media
T H E U L T I M A T E
s y s t e m
3
HARDWARE CHECKLIST
DISCLAIMER
First of all, you may buy any hardware you prefer. If you are experienced in any one of
these fields, or have done research on the subject, feel free to use any HTPC, Graphics
card or Remote as you please. Just be sure to blame yourself if money is wasted by
experimenting with other components that aren’t compatible.
There are many HTPC’s to choose from, but I personally recommend using the HP
ProLiant MicroServer. It really is a keeper.
Not only is it very silent, but it can house up to 5 Internal Hard Drives. There are also 7 USB
Slots (which can be used for external hard drives) and 2 PCI-Slots.
This guide is specifically written for HP ProLiant MicroServer owners in mind.
You will need a low budget graphics card to enable the HP ProLiant Microserver to output
sound and HD Video. The HP ProLiant Microserver only supports low profile cards with low
profile brackets. (the steel end containing the DVI-out)
I recommend the Msi N520GT-MD1GD3/LP. It has a fan but I assure you it is quite silent.
The card comes with 3 brackets and handles 1080p video flawlessly.
You might need to switch the bracket to the low profile one that is included in the box.
ATI cards might have driver problems with OpenELEC.
HTPC
Graphics Card
5300 rpm hard drives are completely fine for use in a HTPC.
You may get some faster transfer speeds when moving around data through the network if
your drives are formatted to EXT3 Partitions, however, I prefer to use NTFS myself as they
can be used in a Windows System, while EXT3 cannot.
If you will be watching most of your media from your HTPC, it’s a good idea to copy all the
media to it so you do not have to switch the PC on to be able to watch something.
The HP ProLiant Microserver has 2GB of RAM included, and more can be added.
OpenELEC is extremely lightweight though and additional Memory will not be needed.
Hard Drives
Memory
QUICK TIP
You can also just plug some of your hard drives into the HTPC after the OpenELEC
installation has been completed, and skip the copying process altogether.
Copying files can take a long time, so this is definitely recommended.