I am planning a new media setup, and i have pretty much everything sorted out apart from the recievers. Basically, there will be 4 TVs, all using HDMI and all running at 1080P. What i want is a small, quiet system that can handle streaming of HD content over the network. The main content to be streamed will be live TV, either via freeview, or via freesat. Either way, there will be HD channels. in addition to this, the ususal array of music, films and TV shows stored on a server. the network will be a gigabit shielded CAT5e/CAT6, each point will be connected to a switch, and the server will be located at the switch end. The server will be powerful enough to distribute the content (it will be custom built) but I am not sure about the recievers.
It seems that I have 2 options, either the Atom/Ion route, or the AMD route. I have been looking at the Shuttle XS35GT V2, with 4GB RAM and a 60GB SSD drive and an Atom D525 (1.8GHz dual core) and Ion2 graphics, but I have also found a ASRock barebones system, which has an AMD fusion 1.6GHz dual core, 60GB SSD but features 8GB RAM and AMD Radeon 6350 Graphics. The ASRock system doesnt look as pretty, and has fans in the case, but I am wondering if the 200MHz drop in CPU speed is worth gaining the extra RAM and if the Radeon will out perform the Ion2. Both will probably be hidden away behind the TV, and have a remote control via USB. Both running Windows 7 Professional and the latest version of media portal.
Any adive
It seems that I have 2 options, either the Atom/Ion route, or the AMD route. I have been looking at the Shuttle XS35GT V2, with 4GB RAM and a 60GB SSD drive and an Atom D525 (1.8GHz dual core) and Ion2 graphics, but I have also found a ASRock barebones system, which has an AMD fusion 1.6GHz dual core, 60GB SSD but features 8GB RAM and AMD Radeon 6350 Graphics. The ASRock system doesnt look as pretty, and has fans in the case, but I am wondering if the 200MHz drop in CPU speed is worth gaining the extra RAM and if the Radeon will out perform the Ion2. Both will probably be hidden away behind the TV, and have a remote control via USB. Both running Windows 7 Professional and the latest version of media portal.
Any adive