With the announcement of Adobe Flash 10.1 Beta, the nVidia ION system seems even more attractive as an HTPC. Also, it seems NewEgg is carrying the new Zotac ION board. Also, through Bing Shopping, NewEgg is offering some (2%) moneyback.
The prices are based on November 20th, 2009.
- Case: Apex MI-008 ($39.99) – 250W is a bit overkill. I doubt this system will use more than 60W.
- Motherboard: Zotac IONITX-G-E ($159.99) – has a 16x PCI-e (update: actually, just a 1x PCI-e) and nVidia ION (GeForce 9400M) can enable Blu-ray playback.
- Tuner: AVerTVHD Duet ($64.99) – Dual ATSC-only tuner.
- Memory: 2x2GB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz SO-DIMM ($85.99) – I believe 4GB is the max for the motherboard.
- HDD: 1GB Western Digital Caviar Green ($84.99)
- OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM ($104.99) – For Windows Media Center.
- Remote: Anyware GP-IR01BK ($23.74)
- Optical Drive (optional): LITE-ON BD-ROM ($67.99) – I can do without this initially.
The total is $564.68 (or $632.67 with the optical drive). With 2% moneyback, it becomes $553.39.
The possible adjustable stuff is the memory and the hard disk drive. With 2GB, you can save about $45. With a 500GB drive, about $30. But I am not so sure if that’s worth it ($495 vs. $565).
@ALEX
Check out this review of the Apex MI-008 Case on Silent PC Review – they give it a good review:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/apex-mi008
@ALEX
I haven’t built the system yet, so I don’t know for sure, but the CPU (Atom 330) is a dual-core with hyperthreading. So, on the task manager, you will see four CPU graphs. Also, the I/O bandwidth required for 3 HD streams doesn’t seem to be that much (20Mbps x 3 = 60Mbps). So, I am sure it will be capable.
I suppose it should be quite. I was thinking of putting a low RPM 120mm fan if things got too warm…
Thanks for great info. Is this system capable of multi tasking? For instance dual DVR and HD playback simultaneously? Also, how quite is it?
@Roman
Thanks for the information Zotac IONITX-F-E. I didn’t know about that. I only need 1x PCI-e for the dual tuner and “G” is cheaper than “F”. However, “F” provides an easy networking solution. I may have to do #5… :p
Actually, I started with BDA123′s setup.
I saw it at AVSForum.com though.
Doesn’t the Zotac IONITX-G-E only have a 1x PCI-e slot? The Zotac IONITX-F-E has a 16x PCI-e slot…
Thanks for this great info – I’m looking at building a very similar system myself. I look forward to your updates!
FYI – Here’s some info I found on a similar setup by user “BDA123″ :
http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=54457
(Search for “HD HTPC #1″)
- Roman