2012-05-01, 19:15
right now I have a retail standard media center device but since it only allows for a single hand disk and only supports 22-bits LBA this means I can't use more then 2TB of storage in it.
2TB which is full at this point....
to fix the storage limitation I want to use a 'old' PC with XBMC to so I can use more then one drive.
I quote old since its a bit older but not really that old.
the specifications right now are these:
Intel Core2Quad Q8200 - 2.33Ghz
4GB 667Mh Dual Channel DDR2.
ASRock P5B-DE motherboard.
nVidia GeForce 9500GT 1GB.
HP S-ATA DVD-RW DL (will be replaced, its SLOW and I want to use an IDE/ATAPI drive to keep all S-ATA ports free for storage drives)
WDC Caviar Blue 500GB IDE/ATAPI (will be replaced, I need this one somewhere else).
bit more specifications:
given that list, I will need a other system disk, as I need the caviar blue in a other system.
the 2TB Caviar Green from the existing media center can be moved over, but since its already full I will be needing a other drive for the system.
I intend to use XBMC on (a) Ubuntu (directive) and I want to know what would be a realistic size for the system drive.
I prefer to keep the files (as in media files) separate from the OS (in case anything happens with the OS, I could reinstall it without risking to lose media files).
if someone would ask me for the needed drive space for a simple Ubuntu installation with a separate data disk, I would recommend an 80GB drive,
keeping in mind the option of needing extra space for more software and/or newer versions later on.
but thats for Ubuntu on its own, I think Ubuntu + XBMC would fit on an 80GB drive,
but I am not sure if that would be a realistic scenario given the option of wanting other theme's or plug-ins later on, as well as any potential other software I may want on the system.
the machine will not solely be used for XBMC, given we (as in my family) have no other computer(s) in the living room it would also be easy to use it to quickly lookup something on-line,
or for games that either run directly on Ubuntu, in WINE or in DOSBOX (e.g. Jazz Jack Rabit, etc. etc.), for which the machine will also need to have space.
so, what would be a realistic size for the hard disk for the System, and anything that has to be on the system disk (e.g. boot-loader, system libraries, etc.).
further, I often hear people say the GeForce 9500GT won't make it when playing 1080p HD video.
I'm currently using it to play a video in a 1920x1080 @ 30fps, now, I am not very great with video, but unless I'm mistaken, 1920 x 1080 would be 1080p.
I wonder if there may be specific situations someone could mention at which I would get trouble,
the XBMC UI does work fine at 1800x1440@50Hz with around 60fps, though I am using a normal display now, not a TV which it will be connected to later.
with a processor usage of around 50%, and for just the UI, I find that a bit high.
further, is 4GB enough, or should I get more memory? the motherboard supports up to 8GB, but that would be a somewhat expensive joke (a 4GB Dual Channel kit costs around €50).
currently, using just XBMC itself (well, on top of Ubuntu 12.04LTS), I have around 3288MB memory free.
the idea is to install up to 4x 2TB SATA HDD for storage and one IDE/ATAPI HD for the system, and one IDE/ATAPI DVD-RW as optical drive.
2TB which is full at this point....
to fix the storage limitation I want to use a 'old' PC with XBMC to so I can use more then one drive.
I quote old since its a bit older but not really that old.
the specifications right now are these:
Intel Core2Quad Q8200 - 2.33Ghz
4GB 667Mh Dual Channel DDR2.
ASRock P5B-DE motherboard.
nVidia GeForce 9500GT 1GB.
HP S-ATA DVD-RW DL (will be replaced, its SLOW and I want to use an IDE/ATAPI drive to keep all S-ATA ports free for storage drives)
WDC Caviar Blue 500GB IDE/ATAPI (will be replaced, I need this one somewhere else).
bit more specifications:
Code:
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82P965/G965 Memory Controller Hub (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82P965/G965 PCI Express Root Port (rev 02)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1a.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 (rev 02)
00:1a.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 02)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev f2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801HB/HR (ICH8/R) LPC Interface Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) 4 port SATA Controller [IDE mode] (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.5 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801HR/HO/HH (ICH8R/DO/DH) 2 port SATA Controller [IDE mode] (rev 02)
01:00.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6315 Series Firewire Controller
01:00.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6415 PATA IDE Host Controller (rev a0)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 03)
05:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation G96 [GeForce 9500 GT] (rev a1)given that list, I will need a other system disk, as I need the caviar blue in a other system.
the 2TB Caviar Green from the existing media center can be moved over, but since its already full I will be needing a other drive for the system.
I intend to use XBMC on (a) Ubuntu (directive) and I want to know what would be a realistic size for the system drive.
I prefer to keep the files (as in media files) separate from the OS (in case anything happens with the OS, I could reinstall it without risking to lose media files).
if someone would ask me for the needed drive space for a simple Ubuntu installation with a separate data disk, I would recommend an 80GB drive,
keeping in mind the option of needing extra space for more software and/or newer versions later on.
but thats for Ubuntu on its own, I think Ubuntu + XBMC would fit on an 80GB drive,
but I am not sure if that would be a realistic scenario given the option of wanting other theme's or plug-ins later on, as well as any potential other software I may want on the system.
the machine will not solely be used for XBMC, given we (as in my family) have no other computer(s) in the living room it would also be easy to use it to quickly lookup something on-line,
or for games that either run directly on Ubuntu, in WINE or in DOSBOX (e.g. Jazz Jack Rabit, etc. etc.), for which the machine will also need to have space.
so, what would be a realistic size for the hard disk for the System, and anything that has to be on the system disk (e.g. boot-loader, system libraries, etc.).
further, I often hear people say the GeForce 9500GT won't make it when playing 1080p HD video.
I'm currently using it to play a video in a 1920x1080 @ 30fps, now, I am not very great with video, but unless I'm mistaken, 1920 x 1080 would be 1080p.
I wonder if there may be specific situations someone could mention at which I would get trouble,
the XBMC UI does work fine at 1800x1440@50Hz with around 60fps, though I am using a normal display now, not a TV which it will be connected to later.
with a processor usage of around 50%, and for just the UI, I find that a bit high.
further, is 4GB enough, or should I get more memory? the motherboard supports up to 8GB, but that would be a somewhat expensive joke (a 4GB Dual Channel kit costs around €50).
currently, using just XBMC itself (well, on top of Ubuntu 12.04LTS), I have around 3288MB memory free.
the idea is to install up to 4x 2TB SATA HDD for storage and one IDE/ATAPI HD for the system, and one IDE/ATAPI DVD-RW as optical drive.
