Zacate HTPC Build

D

DukeofHouse

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2007
Messages
613
Reaction score
26
Location
Under the radar...
Gentlemen,

I've recently got my 1mb uncapped connection and am loving Sick Beard and Couch Potato.
I've decided to build a htpc and am keen on the Zacate platform. I know there's the HP Microserver, but I'm looking for something a bit different.

So, here's the planned setup.

Motherboard: MSI-E350IA - R1115
Chassis: CFi-6719 Black mini itx case - R476
RAM: Corsair 4Gb DDR3 - R297
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 7200 Series 1TB HDD - R931
WiFi: TRENDnet Wireless N USB Adapter - R171

All coming up to about R3k. I don't want to go much higher than that.
I've got a Galaxy Tab that I'll use (for now) to control XBMC, so no need for a remote/receiver.

Just one question - The chassis comes with a 150W SFX power supply. Will this be compatible with the mITX board?

Thoughts?
 
Those Zacate setups are brilliant, good choice. The other day in Dions I played BF3 on their demo units and I was shocked to find out it was using Llano. Very impressive. I would stump on a better quality PSU myself.
 
SFX should just mean its a really small PSU (in terms of physical size) and hence should have all the normal connectors. Cant find any specs about the actual case to confirm though
 
Thanks guys.

@cerebus, I'm also hesitant on the PSU, but I can't really find a stand alone PSU that will fit in a mITX case. I've read the reviews and under load, the Zacate pulls about 50W, so the 150W PSU should be fine.

@Archer, thanks for the clarity. All looks good to go.

Anyone recommend any other suppliers? Comx looked like the cheapest, but I'm open to suggestions.
 
Any supplier thats reputable really.
Just one thing on the wireless - how far will the HTPC be from the router? I had to get a directional antenna for my setup because even though I was only going through 2 walls, the one wall it is very close to, and at an angle which for the wireless makes the wall seem thicker. So my wifi was dropping half the time :/ So basically, it might be getting to get something on which you can change the antenna, depending on your setup at home
 
Archer said:
Any supplier thats reputable really.
Just one thing on the wireless - how far will the HTPC be from the router? I had to get a directional antenna for my setup because even though I was only going through 2 walls, the one wall it is very close to, and at an angle which for the wireless makes the wall seem thicker. So my wifi was dropping half the time :/ So basically, it might be getting to get something on which you can change the antenna, depending on your setup at home
Click to expand...

The router is one floor below the tv/lounge area so the signal will have to travel through one floor/concrete slab.
I've used multiple devices (iPad, phone, Galaxy Tab, laptop, PS3) in the lounge and have never had an issue with signal strength.

Just one last spanner in the works.
I was using a laptop to stream content to my PS3 over wifi.
I then tried streaming to my Xbox 360, and while that worked, there was a noticeable difference in picture quality. The PS3 was definitely applying some effective post processing (deeper blacks, less pixelated, etc.).

So my question - would it be better to stream content over a wired connection to the PS3 given the great post processing, or will the Zacate pwn it?
 
Ok, so now I'm doubting the HTPC thing...

I connected up my laptop (HP 8710w) to my tv last night and put on a 1080p Bluray rip (+-12GB in size). The picture was nowhere near the quality I was expecting. Colours were a bit washed out, sharpness wasn't there, etc.
Now I know there's many variables involved, but the biggest issue was the smoothness of the playback. Maybe I'm just too used to 24p playback from an original Bluray.

Gonna old off on this build until I do a bit more research...

Thanks for the help.
 
viven said:
Ok, so now I'm doubting the HTPC thing...

I connected up my laptop (HP 8710w) to my tv last night and put on a 1080p Bluray rip (+-12GB in size). The picture was nowhere near the quality I was expecting. Colours were a bit washed out, sharpness wasn't there, etc.
Now I know there's many variables involved, but the biggest issue was the smoothness of the playback. Maybe I'm just too used to 24p playback from an original Bluray.

