Plex Media Center (HTPC) build

[el9]

I needed to replace the Macbook Pro I had been using for my Plex Media Center installation (I wanted my laptop back), so a compact, nice looking system would be required.

 

I decided on the following:

 

* Shuttle SP35P2V2 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16856101066)

* Intel C2D Wolfdale E8400 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115037)

* G.Skill DDR2 800 2x1GB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820231098)

* eVGA GeForce 8600GT 256MB 256-P2-N751-TR (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814130085)

* D-Link DBT-120 Bluetooth Adapter (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16833127117)

* Logitech diNovo Mini Keyboard / Mouse (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16823126039)

* Seagate 320GB SATA-II HD (I had this laying around, did not buy for this build) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822148140)

* I also used an IDE Plextor DVD Burner I had laying around for installation.

 

Install of iDeneb v1.3 went great, here are the drivers I used:

* Audio: Standard ALC888 driver (not Taruga's)

* Ethernet: AppleYukon2 ( for Marvell 88E8056 )

* Graphics: NVKush

 

I used a GUID Partition map, with just a single partition. I didn't select any other kernel, so that I could stay vanilla. After reboot, everything came up perfectly as expected.

 

The only other thing I did was the _CFGetHostUUIDString fix from here. Before I did that, I was having a lot of problems making my original Xbox DVD remote work with Gamepad Companion (which worked fine with my Macbook Pro). I noticed problems with errors like " _CFGetHostUUIDString: unable to determine UUID for host. Error: 35 " in my system.log followed by crashes of the Gamepad Companion daemon (GPC Daemon Tool). After the fix, it works great.

 

It's hooked up to my Onkyo TX-SR705 via a DVI to HDMI cable, and optical out from the built in sound card. AC3/DTS works perfectly after changing the default audio output to the Digital Out (this was done in Audio MIDI Setup, and in the Plex application).

 

All in all, I'm extremely pleased, and built a hell of a box for $767 shipped (and still have $90 in rebates coming).