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PostPosted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 4:13 pm 
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Basically, I'm looking for a low-cost FE system so I won't need a capture card at all. I'm using most of cesman's Atomic Ant specs and would like some peer review before I make the purchase. The setup must be able to play: SDTV (MPEG-2 and x264) as well as HDTV (MPEG-2 and x264 pr avi). 720p is required and 1080p would be nice for the future.

Question #1 - Please have a look at the hardware chosen and comment if you see any problems/suggestions are also welcomed.
Question #2 - Will the onboard GMA 950 cut the mustard for my requirements, or will I have to use an 8400 GS as cesman did in his build?
Question #3 - Any opinions on USB remotes that have lirc scripts in R6 to use?


Proposed Hardware List (I've had good luck w/ newegg so links are to there):
I have an old 80 gig HDD to use which should be plenty for this FE only system.
Crucial 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory Model CT25664AA667 - $21
Intel BOXD945GCLF2 Atom 330 Intel 945GC Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo - $85
IN WIN BM639 Black / Silver Steel Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 120W Power Supply - $85
LITE-ON Slim 8X DVD Burner Black SATA Model DS-8A2S-A01 - $40

If the onboard video doesn't have enough punch to do what I want (question #2), I can add:

SPARKLE SFPC84GS512U2LP GeForce 8400 GS 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI HDCP Ready Video Card - $59

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Last edited by graysky on Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.


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PostPosted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 6:10 pm 
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I'm pretty sure the performance described in this thread:

http://mysettopbox.tv/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=19169

is NOT using the onboard graphics, so yeah, get the card.


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PostPosted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 6:42 pm 
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If you are looking to offload MP4 decoding to the video card under VDPAU, I thought nVidia stated it would only support on 8600 and above.

Besides I found the 8600 ran cooler in a comparable configuration.

That meant a quieter system overall.


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PostPosted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:20 pm 
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bigbro wrote:
If you are looking to offload MP4 decoding to the video card under VDPAU, I thought nVidia stated it would only support on 8600 and above.


8300+ should work. See here.

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PostPosted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:05 am 
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That's cool, but I'm thinking that production quality VDPAU is at 6-12 mo. off, now? I'd really like to use the onboard video and not purchase an add-on at all. Does anyone out there have an Atom-based PC who can comment?

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PostPosted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 5:35 am 
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graysky wrote:
Question #3 - Any opinions on USB remotes that have lirc scripts in R6 to use?


Really interested in one that will work out-of-the-box with no tinkering. Can anyone comment?

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PostPosted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 7:31 am 
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The Streamzap currently works without any tinkering, I'd hope that would still be true with R6.


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PostPosted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 8:05 am 
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Location: UK
I've just bought this motherboard and some RAM to upgrade my current system to watch SDTV freeview here in the UK. Current intention is to use the onboard graphics. Will report what the performance is like once the stuff has been delivered and I've upgraded.


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PostPosted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 8:48 am 
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@ceenvee - thanks for the suggestion, can't go wrong for $40.

@dave_p - I'll look forward to reading your post, but my concern lies with HD content. I've read from one person that 1080p is fine w/ the onboard GMA 950 on the Jetway board, but I've also found that one should take what is published in the newegg customer reviews with a grain of salt.

In fact, there really isn't concensus on the issue of 1080p judging by the 91 reviews that I've quoted below. See this page for the Jetway board (the first quote below by the 3l33t hax0r ghostly!) I also found some negative feedback on the Intel version which can be found at this URL (just search for 1080p). Again, I have summarized the relevant ones below.

Gh0sTly wrote:
Pros: This board is the perfect HTPC. I play full 1080p video from this onto my 56" 1080p Plasma, and it looks wonderful, and never skips a beat. Mine: NC91-330LF, 60w PSU, 2GB DDR2 667Mhz ram, slimline SATA bluray drive, and a 250gb 2.5" SATA hard drive.

Cons: its tiny size can make it hard to find a case for, but when you find one, make sure it at least has a 60w PSU.

Other Thoughts: This packs some serious punch for the price. I only wish it had a HDMI or DVI out on it.


palmboy5 wrote:
Pros: Idles at 34W with a PSU of unknown efficiency (but was the lowest of 4 different PSUs) without any drives connected. Runs great as a file server using a special build of FreeNAS. FreeNAS does not include the driver for the onboard NIC so that has to be added manually.. for now.

Cons: Idles at 34W. While 34W is low compared to normal PCs, when you consider the CPU itself has a TDP of just 8W, 34W is way too high. How inefficient can they get with the other parts of the board? The concept of a low-powered PC is good, and what the Atom can do with just 8W is amazing, but the use of the power-hungry 945 chipset (22.2W vs 8W TDP) from the P4 days in this first volley from Intel is astoundingly hypocritical to low-powered PCs. Hopefully the next generation will be better.

Other Thoughts: STOP calling the fan the CPU fan. It is the CHIPSET fan. Do whatever you need to do to verify that for yourself, and just STOP calling it the CPU fan.

The Atom 330 cannot handle live 1080p H264 decoding. Even with CoreAVC there is no way.

There is no SpeedStep, that only exists on the netbook versions. That doesn't really matter though, the CPU is hardly the power-hungry part of the board.


