[MrDamnation]

Currently, I run a ~$200 little baby of a HTPC connected to some NAS storage to supplement my cable. I run it on Linux, because I don't have any Windows keys. I forget what the name of the computer is, but that's not as important as the specs and how well Windows plays with them, right?

The HTPC has a dual core Atom (@1.67Ghz), nVidia ION integrated graphics and currently 1GB of RAM, but going up to 2 if I switch. I know this setup would not work under XP to play HD, but what about Windows 7? Would it be able to use XBMC without a hitch?

Three reasons I'm thinking of moving. It has nothing to do with Linux, which I have used for a few years now and think is an amazing Operating System within it's own right. However, I've come into contact with a friend willing to let me use his Netflix account. Sadly, Netflix is not supported on Linux, and the XBMC plug-in only works for Windows I believe (maybe Mac too). Secondly, I work in IT and am getting an MSDN account which would come with keys for Windows 7, so now I don't have to factor that into the cost. Thirdly, once I get monitor issues out of the way (which really, really suck...do not buy monitors online I've gone through 3 sendbacks due to dead pixels and non working DVI ports) I plan on contributing to XBMC and my "development rig" is 64-bits of pure Windows running GitHub connected via Visual Studio. I don't think it would be very effective or logical to develop for Linux on Windows, nor do I want to dual boot. That's what my laptop is for.

Anyway, the skinny is, would this setup stream XBMC with HD video without a hitch? Is Windows too much of a resource hog that it would lag?

[isamu.dragon]

Currently, I run a ~$200 little baby of a HTPC connected to some NAS storage to supplement my cable. I run it on Linux, because I don't have any Windows keys. I forget what the name of the computer is, but that's not as important as the specs and how well Windows plays with them, right?

The HTPC has a dual core Atom (@1.67Ghz), nVidia ION integrated graphics and currently 1GB of RAM, but going up to 2 if I switch. I know this setup would not work under XP to play HD, but what about Windows 7? Would it be able to use XBMC without a hitch?

Three reasons I'm thinking of moving. It has nothing to do with Linux, which I have used for a few years now and think is an amazing Operating System within it's own right. However, I've come into contact with a friend willing to let me use his Netflix account. Sadly, Netflix is not supported on Linux, and the XBMC plug-in only works for Windows I believe (maybe Mac too). Secondly, I work in IT and am getting an MSDN account which would come with keys for Windows 7, so now I don't have to factor that into the cost. Thirdly, once I get monitor issues out of the way (which really, really suck...do not buy monitors online I've gone through 3 sendbacks due to dead pixels and non working DVI ports) I plan on contributing to XBMC and my "development rig" is 64-bits of pure Windows running GitHub connected via Visual Studio. I don't think it would be very effective or logical to develop for Linux on Windows, nor do I want to dual boot. That's what my laptop is for.

Anyway, the skinny is, would this setup stream XBMC with HD video without a hitch? Is Windows too much of a resource hog that it would lag?

Zotac Mag ND-01 is the one I use.

Yes it works with WIN7 64-Bit. It does support XBMC DXVA 2. Very cheap, but awesome.

[jhsrennie]

XBMC will (probably) work fine with Windows 7 on your PC. I say "probably" because you need hardware acceleration. Most Atom based HTPCs use an ION or ION2 chipset, and these support hardware acceleration. I suppose it's just possible you have an HTPC that doesn't use the ION GPU, but that's pretty unlikely.

Actually, now I think about it, if your system works fine with Linux it must have an NVIDIA GPU, so it will be fine with Windows 7.

I think the default is for hardware acceleration to be off, so you need to go into System settings, Video, Playback and check that acceleration is enabled.

JR

[MrDamnation]

XBMC will (probably) work fine with Windows 7 on your PC. I say "probably" because you need hardware acceleration. Most Atom based HTPCs use an ION or ION2 chipset, and these support hardware acceleration. I suppose it's just possible you have an HTPC that doesn't use the ION GPU, but that's pretty unlikely.

Actually, now I think about it, if your system works fine with Linux it must have an NVIDIA GPU, so it will be fine with Windows 7.

I think the default is for hardware acceleration to be off, so you need to go into System settings, Video, Playback and check that acceleration is enabled.

JR

It should, it's an ION. Thanks guys! Now I just play the waiting game until I get my MSDN account at work.