Low power fan-less HTPC

[CHR1S]

My ION's SATA ports have packed up and need a replacement.

 

I have zero experience on the new chips etc, has anyone recently built one?

 

It needs a mini-itx mobo and must run from a 90/60w pico PSU.

 

Will be 100% media playback.

 

Thanks

[andyrite]

I ditched my ion and now just use a raspberry pi running raspbmc. Works great.

[CHR1S]

I ditched my ion and now just use a raspberry pi running raspbmc. Works great.

 

I have the case, PSU and SSD to reuse.

[Arthur]

I have the case

Make/model?

[CHR1S]

no idea, some 5 year old media looking one, haha

[Arthur]

The reason I thought I would ask is that with fanless mini-ITX PCs, it's usually a better idea to choose a (fanless) case first and then find out which motherboard & CPU will be compatible - not all are due to the placement of the heatsink/heatpipes.

 

 

Example cases...

 

• Streacom FC8 EVO, FC5WS EVO or FC9
  
• Akasa Euler
  
• HDPlex H1.S
  

This obviously assumes you want to use a Haswell-based processor like the Celeron G1820, G1830, Core i3-4130 or i3-4340 in your HTPC?

 

• Intel's Haswell - An HTPC Perspective: Media Playback, 4K and QuickSync Evaluated « AnandTech
  

The closest thing to your old HTPC is probably the Intel DN2820FYKH NUC but the problem with this is that the Celeron N2820 lacks hardware-accelerated video decoding. The Celeron J1800-based Gigabyte GA-J1800N-D2H mini-ITX motherboard looks like it would though.

 

[CHR1S]

I would love to upgrade, but now with the twins on the way £200 is a little more than I anticipated.

 

Can you still buy ion mobos anywhere?

[featured_spectre]

*edit* never mind

 

I am not sure on ion boards but scan do mini itx boards which might be of use?

[Arthur]

Can you still buy ion mobos anywhere?

ION motherboards are far too underpowered IMO. What about the following for £116.68?

 

• Motherboard: Asus H81I-Plus (mITX) - £52.38
  
• Processor: Intel Celeron G1820 - £32.62
  
• RAM: 4GB Corsair 1,600MHz DDR3 - £31.68
  

[CHR1S]

Looks perfect, what would the power draw be with a SSD under xbmc?

[CHR1S]

@Arthur I brought almost that setup, just had to substitute the mobo for this one -

MSI H81I H81 MoBo s1150 and I also added a Noctua NH-L9i

 

Only issue now is my MCE eHome receiver just wont work.

 

It worked under the exact same build of XBMCbuntu before, it lights up when I press the remote but no key presses are recognised in lirc.

[Oaktech]

is an Intel NUC worth looking at?

[Arthur]

It worked under the exact same build of XBMCbuntu before

Have you tried updating XBMCbuntu to the latest version available? If you're using the same build that you used with your ION PC. that could be why it isn't working.

 

Also, is the receiver connected to a rear USB port?

[CHR1S]

The build for the ION was the latest. I have updated the kernel (v3.5) to enable HDMI audio, I might upgrade it again to v3.13.4 and see if that helps.

 

Yes, tried all rear ports, it lights up and responds to key presses but irw shows no commands. I did get it to work once, but not been able to repeat it.

[jamesfed]

I've always liked the Zotac Mini PCs - mini-PCs: ZOTAC - It's time to play!

 

Barebones deal so slap a OEM sticker, a SSD/HDD and RAM inside and you are good to go

[CHR1S]

the 3.13.4 kernel made no difference, still zero output in irw