Rajahal Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Giada CUBE-N3-D2OB Intel Atom 330 CPU NVIDIA ION graphics eSATA Black Mini / Booksize Barebone System $129.99 after promo EMCKBKA32 (expires 08/15/2011) Just add HDD/SSD and RAM. Should make for a nice little XBMC/OpenElec HTPC. Link to comment
Superorb Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 It only has a single DIMM slot though which matters to me. I was just going to use the 2x1GB RAM in my current PC, but I don't know how well it'll run with only 1GB of RAM in XBMC Live/OpenELEC. EDIT: Crap, it's laptop memory so I'd need to buy new stuff anyways. A short while ago Newegg had the Zotac setup with an Atom 510, ION2, 260g HD, and 2GB RAM for $190 after MIR. I wish I;d snagged one of those deals! Link to comment
Rajahal Posted August 9, 2011 Author Share Posted August 9, 2011 As far as I know, all of these barebones kits take laptop memory. The bundles are often good deals, but they do sort of force you to go the HDD route. I vastly prefer using an SSD in my HTPC, so this type of stand-alone deal has its perks as well. Link to comment
WeeboTech Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 With XBMC I love using an SSD... Lightning fast boots to ready. Who needs a firmware player when you have one of these with an SSD and XBMC. Link to comment
Superorb Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 It does look like they're all laptop memory which adds $21 for a single 2gb stick of RAM. I'd love to run an SSD, but I cannot find any super cheap, low GB options for XBMC. I was going to order a 2.5" drive and swap it for an older 5400rpm laptop drive that's in my main PC that's got a crap ton of bad sectors when my wife got frustrated and slammed the lid on my laptop. Then I'll move the 5400rpm laptop drive to the XBMC box unless I can find a way to use a Compact Flash card (or some other memory card) while not sacrificing much performance. Link to comment
Rajahal Posted August 9, 2011 Author Share Posted August 9, 2011 This is the cheapest SSD I know of: Kingston SSDNow S100 SS100S2/8G 2.5" 8GB SATA II Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) 8 GB should be plenty for XBMC. I use a 30 GB SSD for my OpenElec install, and it has around 29 GB free space. Link to comment
Superorb Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 This is the cheapest SSD I know of: Kingston SSDNow S100 SS100S2/8G 2.5" 8GB SATA II Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) 8 GB should be plenty for XBMC. I use a 30 GB SSD for my OpenElec install, and it has around 29 GB free space. Wow, not so good reviews, and for a few bucks more I get to swap out my slower drive on my main PC for a 7200rpm 2.5" drive. I'll get a SATA3 SSD for my boot drive on my main PC some time soon, but we're without an HTPC right now since our XBMC box didn't survive the move from NC to CO The wife is getting antsy since she's been missing all her shows. I keep telling her we could get one sooner if she'd let me up the budget, but she's being stubborn. Link to comment
WeeboTech Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 This is the cheapest SSD I know of: Kingston SSDNow S100 SS100S2/8G 2.5" 8GB SATA II Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) 8 GB should be plenty for XBMC. I use a 30 GB SSD for my OpenElec install, and it has around 29 GB free space. reviews seem to be bad on it. Mention of problems with ubuntu. XBMC is based on ubuntu. Link to comment
cyrnel Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 I have two of this Giada model. I've used them with Win7, Slackware 13.1, Untangle, and used one for unRAID 4.7 and 5.0b testing a few weeks. Worked fine, if three drives hanging out the side isn't a problem. The overheating reports on Newegg are questionable if the fan is running and the top vents aren't blocked. These things just don't dissipate that much juice. Okay, I could believe it from the guy who installed two HDs, mounting #2 in front of the air intake. One of mine has a 7200RPM Scorpio 500GB - not a cool drive - which stays 35-40C. Some units might be shipping with loud fans. The two I got are very quiet. For comparison, I bought mine maybe 7 weeks ago when Newegg was selling them for $149 and including a $25 egg coupon with the computer. Link to comment
Superorb Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Well, I ordered one with 1x2GB of the Crucial el cheapo RAM for $21. I'll run OpenELEC off a microSD card I had from my phone. Here's to hoping we can return to watching our HD shows form the unRAID server in a few days. Link to comment
SCSI Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 I have two of this Giada model. I've used them with Win7, Slackware 13.1, Untangle, and used one for unRAID 4.7 and 5.0b testing a few weeks. Worked fine, if three drives hanging out the side isn't a problem. Can you post a pic of your setup? Link to comment
cyrnel Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Nothing special, just SATA cables hanging out from the slightly askew Giada top. Add one ridiculously long eSATA cable, drives carefully balanced by a huge PS, and a loose fan for the win. An unplanned Frankentest that lasted too long. I had to take it apart. It was scaring the cat. Link to comment
gabbott Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 It does look like they're all laptop memory which adds $21 for a single 2gb stick of RAM. I'd love to run an SSD, but I cannot find any super cheap, low GB options for XBMC. I was going to order a 2.5" drive and swap it for an older 5400rpm laptop drive that's in my main PC that's got a crap ton of bad sectors when my wife got frustrated and slammed the lid on my laptop. Then I'll move the 5400rpm laptop drive to the XBMC box unless I can find a way to use a Compact Flash card (or some other memory card) while not sacrificing much performance. Just install openelec onto a USB thumbdrive, cheaper than a SSD and you'll get decent performance. Link to comment
