idea in my opinion when it comes to expansion.
I still believe that an AMD AM1 cpu with a mini ITX board is the best setup that you can go for.
The only problem that I have with that is that it is hard to find a mini ITX desktop case that looks appealing.
Click to expand...

Have to agree, thats where my problem lies is the casing, the one wootware uses in the link seems ok, but psu is quite noisy and I will need to source a slim blu ray drive somewhere which seems harder than I thought.

Would any of the AM1 Sempron quad cores work fine for what I described or does it need to be one of the higher end ones?
 
CamiKaze said:
NUC looks pretty but not a good idea in my opinion when it comes to expansion.
I still believe that an AMD AM1 cpu with a mini ITX board is the best setup that you can go for.
The only problem that I have with that is that it is hard to find a mini ITX desktop case that looks appealing.
Click to expand...

Which AM1 cpu and mini ITX board do you suggest? As mentioned in the other forum, I am not that clued up on AMD so want to compare the INtel and AMD builds and take it from there.
 
I guess the lower end Semprons' will be fine but its not really future proof. Here are some specs for the higher end Sempron (AM1):

Amd socket Kabini AM1 sempron 3850 with GPU , Quad-cores ( 1.3ghz box cpu ) , 1mb L2 cache ; built-in HD8280 graphics ( 450mhz , 128 stream processor , 8x texture unit , 4x RoPs , 3.6 Gigatexels/s texture fill rate , 115.2 GFLoPS ) , intergrated DDR3-1600 memory controller , 28nm , 25w - box cpu ( with fan )
Click to expand...


Higher end Athlon (AM1):


Amd socket Kabini AM1 athlon 5350 with GPU , Quad-cores ( 2.05ghz box cpu ) , 1mb L2 cache ; built-in HD8400 graphics ( 600mhz , 128 stream processor , 8x texture unit , 4x RoPs , 3.2 Gigatexels/s texture fill rate , 102.4 GFLoPS ) , intergrated DDR3-1600 memory controller , 28nm , 25w - box cpu ( with fan )
Click to expand...



Not really sure why you want to go A10 or A8 but the AM1 is perfect for streaming and as a download server. I will be running a Linux Mint VM for SABNZBD, SickBeard and CP and store the downloaded files on the "Mother" OS in my movies and series folder where Plex will monitor this folder and update the necessary backdrops etc.

From there on out, I can stream the content to my TV.

One thing that I am looking for is a wifi projector that has a Plex app

My new setup will be:

ASUS AM1i-A socket AM1 m-itx 499.00 499.00
Amd Kabini(am1) Quad 5350 2.05 771.00 771.00
Click to expand...
 
Ok thanks everyone for the links and info

One last very stupid question :p I'm guessing if I get the CFI case the 150w psu wont be big enough for an AMD build or am I wrong?
 
silent_wolf said:
Ok thanks everyone for the links and info

One last very stupid question I'm guessing if I get the CFI case the 150w psu wont be big enough for an AMD build or am I wrong?
Click to expand...
I think it's enough to power the mobo, cpu, and 2 drives but that sounds like a stretch.

Also, regarding an optical, I would rather go for a slim line external bd rom that is either powered externally, or via USB... But then again... 150w is very questionable.
 
That power supply in that cheap case is loud and rubbish. I would steer clear as it is also not standard ATX so if it breaks then you have a problem. You have to almost import one.
 
Wasabee! said:
That power supply in that cheap case is loud and rubbish. I would steer clear as it is also not standard ATX so if it breaks then you have a problem. You have to almost import one.
Click to expand...

True, I was thinking the same thing.

Is there no other way around this? Do you not get external power supplies or something?
 
There are very nice solutions available but alas we live in SA where suppliers do not bring in many good quality cases as our market is so small.

Then with the Rand being so poor lately you are anyway being ripped off and the suppliers add a premium markup on anything they can get away with. So a good HTPC cases will actually be at keast R1000-1500. This is the likes of Antec, Zalman etc.

So what might be cheaper is take a Coolermaster Elite 342 mATX case and flip it on its side. It has many 3.5" bays and a standard ATX psu with a 120mm fan in the front. Cheap and effective.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X