Temerald/Tech_Tim wrote:
Pros: - has TV out*
- Boots Vista faster than cheap laptops.
- A prequel of i7 (Nahalem) technology with hyper-threading enabled multi-core processor. In this case dual core + Hyper-threading makes for 4 threads.

Cons: * TV out is ONLY a clone of the main monitor- dual head not supported. Only options are: Monitor/TV/Monitor+TV Clone
- Will not handle full screen 1080p without stuttering (According to professional reviews).

Other Thoughts: You're not going to enjoy playing any sophisticated games or playing HD movies fullscreen on this baby but there's more surfers than players anyways.

A Shout out to Intel: The next gen board to support dual head (Monitor and TV separate image), Something many laptops already do, it would fill the vacuum for cost effective specialty environments requiring TV out, in both Entertainment & Business Presentation.


N/A wrote:
Pros: It has enough power to decode MKV H264 1080p movies at 24 frames per second running coreavc pro codec on media player classic. The CPU runs at 60~70%. Don't need the extra graphics card saving power and money! For the same movie file encoded on mpeg2, the CPU utilization is about 15%.

I have a mATX/ITX chassis with some room for air circulation. I replaced the CPU fan with more quieter one and I removed the chassis fan to be more quiet and power efficient. It is running very quiet and cool while decoding 1080p h264 movies. The temp reading is about 30~40 degrees.

My HTPC system with 2GB memory, 1TB hard drive, >80% efficient power supply, chassis and the mobo only costs little over $300!

I don't have the kill-a-watt to measure the power usage but based on the others posting, it should be running around 40 watt. This is probably lower than the notebook power consumption!

Cons: My VGA port is little noisy but no big deal.


xecutionx wrote:
Pros: The board is small, energy efficient and pretty powerful for its price. Sadly, I ordered the BLK board, which did not come with the box, therefore I missed out on the I/O shield, a sata cable, driver cd, and whatever goodies you get with this bundle. No regrets.

This is my build for just under 250$:
This Motherboard
APEX MI-100 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811154084)
WD 640gb SATA HDD (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136218)
CORSAIR 2GB DDR2-667 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145180)

Cons: Would have been nice if there was no need for a fan on the chipset's heatsink. But why not replace this 945gc with a more modern chipset? I guess Intel wants you to purchase their more expensive Mini-ITX boards for those who want or require more power.

Other Thoughts: Easily has enough juice to run a 720p MKV version of Constantine using Media Player Classic (loads less than 50%). My 1080p MKV of Batman Begins ran, but was choppy to the point of being unwatchable. Maybe if I find a media program that can distribute the load over the 4 cores (HT), it'll be able to run... Maybe it was due to me using Vista Ultimate; perhaps a lighter OS like XP will run the MKV without incident. I'll keep you guys posted.
Vista Scores for those wondering:
Processor- 4.3
Memory- 4.5 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145180)
Graphics- 4.1
Gaming graphics- 2.8
The board boots vista in less than 35 seconds to desktop. This is faster than my E8400 @ 4.0ghz. Pretty nice, although that may be due to BIOs self tests, etc.

You can easily build a computer with those motherboard for under 250$; if you don't need to play Crysis or run Photoshop, get this board. It has more than enough power for the average user.

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PostPosted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 10:31 am 
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Really tough to tell given that data as they don't really give you enough information. Saying 1080p or 720p is only one parameter. You also need codec and bit rate.

Based on the sample data it looks to me like:
1080p with guessing mpeg2 (unknown bitrate); h264 not likely (except maybe low bitrate); VC-1 forget it.
720p h264 (bit rate unknown) looks borderline but likely do-able.

CPU loads of 50-70% doesn't leave a lot of room. Once a CPU exceeds 80% utilization the OS tends to be become inefficient in a non-linear way.

C


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PostPosted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 1:26 pm 
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Also keep in mind that all the NewEgg commenters were referring to Windows. Story could be considerably different in Linux land.


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PostPosted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 2:11 pm 
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@ceenvee and christ - yep, it's just the info I was able to collect. The true test will be when someone from here posts the numbers of a few test clips! That someone might just be me once I get around to ordering/building this box. I just have to run an antenna cable and run a new drop line for my LAN up there as well as decide on which TV to get :)

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PostPosted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 12:10 am 
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ceenvee703 wrote:
The Streamzap currently works without any tinkering, I'd hope that would still be true with R6.
Still true.


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PostPosted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 6:57 am 
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Location: UK
Have now got and installed the motherboard. The onboard graphics work fine for watching UK freeview back at 1280x768
for further details see the link below



http://mysettopbox.tv/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=19524&highlight=atom


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 11:22 am 
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Location: California
I've purchased an MSI wind barebones from Fry's. This has the single-core Atom with Hyper threading; intel GMA950 graphics. It is capable of playing back 1080i and 720p mpeg2 recordings. I am seeing some occasional video tearing.

1. dave_p -- Are you seeing any tearing? Did you tweak your xorg.conf and what are you using for your mythtv playback settings?

2. I notice that the latest intel driver talks about improved TV playback. Can anyone summarize the steps required to build and install the latest intel drivers?

3. I've noticed that xorg.conf specifies driver "i810", but I've seen others state that its better to use driver "intel" in xorg.conf. Does anyone know the difference between these two?

Thanks!

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