I just finished building a mini-ITX HTPC build, so I thought it would be good to start a conversation here. If you are thinking about building an HTPC (mini-ITX or otherwise) feel free to post your comments/questions. Did you just build an HTPC (I am look at you Mike ), drop a note with your specs, some pics, etc... Did you buy a PC with the purpose of using it as an HTPC? Maybe you are confused about what an HTPC is, or why you would even use one.

You can see my writeup here:

http://www.mediasmartserver.net/2010/03 ... tx-htpc-2/

reserved

reserved...

reserved (why not???)

If it's a land grab, I'm in

And in again

Stay tuned for useful content on a thread near you....

Ooo Ooo, me next!!
Seriously, that's some cable management my friend!

Haha, good to see you Sean. Regarding cable management I do wish that the PSU wires were shorter as you are already working with limited real estate in a mini-ITX.

Damian ~ Just cut and repin the wires.

My HTPC is an an Acer X-1200. It's a small form-factor PC, but not as small as some. The specs are:

*AMD Athlon X2 64 Dual Core
*On-chip Nvidia 8200 GPU
*4GB RAM
*Gigabit Networking
*5.1 Surround Sound
*HDMI Port
*9 USB Ports
*Card Reader that reads more types than I'll ever need.
*One Open X-16 Slot. (takes low profile cards)
*Vista Home Premium x64

This Acer has been a fantastic HTPC. When I first got it, I removed most of the Acer crapware and cleaned it up. I added a MS MediaCenter Remote, and did the DVD Library hack for VMC. I also needed to install the AC3 Filter codec to get the sound from my DVD rips to work properly. I have it plugged in to my 42" LG Plasma. It runs like a champ! I have no complaints.

I recently upgraded it and replaced the DVD drive with a Blu-Ray one. I also have PowerDVD 9.0 on it. It plays Blu-Rays like a champ, and did not need additional upgrades in the way of Videocards and memory to make it all work.

It's really cool to have a single device under the TV that does Pics, Music, DVD rips from the MSS, Internet TV, and will still play regualr DVD's and Blu-Rays.

I also use Acers I have two x3200's and three of the x1200's
Got them off ebay for a little over $100 then bumped their ram to 4GB and dropped in AMD 6000+ 3ghz procs for amazing smoothness.
I will probably get some SSD's next and change out the cpu cooler for something quieter.

Just a quick update on a few changes I made to my build:

- I added a slim DVD Rom drive. I did this mainly just to see if I could fit it in the Antec case (I had no issues). The other reason why the drive was on sale $34.99, and makes life a little easier instead of always having to copy files over to USB thumb drives when doing server recovery, clean installs, etc... Make sure though if that you get a slimline player to you also purchase a slimline SATA cable unless you can confirm that the drive comes with one

- I removed out the 5400RPM 2.5" drive and replaced with a 7200RPM 2.5" drive. I noticed some sluggishness with my build when navigating around, and since the build was adequately spec'd out all signs pointed to the drive. With the new drive things seem to be more snappy.

Is your latest HTPC connected to your network with a cable or do you use the wireless?

Mine is connected via wired. Since I stream a lot of HD content wired is the only way to go.

Unfortunately, that is what I have found as well... guess it is time to run some wires.