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ohgr69

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#142572 17-Mar-2014 18:30

My Boxee has finally bit the dust and I am now in the market for a cheap HTPC. Looking at this as a potential replacement HTPC.

CPUAMD5300 AMD A4-5300 Trinity 3.4GHz (3.6GHz Turbo) Socket FM2 65W Dual-Core Desktop APU
ASRock AMD FM2+ FM2A55M-HD+ for APU with FM2/FM2+ Socket,
Crucial 4GB DESKTOP DDR3 1600Mhz DIMM 240pin N
Seagate 500GB Barracuda SATA3 6GBs 16MB
LG GH24NSB0 24X SATA INTERNAL SATA DVD WRITER
COOLER MASTER Elite 343 NO PSU Micro ATX HD-AUDIO
COOLER MASTER 400W OEM MEPS Standard Power Supply -

Would this be a suitable replacement?

Thanks in advance.

Jase2985

13459 posts

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#1007519 17-Mar-2014 18:37

using onboard graphics?

and a suitable replacement for....

kinda need to know what its replacing to know if its suitable or not

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
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Geekzone

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#1007520 17-Mar-2014 18:40

Do you need Live TV or Radio?

This is what I got this month, from Amazon (free shipping to New Zealand, two orders to stay under the $400 GST threshold):

Order #1:
Gigabyte BRIX Intel i3 with Intel GPU

Order #2:
4GB Crucial RAM low voltage
120GB Crucial mSATA SSD

The BRIX comes with built-in gigabit ethernet, WiFi, Bluetooth, HDMI. All my media is stored somewhere else so no need for lots of local storage. Live TV is from HDHomeRun on the network.

ohgr69

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1007522 17-Mar-2014 18:41

It's replacing my Boxee! As mentioned ;)

And yes has onboard Radeon.

JimmyH

2886 posts

Uber Geek

#1007529 17-Mar-2014 18:49

What are you planning on doing with it?

It's kind of an odd HTPC if it has no TV tuners (terrestrial or satellite), and no blu ray drive. Without any of this, all it seems to give you is a very expensive DVD player (that isn't multi-region) that can also stream across the network.

You could do the same thing much better and far cheaper with a WDTV live (or similar) and a cheap DVD player.

ohgr69

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1007534 17-Mar-2014 18:51

Eventually would add more storage. It's essentially for storage, internet and movies.

It's only $400 which is quite appealing.

Sideface

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#1007662 17-Mar-2014 20:43

ohgr69: Eventually would add more storage. It's essentially for storage, internet and movies....

If you need storage, why have you specified a 500Gb HDD - you WILL need more.

Sideface

ohgr69

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1007668 17-Mar-2014 20:48

Has space for more drives when needed!

Quic Broadband

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Gilco2

1556 posts

Uber Geek

#1007701 17-Mar-2014 21:25

I have built 2 with the A4-5300 using onboard graphics. Have movies stored on it and tv tuner and bluray drive. Watch quickflix on it. The second one only has dvd and no quickflix.

I built one and liked it so much built another for myself but with the blu ray.

Works excellently.

BUT I dont use bluray 3D as with my eyes I only have 2D and 3D is no good for me. I have read that this does not support blu ray 3D properly and you would need the A6.

The earlier A4-3400 Llano did support 3D so not sure why AMD didnt include it with the A4 Trinity

HTPC Intel Pentium G3258 cpu, Gigabyte H97n-wifi motherboard, , 8GB DDR3 ram, onboard graphics. Hauppuage HVR 5500 tuner, Silverstone LC16M case, Windows 10 pro 64 bit using Nextpvr and Kodi

browned

636 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1007903 18-Mar-2014 09:57

+1 on the brix, I have the older model i3. Got my RAM and SSD from PB Tech though.

They make a model now that can have a 2.5" HDD in it, so with a WD Black2 that would be awesome for media center duties.

beaverusiv

49 posts

Geek

#1013269 26-Mar-2014 16:18

I use an AMD A4-3300 and it works flawlessly even on full HD video. If you're not encoding video 4GB might be overkill if you can get 2GB for cheaper it'll definitely work on a Linux-based box, YMMV with Windows.

Afaik hardware is advanced enough now you barely need to ask, just get the cheapest parts if you want cheap or quietest if you want that.

MrJonathanNZ

54 posts

Master Geek

#1020976 9-Apr-2014 07:30

freitasm: Do you need Live TV or Radio?

This is what I got this month, from Amazon (free shipping to New Zealand, two orders to stay under the $400 GST threshold):

Order #1:
Gigabyte BRIX Intel i3 with Intel GPU

Order #2:
4GB Crucial RAM low voltage
120GB Crucial mSATA SSD

The BRIX comes with built-in gigabit ethernet, WiFi, Bluetooth, HDMI. All my media is stored somewhere else so no need for lots of local storage. Live TV is from HDHomeRun on the network.

Is this essentially a micro pc (function as a regular pc)?
Im lookg for a home theatre solution and this seems both sharp on price and a good size.
My only questions are (if you have experience with them is 1. it will stream 1080p fine (netflix and youtube) and 2. what is the warranty like seeing as it would be ordered from Amazon (USA)?

browned

636 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1021017 9-Apr-2014 08:59

1. I don't stream Netflix or youtube, but it has handled all my 30+GB mkv's and 1080i FreeviewHD no problems.
2. Warranty will be based on US policies, I doubt Amazon will get involved as they are just the middle man for US retailers in most cases.

You should buy local for at least a 1 year warranty: http://pricespy.co.nz/#rparams=ss=brix

Oh and get an i3 or above. The bigger the better for streaming.