Superorb Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Just install openelec onto a USB thumbdrive, cheaper than a SSD and you'll get decent performance. The Giada Cube has a built in SD card reader, so I'll just use an SD card from my phone that I replaced. If it runs like crap I'll try something else. Link to comment
Queball Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 It only has a single DIMM slot though which matters to me. I was just going to use the 2x1GB RAM in my current PC, but I don't know how well it'll run with only 1GB of RAM in XBMC Live/OpenELEC. EDIT: Crap, it's laptop memory so I'd need to buy new stuff anyways. A short while ago Newegg had the Zotac setup with an Atom 510, ION2, 260g HD, and 2GB RAM for $190 after MIR. I wish I;d snagged one of those deals! I have one and run OpenELEC (use the ion specific build) from a class 10 sd card (takes about 30 sec to boot from hitting the power button). I originally had only 1GB ram installed and it played everything without problems except for high bitrate blueray rips. I read somewhere on the XBMC forums that adjusting the video ram settings in the bios to 512MB dedicated this problem would be fixed. With 1 GB ram this did not resolve the problem but after upgrading the ram it plays everything including the blueray rips. If you don't plan to blueray rips 1 GB may be OK. I am very happy with mine. The only con I have discovered after several months of use is that the bios does not support wake from usb so I can't turn the device on from my remote. UPDATE After upgrading to the unofficially daily build wake from usb works great. Link to comment
Superorb Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 It only has a single DIMM slot though which matters to me. I was just going to use the 2x1GB RAM in my current PC, but I don't know how well it'll run with only 1GB of RAM in XBMC Live/OpenELEC. EDIT: Crap, it's laptop memory so I'd need to buy new stuff anyways. A short while ago Newegg had the Zotac setup with an Atom 510, ION2, 260g HD, and 2GB RAM for $190 after MIR. I wish I;d snagged one of those deals! I have one and run OpenELEC (use the ion specific build) from a class 10 sd card (takes about 30 sec to boot from hitting the power button). I originally had only 1GB ram installed and it played everything without problems except for high bitrate blueray rips. I read somewhere on the XBMC forums that adjusting the video ram settings in the bios to 512MB dedicated this problem would be fixed. With 1 GB ram this did not resolve the problem but after upgrading the ram it plays everything including the blueray rips. If you don't plan to blueray rips 1 GB may be OK. I am very happy with mine. The only con I have discovered after several months of use is that the bios does not support wake from usb so I can't turn the device on from my remote. I ordered 2GB RAM, and it's a good thing because we do watch BD rips. I do remember reading in the reviews that it will wake from sleep via USB, and I'm hoping that it does since we sleep/wake the HTPC every time we use it. Link to comment
Queball Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 It only has a single DIMM slot though which matters to me. I was just going to use the 2x1GB RAM in my current PC, but I don't know how well it'll run with only 1GB of RAM in XBMC Live/OpenELEC. EDIT: Crap, it's laptop memory so I'd need to buy new stuff anyways. A short while ago Newegg had the Zotac setup with an Atom 510, ION2, 260g HD, and 2GB RAM for $190 after MIR. I wish I;d snagged one of those deals! I have one and run OpenELEC (use the ion specific build) from a class 10 sd card (takes about 30 sec to boot from hitting the power button). I originally had only 1GB ram installed and it played everything without problems except for high bitrate blueray rips. I read somewhere on the XBMC forums that adjusting the video ram settings in the bios to 512MB dedicated this problem would be fixed. With 1 GB ram this did not resolve the problem but after upgrading the ram it plays everything including the blueray rips. If you don't plan to blueray rips 1 GB may be OK. I am very happy with mine. The only con I have discovered after several months of use is that the bios does not support wake from usb so I can't turn the device on from my remote. I ordered 2GB RAM, and it's a good thing because we do watch BD rips. I do remember reading in the reviews that it will wake from sleep via USB, and I'm hoping that it does since we sleep/wake the HTPC every time we use it. That's good news. I'll try again to get wake from usb working. Update us if you get it working Link to comment
Superorb Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 That's good news. I'll try again to get wake from usb working. Update us if you get it working You got me worried so I did a little diggin, looks like I might have found a solution. According to this guy he's been speeping/waking for a while now. You can enable wake on USB by going into your bios and using S3 for powermanagement (sorry I don't have the bios right in front of me.) Then follow the instructions in the wiki here http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?ti...-On-Device You will also need to update grub to stop the autoresume bug. Its later on in the same page of the wiki. I have this and run XBMC off a $8 4GB flash drive (using XBMC's bootable flash wizard. Its an add-on under programs). It boots up a little slower about 2.5 minutes but it doesn't really matter since I just suspend it. I haven't had to reboot the device for about a month now (other than updating the build to one of the nightlies once). It plays 1080p awesome. I don't use Hulu so I can't comment on that but the cpu never gets above 30% I got mine for $148 add $25 for 2gb ram and $9 for a ebay IR receiver and you have a fully functioning HTPC for under $200. The newest builds of XBMC let you play decrypted bluray.ISO so you don't have to deal with all the transcoding BS. One button push and it rips to the nas. One thing if you run using a bootable flash drive the grub config files are somewhere else. If you look at the sticky post on the bootable flash wizard someone tells you what to do. The fan is a little loud but I have this in a cabinet so it doesn't matter. Power draw is about 30W for normal use and pretty much nothing on suspend. K Link to comment
