Looking to build a new MP client (2 Viewers)

[TheGlassjaw]

Hey everyone,
I'm looking for a low-cost MP client that is powerful enough to play my content (mainly 1080p mkv remuxes along with m2ts recordings from my MP TV Server.) I probably won't be using it for live TV. My main HTPC/gaming rig is a core 2 quad with a gtx460 so I know it can obviously handle everything I want to do, but I'm lost when it comes to low-cost, quiet rigs... I was looking to keep the price under $300 if possible. Below is a system I've priced out on Newegg. Would any of you guys be able to chime and let me know if it will be powerful enough?


Antec ISK 310-150 Black / Silver 0.8mm cold rolled steel Mini-ITX Desktop Computer Case 150W Power Supply - Item #: N82E16811129081 - $79.99

Kingston ValueRAM 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KVR1333D3N9K2/2G - Item #: N82E16820134637 - $36.99

Western Digital Scorpio Blue WD3200BEVT 320GB 5400 RPM 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive - Item #: N82E16822136197 - $49.99

ASRock A330ION Intel Atom 330 PBGA437 NVIDIA ION Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo - Item #: N82E16813157194 - $124

 

[skaterpunk9063]

how did u go with this? im looking fr the exact same thing.

 

[Jay_UK]

Hi there,

If its a client, I'd suggest a SSD (possibly 64GB or 80GB) - this will make things feel a lot snappier.

Have you considered something like a nettop type PC (revo, zbox, etc)?

I run a Zotac Zbox as a client (even for HD TV) and it works ok. If I was going to build another client, chances are I'd go a component route, but the Zbox is a nice neat small solution.

J.

 

[porky996t]

jay,

I'm also looking to build another client and I've been looking at the ZBox in detail ... hmmm.. looks very interesting - In fact I very, very nearly bought one yesterday, but had second thoughts, with a view that I would investigate further first. I would look to get one and use the HDMI out for both audio and pictures.. do you do this? Would you recommend using a ZBox as a client?? How easy is it to set up?? etc, etc What is your honest experience of using it?

I have also seen this Giada N20 it looks similar to the ZBox but comes with an MCE compatible remote control; however I cannot find a price for them or anybody who has one.


Thank you!




M.

 

[Jay_UK]

Hi there,

I was nervous and concerned about how well it would perform. I did have a lot of pain at first, with dropped frames, stuttering, fan noise, etc. The wireless is crap. Its only 150Mbps, and has latency issues (I couldn't get it to work for streaming TV - Tried both RTSP and UNC).

Mine is connected via HDMI to my TV (for audio too).

You can here the fan slightly when watching non DXVA content (ie CPU intensive).

A SSD is a must to help things along.

The main reason I went for this solution was so that I could "hide" it behind my TV (mounted to the back of it), but to be honest you can see it, so its not that hidden (I only have a 22" TV) - but if it had been an inch or to lower then it would have been hidden.

I run a MS (copy off ebay) remote control (and blaster) with IRSS to control my TV.

I'm not sure if I would have gone down a different route, nice small case (fanless), uITX MB (running a HD4200 series IGP underclocked energy effcient processor, no fan, etc)

Its a very border line solution, but does seem to work ok now.

There are some technical limitations with the NextGen ION2 design too, where IO devices share PCI 1 bandwidth.

My other half was watching SD TV on it the other night and she said it was great/fine, no issues at all.

Thanks,

J.

 

[porky996t]

Thanks for that Jay. I was looking to use it with both SD & HD TV - and have it 'portable' so the other half can use it in the bedroom/kitchen. I wouldn't use it wirelessly - just awaiting some Homeplug adapters arriving so I can dump the wireless streaming. It would be a dedicated MP client only.

Have you tried HD stuff on it??

As it would be used as a client it wouldn't really need a huge SSD either? (would it??)

Well, at least you have it set up and running in the same way as I would like, so I know where come asking questions

Thanks,



M.

 

[Jay_UK]

Hi there,

I use mine with homeplug/powerline adapters (bought from ebuyer).

HD content is fine. One thing that caught me out for a while, was that I ran SAF5 on the client - this is configured to do a resize for SD content (through ffdshow video) - The processor is not capable of doing this. Simply disabling this solved some of the stuttering issue (but I believe does cause issues with subtitles - but I don't use them)

I also spent a bit of time (more than with my main HTPC) to tweak performance (fine tuning Windows7 services/processes, tweaking the AV).

HDD/SSD is used by the client, all the thumbs/cache is loaded from the local disk - so it makes the screens/menus usable.

I also run my DBs and plugins locally. The only things that are remote, are the TV Server DB and the actual movies/music/pictures/etc. So MovingPictures/TV Series/etc are all local on the clients SSD.

Hope this helps,

J.