Gonna old off on this build until I do a bit more research...

Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

Quadro FX1500m versus E-350... not much comparison there. Here's a review of the Zacate blu-ray playback:
he reality is that it provides a flawless playback. And with optical audio TOSLINK, and VGA, DVI and HDMI connector output... that makes it a sweet alternative to build a cheap power consumption aware platform. I'm not saying it's the very best alternative, to the contrary... but it's very sufficient at the very least if you are willing to stick to software like Media Player Classic or anything that can support DXVA.
Click to expand...
 
@Archer, it's an ageing, but pretty decent laptop (it's my Starcraft 2 machine).

Quadro FX1600m, 2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM.
I was using VLC to play the movie.

cerebus said:
Quadro FX1500m versus E-350... not much comparison there. Here's a review of the Zacate blu-ray playback:
Click to expand...

Thanks.
I'll try Media Player Classic tonight and see how it goes. Is there any comparison between MPC and XBMC in terms of picture quality?
 
VLC (latest version) does offload to the GPU, but I find MPC is still better (uses half the CPU amount of VLC). XMBC is pretty good as well, I run full HD movies off integrated graphics, thinks its a HD4200? Something like that. If you still have issues, I'd say it might be the workstation card.
Heck, I can play full HD on an Ion netbook, any GPU that came out after 2009 should be fine
 
Don't think it's the GPU itself, I think it was the quality of the rip, as well as the amount of post processing applied by a PS3 or other dedicated home theater piece of equipment.

After testing tonight with the other player I'll have a better idea.

I think I'll still get this setup, but rather stream the files to the PS3 or Xbox.
 
Hi,

This is my current setup:

Sapphire E350 pure fusion.
2Gb Ram
CFi-6719 but with the 60w PSU.
8gb SSD.
Harmony 650.
Antec Veris Basic (Just to switch the pc on like an appliance)
Cheap Chinavaision IR receiver I found at flea market.

I run openelec pre-eden nightly with dirty regions enabled.
The rig constantly idles at 1.5% for everything except 1080p movies which are at 20%.

This is what you need to know about Zacate:

1.) Zacate is not Llano
2.) It is in IMHO too slow for windows 7 (feels like netbook and consumes more power)
3.) The Amd-ati Graphics driver is still in development on linux annd there are some 1080p videos that act weird for some reason (Although I have only encountered this with Avatar nothing else...and I have many 1080p 28GB movies)
4.) The Linux driver is in strong development with the XBMC community.

This build has turned me into an HTPC fanatic! I enjoy it so much I have fully cancelled my DSTV as there is no use for it anymore.
If I could give u some advice, it would be that there are cheaper options to build an Htpc with the same capabilty (even more with nvidia).
The hp Proliant microserver is great bang for buck (R1300+ the gfx card) and it would be substantially cheaper (although it looks retarded in a home theater...Stewie just said that!). The 60w PSU is enough, the point of Zacate is low power like a decoder and not a full blown PC.
Also save yourself the hassle and get a D-Link DWA-131 wifi adapter , Openelec fully supports it and I had many headaches with my adapters. I switched to full blown ethernet due to 1080p sometimes choking on Wireless N.

Any other questions just ask...Be warned though as you walk an extremely addictive journey which will most certainly Bankrupt!
 
Last edited:
Thanks Doodler.

Also planning on running openelec.
Not a fan of the HP Proliant for exactly that reason - it looks soo out of place in a lounge/tv room. I don't mind if the Zacate is overkill for now. I may look at using it for some other functions later.

Can you elaborate more on the nVidia options? I assume you mean building a mATX/uATX system?

I hear your on the bankrupt-ness.. Before I even have the HTPC, I'm already lurking the AVForums looking for a better receiver.. Checking up on better surround sound speakers.. Reading up on the awesome Logitech remotes......
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X