i bought the ASRock q1900-b quad core celeron with intel graphics. Very cheap....$59
One stick of ram 2gb DDR3 1333 - $25
Simple itx case, virtually silent (i forget make and mode) - $50
Small SSD 32GB - $40
Without OS, this would be about $175 and the quad core is no slouch. Not that cpu is ever all that important with HTPC...but, it can do software decode of 1080p with ease if need be. Hardware decode has cpu around 1%. It also offers analog audio outputs which should not be ignored as easy and high quality options. Most of you are so intent on bitstreaming...but, do you have to do that? I don't think so....I'd love to see some double blind tests on this.
minimalist builds likely suit minimalist users...like me. I don't re-encode anything, or rip discs....I just watch stuff. I'm thinking of adding a Blu-ray drive. If you use powered speakers like I do...then this tiny box is all you need for all your av needs. Tonight I will see if it's ok with MadVr....any guesses?
One stick of ram 2gb DDR3 1333 - $25
Simple itx case, virtually silent (i forget make and mode) - $50
Small SSD 32GB - $40
Without OS, this would be about $175 and the quad core is no slouch. Not that cpu is ever all that important with HTPC...but, it can do software decode of 1080p with ease if need be. Hardware decode has cpu around 1%. It also offers analog audio outputs which should not be ignored as easy and high quality options. Most of you are so intent on bitstreaming...but, do you have to do that? I don't think so....I'd love to see some double blind tests on this.
minimalist builds likely suit minimalist users...like me. I don't re-encode anything, or rip discs....I just watch stuff. I'm thinking of adding a Blu-ray drive. If you use powered speakers like I do...then this tiny box is all you need for all your av needs. Tonight I will see if it's ok with MadVr....any guesses?