Queball Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 That's good news. I'll try again to get wake from usb working. Update us if you get it working You got me worried so I did a little diggin, looks like I might have found a solution. According to this guy he's been speeping/waking for a while now. You can enable wake on USB by going into your bios and using S3 for powermanagement (sorry I don't have the bios right in front of me.) Then follow the instructions in the wiki here http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?ti...-On-Device You will also need to update grub to stop the autoresume bug. Its later on in the same page of the wiki. I have this and run XBMC off a $8 4GB flash drive (using XBMC's bootable flash wizard. Its an add-on under programs). It boots up a little slower about 2.5 minutes but it doesn't really matter since I just suspend it. I haven't had to reboot the device for about a month now (other than updating the build to one of the nightlies once). It plays 1080p awesome. I don't use Hulu so I can't comment on that but the cpu never gets above 30% I got mine for $148 add $25 for 2gb ram and $9 for a ebay IR receiver and you have a fully functioning HTPC for under $200. The newest builds of XBMC let you play decrypted bluray.ISO so you don't have to deal with all the transcoding BS. One button push and it rips to the nas. One thing if you run using a bootable flash drive the grub config files are somewhere else. If you look at the sticky post on the bootable flash wizard someone tells you what to do. The fan is a little loud but I have this in a cabinet so it doesn't matter. Power draw is about 30W for normal use and pretty much nothing on suspend. K Looks like I'll be giving XBMC Live a try. Link to comment
RockDawg Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 If you are going to run XBMC Live, I suggest the Openelec version instead. I tried it on my Giada N3 and everything just worked (except for HDMI aduio and there was an easy how-to for that) including USB wake from sleep. With Live, I've always had to do a handful of tweaks with every install just to get everything working. Openelec is super easy. I can confirm that BluRay stutters with only 1GB of RAM (and 512 enabled in BIOS). I tried it in on my Asrock 330 (which is pretty much the same hardware) with 2GB of RAM and BluRays played flawlessly so I ordered a 2GB stick for the Giada box and am confident that will fix the problem. Good little box, but my fan is a bit loud. Link to comment
Superorb Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Glad to hear wake from sleep via USP works. Is it possible to remove the 60mm fan and replace it with a thin 80mm fan? Link to comment
cyrnel Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Is it possible to remove the 60mm fan and replace it with a thin 80mm fan? Without serious modding the IO panel would get in the way, at least for fans mounted on the inside. (Stock, it's screwed into the cpu heatsink.) I did try an intake duct between the intake vents and fan and it did help cooling, but for noise, a quieter 60 would be the answer. As I said, both the models I bought are extremely quiet but some apparently are not. Link to comment
Superorb Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Without serious modding the IO panel would get in the way, at least for fans mounted on the inside. (Stock, it's screwed into the cpu heatsink.) I did try an intake duct between the intake vents and fan and it did help cooling, but for noise, a quieter 60 would be the answer. As I said, both the models I bought are extremely quiet but some apparently are not. Thanks. I'm hoping I get a quiet one. Link to comment
Queball Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 If you are going to run XBMC Live, I suggest the Openelec version instead. I tried it on my Giada N3 and everything just worked (except for HDMI aduio and there was an easy how-to for that) including USB wake from sleep. With Live, I've always had to do a handful of tweaks with every install just to get everything working. Openelec is super easy. I can confirm that BluRay stutters with only 1GB of RAM (and 512 enabled in BIOS). I tried it in on my Asrock 330 (which is pretty much the same hardware) with 2GB of RAM and BluRays played flawlessly so I ordered a 2GB stick for the Giada box and am confident that will fix the problem. Good little box, but my fan is a bit loud. Which OpenELEC build did you use? For some reason I cannot get wake from usb to work. I agree that everything else just works and am very pleased. Link to comment
RockDawg Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I am running OpenELEC-ION.i386-devel-20110727-r7581.tar.bz2 under the unofficial daily builds. That was the most current one when I installed it. They now have an 8/7/2011 build. The same build is running flawlessly on my Asrock 330 box. Wake from USB and all. Link to comment
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