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Custom HTPC or Mac Mini?

post #1 of 8
7/22/12 at 8:37pm
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I'm currently shopping for a HTPC that will strictly be for watching movies in 720p & 1080p. I sort of prefer for it to be as small as possible just so I could put it away near my living room tv without looking messy. Ive been looking at the Mac Mini as of late just due to the smallness of it but then the price is 600 bucks. Would it be better to go with the mac mini or just building my own HTPC. If I were to build my own then it would cost around 250 bucks but would be really big.

So should I go with a custom HTPC or a mac mini?

This would be my HTPC build
CASE http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147099

MOBO http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128517

RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231394

GPU/CPU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103951

I have a a DVD drive and 1tb hard drive spare already if I go this route.
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post #2 of 8
7/22/12 at 8:51pm
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Go custom. The custom parts you linked will serve you well. I would look for a case with a bit more airflow though just for my own piece of mind. I like this case for its cooling abilities!

IN WIN BR665 Black SECC steel MicroATX Mini Tower

That way when you get a Tuner for your HTPC you can hide the sensor behind one of the mesh panels.
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post #3 of 8
7/26/12 at 7:47pm
Have you looked into a mini itx motherboard.
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post #4 of 8
7/26/12 at 7:53pm
I think the HTPC route would be better the rig your looking to build looks better and would save you some money compared to the mac mini.
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post #5 of 8
7/31/12 at 12:11pm
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I'd been debating this as well. I prefer to build my own pc's for everything, and I've been wanting to build an even smaller mITX setup than my 2U seedbox, but I have a mac mini already, so i just had to pick up the displayport to hdmi adapter. Still probably going to run XBMC and roll with it that way. Biggest problem is going to be getting my Harmony remote working and programmed correctly...
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post #6 of 8
7/31/12 at 12:34pm
You should build your own with a mini ITX mobo and case.

MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157273

CASE: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144255
This case is not as pretty as the mac mini, and has a bit larger footprint, but should work well for a HTPC.

This would be $10 more than the mobo and case you choose (after MIR), but still considerably less than the Mac mini.
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post #7 of 8
7/31/12 at 7:12pm
Or a case like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811108196 for $10 more. Bigger, but has better air flow.
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A Dusty Mess of Wires
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HTPC
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Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingCooling
128GB Crucial M4 ASUS Burner NZXT Sentry Mesh Fan Controller Corsair H-50 P/P 
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Windows 8 Pro 64 bit VIZIO E3D320VX Rosewill HIVE-750 NZXT Tempest 410 
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Asus Xonar DG Logitech Z-5300 5.1 Speakers 
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post #8 of 8
8/1/12 at 2:35am
Mac Mini is great in terms of space and appearance, and it will do the job perfectly well if you just want internet TV and streaming files from a home server. But live TV is not an option unless I am mistaken and there is insufficient storage in the box for films etc. It is not a bad option but it is quite expensive for what it is, for the same money you could build yourself a really nice HTPC. Just don't expect anything you build yourself to look as tidy as a Mac Mini would.
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