seeking fanless HTPC suggestions
Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2014 7:39 pm
Would appreciate suggestions for building or buying a fanless non-gaming HTPC.
I've read many posts on this and other forums, but most builds are for systems that can do gaming and/or seem to be more powerful than what I need -- which is:
<$500, if possible (including $80 120GB SSD, $50 8GB RAM, $90 Win8)
low power (e.g., <20 watts, as the system will always be on)
fanless (no fans anywhere)
Windows Media Center (for recording and playing video, only)
IR (or via USB)
wired Ethernet (Wi-fi not needed, but okay if present)
any size case (no need for a super small case)
room for an SSD drive (any SATA form factor)
the usual HTPC ports
no optical drive, no hard drive, no external drive
no video editing (just recording using WMC)
no graphics card
no TV tuner (will connect to a SiliconDust HDHomeRun via LAN)
Other than WMC, the system will be used for light browsing (via the TV), playing .iso movies with VLC, and watching streaming video (e.g., YouTube).
The Intel NUC and Gigabyte Brix offerings look close, but both appear to have fans (except the Gigabyte Brix Fanless, which is not available yet). Instead of removing the fan and transferring the system board to a fanless case, I'd rather build or buy a system that has no fans.
I'm unclear which CPU and integrated graphics combo is up to the job. It appears that most of the recent CPUs with integrated graphics are more than sufficient for playing HD video -- but is something more needed for recording video (e.g., using WMC)?
And are there other considerations?
Thanks in advance.
I've read many posts on this and other forums, but most builds are for systems that can do gaming and/or seem to be more powerful than what I need -- which is:
<$500, if possible (including $80 120GB SSD, $50 8GB RAM, $90 Win8)
low power (e.g., <20 watts, as the system will always be on)
fanless (no fans anywhere)
Windows Media Center (for recording and playing video, only)
IR (or via USB)
wired Ethernet (Wi-fi not needed, but okay if present)
any size case (no need for a super small case)
room for an SSD drive (any SATA form factor)
the usual HTPC ports
no optical drive, no hard drive, no external drive
no video editing (just recording using WMC)
no graphics card
no TV tuner (will connect to a SiliconDust HDHomeRun via LAN)
Other than WMC, the system will be used for light browsing (via the TV), playing .iso movies with VLC, and watching streaming video (e.g., YouTube).
The Intel NUC and Gigabyte Brix offerings look close, but both appear to have fans (except the Gigabyte Brix Fanless, which is not available yet). Instead of removing the fan and transferring the system board to a fanless case, I'd rather build or buy a system that has no fans.
I'm unclear which CPU and integrated graphics combo is up to the job. It appears that most of the recent CPUs with integrated graphics are more than sufficient for playing HD video -- but is something more needed for recording video (e.g., using WMC)?
And are there other considerations?
Thanks in advance.