Rebuild older PC or get a Revo (or similar)?
#1
I have an older PC as an HTPC right now (using a GeForce 6600, AGP) and a Athlong 64 3400. While it plays most things alright, I've been having issues with HD playback (stuttering) and am debating moving the machine either over to a XBMC Live install or upgrading to Win7.

The main issue is I'm not sure either will help due to the video card...and am debating if a Revo might just be a better way to go since it's so much smaller and more power efficient than a full tower PC.

The two main things I'm worried about are the Revo working well with 1080p content over a network and the ability to watch streaming (flash or other) video on the Ion system. This is mostly to watch out of area sports games via whatever oddball app it's available on (sopcast, streamtorrent, etc.).

Note that I have a WHS that handles all my storage and media serving needs...so...this is just the item that's going to be attached to the TV itself.

TIA for any insight people can provide.
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#2
Your video card is you current problem- the 6xxx and 7xxx series has NO x264 acceleration. Put a modern card in it (say a 9400 GT or a 210 GT) and suddenly you are back in the game.

In fact I made an HTPC for my father-in-law the other day with basically the exact same specs and it plays everything I throw at it.

You might be right to be nervous about ION streaming performance. I haven't tried streaming sites on my ION HTPC because it is running XBMC Live, but on my overclocked ION netbook (at 2.2 GHz, so an almost decent comparison to a dual core 1.6GHZ) it doesn't even come close to streaming 1080p content, even with Flash 10.1.

With that said, benchmarks put a dual 1.6GHZ ION at around the same power as a 3.2 GHZ Pentium 4 (in multithreaded apps of course), which is pretty much where you are now.

So basically get an ION box if you:

1. Want a smaller footprint

2. Want a smaller powerbill

If neither of those things matter to you, just get your old comp a modern GPU. Once exception is if your machine only has an AGP slot. In that case moving to an ION box is much more appealing as there are no VDPAU AGP cards.
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#3
Thanks Poof. That actually puts things into perspective.

I testing XBMC Live and basically anything under 1080p plays fine (hits ~80% CPU, but it works fine)...but....resolution is screwey, audio is screwey, etc. (it's a 'old parts' HTPC - santa cruz sound card, etc.) Given that this is 'the best I can do', then it looks like going with a Ion system is the best bet. Particularly since, like you noted, it IS an AGP system. Dropping 50-100$ in a video card seems stupid compared to spending 100$ more and getting an ion system.

Now I'm pissed I didn't get the Woot one yesterday. Given, it was a single core Ion but..still.

I guess the biggest thing that has me wondering is how I can do 'other' things I mentioned if I install XBMCLive. (SOPcast, web surf, etc.)
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#4
Hmmm...I wouldn't install XBMC Live if you want to do all that stuff.

What I would do if I was you is get a dual-core Windows 7 ION box. Why?

-Dual core means more CPU power to handle Flash/Windows 7

-Windows 7 means you get GPU accelerated Flash, which might be the difference maker for decent streaming performance.

Tests on my ION netbook tell me that as long as you stick to 720p or lessor streaming sites you should be fine in that situation. Just make sure to get at least 2GB ram.

XBMC Live (which is really just Ubuntu) lacks GPU accelerated Flash, which makes streaming almost a no go.

I know I am basically telling you to spend a bunch more, but it would make you happy.

Just know for local content an ION can do the job- my dual core ION can play my Avatar Blu Ray rip which is at the absolute maximum for the Blu Ray standard.
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#5
Hrm...there all well over $300....which seems a bit much. :/ Damn....this complicates things.

Although, considering I only have a 720p tv now...getting a Revo now might be a good idea, then once I get a bigger 1080P tv and move this tv up to my bedroom, I can get something higher powered for that TV and migrate the Revo with the TV.
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#6
i bought one and returned it, piece of crap and not worth the money

I picked up a foxconn g41s-k board for 35 bucks and bought an intel dual core e6500 or close to it for 70 bucks and i had some 2 gig ddr2 ram for 50 bucks and i glued the board to a piece of plastic board and stuck it to the back of the monitor and a power supply i had kikkin around and a usb 16 gig stick for booting it to xbmc and it works like a charm

got a 3800 series ati in it but i'd like to upgrade to a 4000 series cause i hear the 5's really suck balls

idea is cheap and will last for a couple of years, i believe xbmc will eventually become a smaller app for portables in the future and may run on this for years to come

cheers to you all coders and skinners for doing an awsome job

hey any suggestions guys on a vid card let me know eh?
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#7
Well...until I get a 1080p TV, I'm going to wait I think. I'm now 'cleaning up' (software wise) the HTPC I have and tweaking everything so it works a bit better.

I considered having the HTPC just sit 'open' but...with cats and a baby it's not an option. I may just build a wood 'enclosure' that matches by entertainment center, though, and mount it on there and slide it into a 'slot' in the entertainment center (hard to describe without seeing it.

That would be good.

The big thing is - I've kludged together things all through college and grad school. I have the money now to get something decent..so...I want it to just work. I don't want to have to tweak constantly.
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Rebuild older PC or get a Revo (or similar)?0