Spcc me small computer to plug in the telly for iplayer and justin.tv please :)

[Stephen7372]

Spec me a small quiet computer to plug in the telly for iplayer and www.justin.tv iraqgoals.net please

 

[Ryan111]

Quick spec, that MB is awesome, the onboard graphics will be more than able to cope with iplayer.

 

[Ryan111]

Anyone else?

This thread is dead...

 

[cmndr_andi]

That spec you did is spot on. Perfect everything - good show sir. Though I may suggest using a standard 5.25in DVD drive which will also fit in the case (have a look as this great thread- dude got the LG Blu Ray drive in it).

The only possible addition would be to improve the noise. A noctua 80mm fan to replace the stock one on the case and a fan controller would be a good investment.

Also, if you wanted to make it a media playing monster, you could always add a Blu-ray player like this. As shown in the thread I linked to above - it will definitely fit and with that mobo and CPU it will only use 20% CPU load when playing a Blu-Ray

 

[Ryan111]

Thanks, I thought the case could only fit in a standard 3.5" HDD if you use a slimline drive?

I opted for a half decent CPU, I have one, because of the ease of upping to play blu-ray etc.

And yeah, add a 80mm fan and fan controller to reduce noise

 

[cmndr_andi]

If you have a look at that thread I linked to, the chap was able to put a 5.25 Blu ray drive and a 3.5in WD Green Drive in the BM648 case (the one you picked). He also chose the same mobo and CPU and they worked great. It seemed like a tight fit, but it all goes in and works well.

That CPU is indeed brilliant, though you may want to opt for the slightly faster E5300 for an extra quid.

 

[Glaucus]

Intel atom with Ion

either this
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-000-AK&groupid=43&catid=1446&subcat=
or build a custom one.

 

[cmndr_andi]

Intel atom with Ion

either this
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-000-AK&groupid=43&catid=1446&subcat=
or build a custom one.

Could do, but i'd be wary as Iplayer and flash videos won't be GPU accelerated - so you may have some playback problems.

Also, a Dual core Atom Ion board costs almost the same as the Zotac 9300 + a e5200 - which is a much faster system (admittedly it will likely be noisier and more power hungry than the atom).

 

[Glaucus]

will be fine with iplayer. even the single core only used 60% cpu time
quiter, less power and a very neat package.

http://tech.uk.msn.com/news/article.aspx?cp-documentid=9227097

 

[Ryan111]

Could stick a e5300 in there, but dont really see the point... 2.5 will be more than enough to decode any HD content

I dont think the atom system will be good enough, and price/performance the Zotac + e5200 win hands down...

 

[cmndr_andi]

Aye, looks like it handles Iplayer SD fine.

I know the OP did not specify, but I probaly should mention that Iplayer is increasingly releasing programs in HD. In this case, i'm not certain the atom could keep up but am certain the E5200 system could. I only mention this because when I put Iplayer shows on my TV I hunt for the HD versions as the SD ones look a bit naf on a large screen.

 

[Ryan111]

Same, I can stand watching top gear in SD on my 22"

 

[Glaucus]

From what Ive seen it works with hd fine, a few videos on youtube that show it in use. Might have extra power, but extra power is pointless if its not needed. Even runs cod4

 

[Ryan111]

I just think that the atom will start to not cut it in the near future....

 

[cmndr_andi]

Works with hd fine, a few videos on youtube as well. Might have extra power, but extra power is pointless if its not needed.

With Iplayer HD i'm not so sure. I just did a quick test using my system (specs in sig). Playing an x264 720p video file the CPU sits happily at 4-6% load, this video is accelerated by my GPU (as it would be with the s775 zotac or ION) so in any situation it plays silky smooth.

However, I streamed "doctors" in HD on iplayer and the CPU load rose to 25-28%. I checked an SD program on iplayer and it peaked at 12% and was usually around 5-9%.

I know this is a very unscientific test, but I think it shows that the HD iplayer shows require a bit of grunt. Something I'm not convinced the Atom has enough of and the ION chipset can't help with.

 

[cmndr_andi]

Sorry for the double post, but I think I deserves a separate post.

After having a good chat with killari - he pointed out that a cheap, low power AM3 CPU and a 785 motherboard (with integrated HD 4200 graphics) would make a faster and cheaper system than a Zotac 9300 s775 one. Here is a complete spec based around this:

The total cost is a bit above the price of the initial spec by Ryan, but I also included a very quiet CPU cooler and a pair of brilliant fans. The drawback of that the system is bigger, but if you can find a small, cheap Micro ATX case then please chime in. However, one of the many benefits is that it will be extremely quiet and handle any video content you throw at it with aplomb.

Edit: After a look around I have found many Micro ATX cases. However, they don't appear to be stocked on OCUK - so I won't elaborate too much. Suffice to say that they are very cheap, reasonably small (compared to the CM Elite above) and include PSUs that will happily handle the system. In this case the CPU cooler and OCZ PSU are surplus to requirements, though quiet case fans would be a good investment. Depending on the case, a slimline DVD drive may be required.

 

[cmndr_andi]

Lol, this seems a bit of a waste with the OP being Permabanned an all.

Here's hoping someone else on OCUK will have a look at these options the fellas here put together and feel inspired to build .

 

[Ryan111]

Haha, i didnt see that...

Ahh well, theres a spec for someone else then