2011-01-30, 06:35
Hi there,
after 3h+ reading threads and reviews, I decided I should give up searching by myself and asking for your opinion
I had a VIA PC3500+ running 24/7 as NAS/torrent with 2 HDs and XBMC, with a Geforce 8400GS. However, the performance wasn't quite good, and it's fan was too noisy (even though it was small like a 486 cooler). So I decided selling it to a friend (didn't have the guts/time to mod it) and got a NAS-321 to work as, well, NAS and torrenting with Transmission.
Ok, pretty story, now back to what matters: XBMC I'd like to buy a cheap ($250 tops) HTPC; I already have RAM (DDR2, could buy DDR3 separatedly as well) and HD (3.5" and 2.5"), so the chosen model doesn't necessarily need to have those items. It has to be very low watt-consuming (so an old Pentium III is not an option ). It'd be great if it's so low consuming that it uses passive cooling (but still being able to run HD), but I understand that it could be more expensive then an unit with active cooling.
Would Zotac ZBOX Intel Atom D510 1.66 GHz Dual Core All-in-One Mini-PC with No Memory, No Hard Drive and No OS ($196.99 after $20 rebate on Amazon) be powerful enough? Are there cheaper options? I intend to run it with Ubuntu (are the nVidia proprietary drivers working OK with nVidia ION?), but Windows 7 is also an option if I couldn't do it with linux.
I understand that the ATV2 now runs XBMC, but AFAICT by watching YouTube videos and reading reviews it's not an option ATM because a) it doesn't output 1080p; b) it's choppy on the menus; and c) it's tethered to a Mac, and I don't have a Mac.
Thank you very much.
Cheers,
Nighto
after 3h+ reading threads and reviews, I decided I should give up searching by myself and asking for your opinion
I had a VIA PC3500+ running 24/7 as NAS/torrent with 2 HDs and XBMC, with a Geforce 8400GS. However, the performance wasn't quite good, and it's fan was too noisy (even though it was small like a 486 cooler). So I decided selling it to a friend (didn't have the guts/time to mod it) and got a NAS-321 to work as, well, NAS and torrenting with Transmission.
Ok, pretty story, now back to what matters: XBMC I'd like to buy a cheap ($250 tops) HTPC; I already have RAM (DDR2, could buy DDR3 separatedly as well) and HD (3.5" and 2.5"), so the chosen model doesn't necessarily need to have those items. It has to be very low watt-consuming (so an old Pentium III is not an option ). It'd be great if it's so low consuming that it uses passive cooling (but still being able to run HD), but I understand that it could be more expensive then an unit with active cooling.
Would Zotac ZBOX Intel Atom D510 1.66 GHz Dual Core All-in-One Mini-PC with No Memory, No Hard Drive and No OS ($196.99 after $20 rebate on Amazon) be powerful enough? Are there cheaper options? I intend to run it with Ubuntu (are the nVidia proprietary drivers working OK with nVidia ION?), but Windows 7 is also an option if I couldn't do it with linux.
I understand that the ATV2 now runs XBMC, but AFAICT by watching YouTube videos and reading reviews it's not an option ATM because a) it doesn't output 1080p; b) it's choppy on the menus; and c) it's tethered to a Mac, and I don't have a Mac.
Thank you very much.
Cheers,
Nighto