2011-05-02, 01:24
eskro, thanks a lot for your HTPC guidelines!
I was looking at an HTPC and for the motherboard I was looking at motherboards with onboard CPU and GPU, by coincidence my setup already contained Asrock E350M1 because of it's low price. And now, after reading your advice I'm almost sure of buying it (in combination with 2GB Kingston ValueRAM and an HTPC case).
However, I want to use that system for something else too, namely as NAS. The NAS-part of the system will run SABnzbd with CouchPotato (to easily get all the movies I want) and Sick Beard (to keep my series complete). I have no doubt that a system like that can easily handle all that but I'm afraid I run into problems when e.g. Sick Beard decides to download a series episode while somebody is watching a movie using XBMC like movie stuttering).
My main question: will prioritizing XBMC using the Windows task prioritizer solve any problems that might arise when other CPU intensive applications that doing their thing? If not, does anyone have a solution for this, or am I doomed to buy a faster system that has no troubles doing all that at once? And what if somebody decided to stream a movie using a mediaplayer (like a PlayOn!HD) from the bedroom while the XBMC / NAS is playing a movie, will that influence the playback or is that so low key that it won't be noticed?
Also, should I run Windows 7 or XP for my HTPC with XBMC? What will give me the best result?
Then my final question: how much will a system as described (Asrock E350M1, 2GB RAM and 1 or 2 HDD's of 5400RPM) consume in terms of power? As the system will be running 24/7 power efficiency is important so I won't be getting a cheap HTPC case with built in PSU as that one probably won't be very efficient. I will most likely get some a-grade PSU from a well known brand, but most PSU's are 250 to 350 Watts at the very minimum, that's already big time overkill for such a system right?
I look forward to some answers to the many questions I still have, thanks in advance!
I was looking at an HTPC and for the motherboard I was looking at motherboards with onboard CPU and GPU, by coincidence my setup already contained Asrock E350M1 because of it's low price. And now, after reading your advice I'm almost sure of buying it (in combination with 2GB Kingston ValueRAM and an HTPC case).
However, I want to use that system for something else too, namely as NAS. The NAS-part of the system will run SABnzbd with CouchPotato (to easily get all the movies I want) and Sick Beard (to keep my series complete). I have no doubt that a system like that can easily handle all that but I'm afraid I run into problems when e.g. Sick Beard decides to download a series episode while somebody is watching a movie using XBMC like movie stuttering).
My main question: will prioritizing XBMC using the Windows task prioritizer solve any problems that might arise when other CPU intensive applications that doing their thing? If not, does anyone have a solution for this, or am I doomed to buy a faster system that has no troubles doing all that at once? And what if somebody decided to stream a movie using a mediaplayer (like a PlayOn!HD) from the bedroom while the XBMC / NAS is playing a movie, will that influence the playback or is that so low key that it won't be noticed?
Also, should I run Windows 7 or XP for my HTPC with XBMC? What will give me the best result?
Then my final question: how much will a system as described (Asrock E350M1, 2GB RAM and 1 or 2 HDD's of 5400RPM) consume in terms of power? As the system will be running 24/7 power efficiency is important so I won't be getting a cheap HTPC case with built in PSU as that one probably won't be very efficient. I will most likely get some a-grade PSU from a well known brand, but most PSU's are 250 to 350 Watts at the very minimum, that's already big time overkill for such a system right?
I look forward to some answers to the many questions I still have, thanks in advance!