2011-05-20, 16:54
I have an older HTPC that I want to rebuild.
My objectives are space savings, energy savings, technology refresh.
Here is the current build
2.00 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core
Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. GA-MA78GM-US2H
5 GB (2x2,2x512) DDR2
(3) SAMSUNG HD154UI 1.5TB
(1) SAMSUNG HD501LJ 500GB
NVIDIA GeForce GT 240
An nMediaPC HTPC case (looks like stereo rack equipment) with a 400-500w Silent PSU
It does everything I want, sometimes CPU is a little high, but the nVidia GT240 handles my decoding just fine 1080p, etc..
It is used for playback of content (XBMC Windows) from low SD xvid's to x.264 1080p DTS, etc. etc. I don't play streaming media on it, but use it as a file share where people can get to the stored data.
I take audio and video out via the HDMI port on the nVidia card
I am looking at this case LIAN LI PC-Q08B
to hold my existing drives, and to transfer over my existing PSU.
I would like to reuse the memory and Video Card as well if possible.
I need to do this as on the cheap as possible.
Reading the recommended build threads I am getting a little confused concerning CPU/GPU trade off.
In short, since I will be using the nVidia GT 240, would an non-ION Atom board do everything I want, or are the Atoms only a good answer when paired with the on board ION's
Or better yet, based on the information I've given and my stated goals,
does anyone have a suggestion as to how to rebuild this HTPC, reusing as much as possible to keep costs down, but get it into a much smaller footprint, updated tech (faster more powerful would be nice), and draw less energy (quieter/cooler would be nice).
Thanks
My objectives are space savings, energy savings, technology refresh.
Here is the current build
2.00 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core
Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. GA-MA78GM-US2H
5 GB (2x2,2x512) DDR2
(3) SAMSUNG HD154UI 1.5TB
(1) SAMSUNG HD501LJ 500GB
NVIDIA GeForce GT 240
An nMediaPC HTPC case (looks like stereo rack equipment) with a 400-500w Silent PSU
It does everything I want, sometimes CPU is a little high, but the nVidia GT240 handles my decoding just fine 1080p, etc..
It is used for playback of content (XBMC Windows) from low SD xvid's to x.264 1080p DTS, etc. etc. I don't play streaming media on it, but use it as a file share where people can get to the stored data.
I take audio and video out via the HDMI port on the nVidia card
I am looking at this case LIAN LI PC-Q08B
to hold my existing drives, and to transfer over my existing PSU.
I would like to reuse the memory and Video Card as well if possible.
I need to do this as on the cheap as possible.
Reading the recommended build threads I am getting a little confused concerning CPU/GPU trade off.
In short, since I will be using the nVidia GT 240, would an non-ION Atom board do everything I want, or are the Atoms only a good answer when paired with the on board ION's
Or better yet, based on the information I've given and my stated goals,
does anyone have a suggestion as to how to rebuild this HTPC, reusing as much as possible to keep costs down, but get it into a much smaller footprint, updated tech (faster more powerful would be nice), and draw less energy (quieter/cooler would be nice).
Thanks