| Kindly review my pc build :) I plan on building a small pc to host windows media center with all my media. It will just sit in my laundry room and only stream WMC content to my xbox. I currently use my xbox as the extender. This would be my first build.
My Build
•ZOTAC IONITX-A-U Atom N330 1.6GHz Dual-Core Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo
•Kingston 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Dual Channel Kit Memory
•ROSEWILL RC-CIX-01 BK Glossy Black Steel Mini-ITX Cube Computer Case
•2x 1TB seagate hard drives
The only negative thing I hear is that Atom has problem with flash video. since I will only be streaming WMC to my xbox I dont think thats a problem.
I like the Atom because I want something running with minimal power.
Any opinions or suggestions would be welcome. |
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| Looks like a good approach to me. |
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 OctaveanPremium,MVM
join:2001-03-31
New York, NY
kudos:1 | reply to jranaudo
Well I can review it but I cant guarantee I’ll be kindly,….. 
Seriously though I think it will do what you require of it. Although you didn’t mention an OS for the build I would speculate that Windows Home Server would be a good way to go here but other solutions will work.
Do take note that the Atom D510 (Pine Trail) will eventually become available and that will likely offer a little more processing power. |
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| reply to jranaudo
Thanks alot. It will just be hosting a window 7 media center. or perhaps a windows home server. have not decided yet. |
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 elios
join:2005-11-15
Springfield, MO
2 edits | imo id get some thing better then an atom they seem slightly under powered for media pcs
maybe a low end AMD 45w Athlon II or low end Core2
»www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···13131608
has on board HDMI so you only have one cable to hook up
»www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···19103688
dual core 65w
should be as good temps and sound as the atom and much faster for media
the thing with setup is you can skip the steaming step and hook it right to your TV
add a tuner card and you can even record video with it
imo its much better option
and steam takes more CPU then you would think since some times it has to transcode the video |
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OctaveanPremium,MVM
join:2001-03-31
New York, NY
kudos:1 | Or what about a Dell Inspiron Zino HD:
»configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/···at_deals
To serve the media you don’t need anything fancy so an Atom will do just fine. The client side is where most of the processing intensive work will likely be done. Although the HP MediaSmart servers are actually doing video transcoding on the server which kind of makes sense if the server would be idle otherwise.
The thing is you never really know when some Gee-Wiz application or feature may catch your fancy so its probably better to have more robust hardware. For example, I’ll likely rebuild my Windows Home Server if the next version of the WHS OS is 64bit only or has higher hardware requirements. |
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 CabalPremium
join:2007-01-21
Austin, TX
 ·Suddenlink
1 edit | reply to jranaudo
If all you're doing is serving files (a trivial task) and don't really need the Ion chipset/video, consider this Atom board: »www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···13186184 (dual core, fanless) at half the cost. I'm using them in MythTV and file share boxes, they're excellent.
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