Running Mediaportal on Via C7 and VN800 (1 Viewer)

[Lars E.]

Via announced a chipset for the C7 named the VN800 in August:
http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/chipsets/v-series/vn800/

They are a little vague regarding support for DX9. Does anyone know if this will work? Wonder when it will be available... and how good the C7 will perform - there's nothing out there.

Best Regards,
Lars E.

 

[FlipGer]

Hi,

I also do not know this new chip. But I know the normal UniChrome graphics (not PRO) form S3 which is on the VIA EPIA.

So there is much imho there, but i would say: Forget it! Very poor driver and BIOS support by VIA for this chipset. The UniChrome could not provide good overlay nor VMR9. DX9 support was very bad. There are much better chipsets with integrated graphics out there (nVidia / ATi). Again, only my opinion based on an older chipset.

Flip.

 

[Lars E.]

Thanks FlipGer, excellent comments.

What I am really looking for here is building a low power, totally solid state/no moving parts system with good enough performance to run Mediaportal.

Guess I would be better off looking for a motherboard with the nForce430 and Geforce6150 combination. Will be a pain to cool the Athlon 64 passively though.

Any better ideas?

Via are btw also coming out with a new chipset with deltachrome for the Athlons, but as longs as the nVidia one is passively cooled as well I would much rather go with that.

Best Regards,
Lars E.

 

[jellybeard999]

intel pentium m with a s479 board ?

 

[James]

Hi,

For low power, I had an idea of finding a laptop on ebay with a broken screen. Some on them have quite good on board graphics ATI or nVidia. On ebay you can also find the docking stations which often have 2 PCI slots.

It would take a little work to pull it all apart and built it into a new case, but in the end you would have a lower power, quite solution.

Still haven't found the right combination at the right price.

If only dell would make a HTPC base on laptop parts. They are now selling units at under CHF 1000.- here. Take the screen away put it into a nice case with TV tunner and bingo the best HTPC on the market.

Food for thought.

/James

 

[Lars E.]

I had a look at s479. The only motherboard I could find in Norway with DVI was from AOpen, i915GM based, and priced at USD300 (including our 25%(!) VAT).
The lowest cost Pentium M was also priced at USD300 including VAT.
That's expensive per square millimeter die.
But, I should look if it is possible to find better prices elsewhere.

James,
Not a bad idea that either. If one could locate the right laptop with the right LVDS interface to the LCD, then one could probably hook up a much larger LCD module. Would have to handle backlight power and find someone willing to sell the LCD though.
But, I am looking for a no-moving-parts solution.

Thanks,
Lars E.

 

[Marcusb]

If your main concern is noise, I would simply recommend an ADM s939 with an all in one type board (ATI x200 chipset).

Thanks to the Cool and Quiet technology and the thermal control fan the heatsink stays at room temperature under normal use with stock fan spinning at the lowest speed.

It makes *almost* no noise (and I have very good hearing). You can get some Zamlan cooling and that should result in a silent solution.

 

[James]

Hi Lars,

My idea was to pull the motherboard out of the laptop and mount it in a new case, using the VGA or TV out for display. Or even installing a new graphic card in one of the PCI slot from the docking station.

A modern Laptop CPU is lower power but still quite powerfull. I think in a larger case it would be possible to go fanless (with a larger heat sink).

Then you could replace the small HD with a flash disk. For your no moving parts machine.

Cheers,

/James

 

[mzemina]

...My idea was to pull the motherboard out of the laptop and mount it in a new case, using the VGA or TV out for display. Or even installing a new graphic card in one of the PCI slot from the docking station....

Maybe able to pick up a good laptop motherboard from ebay cheaply? I had to repair wife's laptop LCD screen (I sat on it - don't ask, I was tired) and found many good deals on ebay (much better than paying retail prices).

Could create a new HTPC business! Make wood case to match with furniture. Maybe now I am getting wacky.

Mike

 

[Lars E.]

Marcusb, thanks for the tip.

James, yes I did understand your idea, I just messed up my answer And yes, it should be possible to go fanless.

Mzemina, I have seen wackier business plans than that

Lars E.