Andrew Van Til

[babgvant]

Since you’re already built up w/ CE-style devices, you might be more comfortable staying with that sort of device. What is your timeline? If you can wait, it might be worth seeing what pops at CES in Jan.

That said, if you decide to go HTPC I really like the HSW NUC but given your existing component stash it might be better to build an ITX with a HSW i3 so it probably makes the most sense to leverage that.

[babgvant]

I like it.

Am I seeing it correctly that the lid “floats” above the chassis to allow for vertical convection?

[babgvant]

I think Windows Media Center is probably your best bet for the OS and DVR SW, but connecting to a component TV will cause some complications. Finding a modern GPU that does that will be difficult, especially considering the Blu-ray (HDCP) requirement.

While it is possible to do that, it’s always been a bit of a challenge to use analog outs from a HTPC. If you absolutely must use that TV, we can find something that should work, but it will be more expensive and less capable than an all digital system.

[babgvant]

I’ll be there Sunday – Friday.

[babgvant]

It’s listed in Resource Manager.

[babgvant]

Budget?

> $1000 ST60 is a pretty safe bet, unless you want the VT.

Lower end, Samsung has a really good option (I bought one when we moved to the UK). I’ll look up the US model number if you’re interested.

[babgvant]

For e.g., I’d love to see a chassis for the new NUC that would enable these features. It has CIR, SATA and internal USB. Would be an awesome full featured HTPC in a tiny package.

[babgvant]

I think the biggest problem with these chassis is that there doesn’t seem to be any retail availability of the NUC board w/o its Intel enclosure. These look nice, but if I’m going to replace the case it has to add something I can’t get from stock. For e.g. space for a slim-line ODD or 2.5″ HDD.

[babgvant]

[quote=Night Rider]

Thank you Andrew.
What is IFA/IBC ?

[/quote]

Tradeshows that are held this time of year in Germany (IFA) & The Netherlands (IBC).

[babgvant]

FWIW, I pinged SD about the status of the new tuners last week and was told that something will be announced at IFA/IBC (a few weeks from now).

[babgvant]

[quote=DonTHB]

Is your preference for Haswell primarily embedded graphics or power requirements?

[/quote]

Mostly the GPU (more capable & refresh rate precision is finally where it should be), but also power consumption plays in as well – mostly for standby & idle.

[quote=DonTHB]

I am looking for a replacement ITX motherboard for my IVB. Is the ASRock H77MT-ITX going to be available in the US? Given the above, your interest in the ASRock is pretty low?

[/quote]

It’s unlikely that it will be sold in the US. I haven’t been able to find it anywhere and ASRock was really evasive on where/when it would be sold at retail.

[babgvant]

It looks like you need to buy NVIDIA’s 3D vision kit for that monitor.

[babgvant]

Simple system would be a Haswell i5, 8GB RAM, 90-128GB SSD, and a couple large hard drives. As mentioned, adding a DCT is well within your budget.

If you don’t plan on gaming with the system, that will be more than enough.

[babgvant]

[quote=RMazurowski]

Yeah, I was afraid that would happen 🙁

Looks like I should start searching for an Intel DQ77KB Ivybridge based mobo…

[/quote]

FWIW, I’d rather have Haswell and the external CEC connector than IVB. Hopefully not too much longer for desktop i3s.

[babgvant]

I’m not aware of one. The most likely candidate (an ITX board) on initial roadmaps never made it to market, most likely because Intel is exiting the retail market.

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