Easy HTPC

While Intel is proudly boasting about the sheer performance that their new Core i7 processors delivers, AMD has gone down a different route, choosing instead to expound about the value of their offerings. For example, their current Dragon platform, consisting of a Phenom II processor, AMD 790GX motherboard and an ATI Radeon HD 4870, is touted as a competitive yet value for money alternative to Intel’s pricey Core i7 offerings. Of course they both serve different needs of end-users.

Additionally, AMD also carved out a niche for themselves amongst HTPC builders. Ask any HTPC enthusiast what is their motherboard chipset of choice and chances are he would be using an AMD 780G. The main reason behind this is the board’s integrated Radeon HD 3200 GPU. This integrated graphics processor (IGP) is actually based on the older Radeon HD 2400 GPU, which barely even qualifies as an entry-level GPU by today’s standards. But as an IGP, however, it is one of the best, thanks to its ability to crunch high definition (HD) videos. It’s kind of like being the smallest fish in the ocean, but the biggest fish in the pond.

Read.

Via Hardwarezone.com

Our Download of the Day today is XBMC Media Center 9.04.1.

XBMC is an award winning media center application for Linux, Mac OS X, Windows and XBox. The ultimate hub for all your media, XBMC is easy to use, looks slick, and has a large helpful community. Try it now!

Media Management
XBMC supports viewing and playing a vast library of audio, video and image formats. XBMC has a sophisticated library management system that allows you to organize all your media to give you quick and immediate access.

Fluid Interface
XBMC provides a user friendly interface that’s intuitive, very flexible, and easy to use. The interface is completely customizable through user-created or downloadable skins.

Plug-ins and Extensibility
XBMC has a built-in Python interpreter that allows users and developers to write their own scripts and plugins that run inside XBMC using it’s own widgets and controls. It also has a built-in web server that allows it to be controlled remotely.

Visualisations
XBMC’s audio player supports many visualisations including ProjectM and Goom. In addition, it allows easy development of visualisations using a simple API.

Download.

Via Tweaktown.com

COMPUTEX 2009: Introduced by our friends at Zotac, Origen-ae has a long history of gorgeous HTPC cases often too expensive for many of us to buy. The designs are exquisite and the quality is truly second to none.

At $200 this little puppy isn’t cheap, but if you want one of the most beautiful mini-ITX cases money can buy for your new Zotac 9300-mini ITX or Ion motherboard, then this has to be it.

With a front LCD screen and built in 150W PSU, it’s got a great set of features and superb internal placements for the hardware: the DC-DC compnent is bolted to one side – the 2.5″ hard drive/SSD spot is on the other, and even though the slimline optical drive is above the motherboard and cooling-wise there’s enough space for them both.

It has two holes for some very thin 80mm fans to draw the airflow though and the two pieces of U-shaped 5mm thick aluminium that make up the chassis outsides are curved into a simply gorgeous shape. Inside the aluminium continues, but is now a more standardised 2-3mm thickness to save cost and weight, but it’s not as flimsy as the sheets often used on some case side panels.

Via Bit-tech.net