Foxconn SFF RM1-H2 Intel Core i7 / i5 / i3 / Pentium (LGA1155) Intel Socket H2(LGA1155) Intel H61 1 x HDMI Barebone, $59.99, free shipping

Quote from wolverine88 : Can I throw in a i5-2500K?

You could but it would be way overkill and the H61 chipset doesn't support overclocking. Not to mention it is only a 200 W power supply.

Thanks guys, I'll rep you. Also, is the video card in this thing (or a G530) enough to play video at 1080p/1080i without a problem?

Is there a reason for getting this vs a PC-on-a-stick like the MK802/Raspberry Pi if I'm looking to mimic a DVR while connected to a HDHomeRun Prime and a NAS (I know the software setup might be a pain to do this)?

Quote from zhopa : Since Homerun does all of the heavy lifting, G530 will work. I'd get a fast drive, but that is about it.

Quote from bonkman : Any. Literally. To give you an idea, I use an athlon II 4050e (1107 on passmark [cpubenchmark.net]) + HD4350 on my HTPC/media server. With my HDHRP and dual QAM tuners, I record up to 5 shows simultaneously and haven't encountered a problem. More common, I record 3 shows simultaneously and stream something to another HTPC in the house. But as you can see, you don't need major muscle for HTPC.

New to barbone systems but will it have a harddrive or will I need to provide one? I would assume it doesn't have an operating system either, can one be installed?

Quote from warheadwl : Thanks guys, I'll rep you. Also, is the video card in this thing (or a G530) enough to play video at 1080p/1080i without a problem? Is there a reason for getting this vs a PC-on-a-stick like the MK802/Raspberry Pi if I'm looking to mimic a DVR while connected to a HDHomeRun Prime and a NAS (I know the software setup might be a pain to do this)?

Yes, far more than enough.

This would just be orders of magnitude more powerful than a Pi. I honestly have never used a Pi so I can't talk about it as an HTPC. I can attest to how awesome windows 7 is for HTPC, though.

I was thinking about this as an HTPC but read this in a review: "Onboard graphics are on the wimpy side, and with only a half-height PCIe slot and limited power, upgrading graphics would be hard, possibly making this a poor HTPC choice"

What do you all think?

If I add CPU, RAM can I run OPENLEC XBMC on USB stick off this ? with 1080p playback via HDMI ?

Quote from wolverine88 : Can I throw in a i5-2500K?

no - motherboard calls out CPUs 65W or less TDP. The i5-2500K is 95 Watts

Quote from sjw0924 : Question : What would be the best CPU for this system for best graphic performance?

if the system is strictly Sandy Bridge, @ 65W the best graphics would be the HD3000 on the i3-2105 or 2125

If by some leap this board can support an Ivy Bridge CPU, @ 65W the best graphics would be the HD4000 on the i3-3225...or if you want to get really crazy, the i7-3770s

*there may be others...these are just the CPU options currently in stock at newegg

Or, you could always go lower end on the CPU and get a low-mid range low profile PCIe graphics card - just do your research and make sure not to get a card that is too power hungry

Quote from gug114 : I was thinking about this as an HTPC but read this in a review: "Onboard graphics are on the wimpy side, and with only a half-height PCIe slot and limited power, upgrading graphics would be hard, possibly making this a poor HTPC choice" What do you all think?

Graphics depend on which processor you put in it. If this is for a cheap build why do you need good graphics anyways? Whatever processor goes in can handle 1080p video which is all a computer like this needs to do.

Quote from Madman_X : Looking at the specs, you need a CPU, RAM and hard/ssd drive to get it going... although if I understand correctly, it looks like you could add another PCIe graphics card if you wanted to, but not needed for the initial setup. MMx

solid..state..drive....drive??

twitch

Quote from warheadwl : Thanks guys, I'll rep you. Also, is the video card in this thing (or a G530) enough to play video at 1080p/1080i without a problem?

Yes it is.

Quote : Is there a reason for getting this vs a PC-on-a-stick like the MK802/Raspberry Pi if I'm looking to mimic a DVR while connected to a HDHomeRun Prime and a NAS?

This is an apple-to-oranges type of thing. Raspberry Pi is experimental hardware/ software exercise into how much you can accomplish with limited resources. If you're into that sort of thing, then you should get that.

This is a fully commercial system, capable of running commercial Windows/ Linux with full compatibility out of the box (Windows for sure), much larger software ecosystem, and much more headroom for anything else you may want to do with it, especially if you want it to seamlessly multitask.

can put in a i7-2600s if you need to

Quote from gug114 : I was thinking about this as an HTPC but read this in a review: "Onboard graphics are on the wimpy side, and with only a half-height PCIe slot and limited power, upgrading graphics would be hard, possibly making this a poor HTPC choice" What do you all think?

People have no idea what graphics are necessary for an HTPC. Any Sandy Bridge has more than enough beef both GPU and CPU to handle any standard HTPC task. I used to have a moderately successful HTPC with a P4 and a GeForce 5200.

Quote from gug114 : I was thinking about this as an HTPC but read this in a review: "Onboard graphics are on the wimpy side, and with only a half-height PCIe slot and limited power, upgrading graphics would be hard, possibly making this a poor HTPC choice" What do you all think?

That's the danger in reading the internet.
There are no onboard graphics in this system.

g540 is 1 dollar more. should i get it instead of g530?