I'm trying to build a bare-bones fileserver and media pc, to serve files on the network and to play videos (or mp3s etc) on a 1366x768 tv (plugged in as a monitor via VGA). Linux is fine, I'm looking at VIA motherboards for cost/power use. Will a 1.5ghz VIA C7D with a gig of ram be enough to handle videos at this resolution without choppiness? I was thinking a V21g or PC2500e mobo.
I could grab a cheapo 64mb video card too if necessary, but I'm trying to keep costs close to $100, and figured integrated would be fine for no 3d use with a gig of ram. I'm figuring 40-50 mobo, 20-50 ram depending on if I spring for 2 gigs or not, 30-50 case - I have the HD, BT adapter and mouse/kbd already.
Does anyone recommend a better mobo in this price range, or a cheaper similar one? I need sound/VGA/usb/PATA (SATA for upgrading would be nice), nothing else. I also don't know much about cases - they seem pretty pricey for what you're getting. I could even just stick it in an old case for free, but would I suck power with an old 300'er PS?
Could that computer handle windoze even, to run MCXP (or, is there a good MC 'nix out there)? It'd be nice to use old windows apps (without having to worry about WINE support)
I'd have a printer, bluetooth kbd/mouse, and 10/100 plugged into the computer, with nothing else. An external display on the front and DVD player (or blu-ray) would be nice, but not required if I'd need more CPU for that.
To go even cheaper, would an 800mhz VIA C3 with 512 be enough, or would it stutter a lot?
minimum requirements to play videos on a 1366x768 TV
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jessekopelman
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It is not so much the output resolution as it is how the videos are encoded. If the videos themselves are encoded at something like 720 X 1280, you will need a more powerful rig to play them. Also, it will take more processing power if they are encoded in DivX HD, H264/x264, or VC-1 than if they are just encoded in MPEG2, older DivX, or XviD. If on the other hand the videos are only 480 X 640 and you just need to scale them up to the higher resolution, you shouldn't need as much power -- but even there things might not look very nice unless you have a GPU/software that is good at scaling (don't know how well the Via stuff handles this). Meanwhile, if you are using fancy software scaling to make it look nicer, that means more CPU draw and the really easy to play low bitrate low-res files will just never look good no matter what (no stutter, but plenty of fuzziness).
I'd think for ~ $75, one of the AMD MB that you can get bundled with a single core Athlon is a much better value. Something like a 3200+ is going to blow the doors off a C7. I'd be looking for something like this. The Nvidia 6100 GPU is better than Via's Unichrome and probably better supported in Linux too. The only downside is that DDR is now far more expensive than DDR2, but for your application you could easily get by with just 512MB (especially under Linux).
I'd think for ~ $75, one of the AMD MB that you can get bundled with a single core Athlon is a much better value. Something like a 3200+ is going to blow the doors off a C7. I'd be looking for something like this. The Nvidia 6100 GPU is better than Via's Unichrome and probably better supported in Linux too. The only downside is that DDR is now far more expensive than DDR2, but for your application you could easily get by with just 512MB (especially under Linux).
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jessekopelman
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Yes Via C7 and especially C3 along with UniChrome IGP are that crappy for higher end video. As for media center Linux setups, choices abound. Although, if you are using a wireless keyboard and mouse, you don't really need a media center per se -- those are really for people trying to get by with a remote.
As for DDR vs. DDR2, yes price is an issue but power consumption? You're talking about 2W difference -- a lot less the difference between a 2.5" and 3.5" HDD.
As for DDR vs. DDR2, yes price is an issue but power consumption? You're talking about 2W difference -- a lot less the difference between a 2.5" and 3.5" HDD.
I recommend the Gigabyte GA-69M-SH2 I think it's called. $75 for the mobo... onboard video. Next get a Brisbane core x2 4200+, or thereabouts. Add 2GB of DDR2. Those three items will set you back about $200, and will be a good foundation for any sort of 720p (and a lot of 1080p).
VIA doesn't really perform that well. I'd rule it out for a media server playing videos.
I guess the problem here is you can make a cheap file server, no prob. But introduce high res video, it's a little different.
VIA doesn't really perform that well. I'd rule it out for a media server playing videos.
I guess the problem here is you can make a cheap file server, no prob. But introduce high res video, it's a little different.
I see. Shame, really. For now mostly just running 480p stuff upscaled, but eventually I'll want to do HD. As to media center stuff, I'd be interested in setting up the computer with a capture card for cable to get tvguide and record shows through it as a DVR - any 'nix setups for that? I'd also like to eventually set it up with a remote (or a remote receiver so I can use it with my harmony) to play audio/video/DVR easily. All just fun stuff though, nothing totally required.
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jessekopelman
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bj02454 wrote:As to media center stuff, I'd be interested in setting up the computer with a capture card for cable to get tvguide and record shows through it as a DVR - any 'nix setups for that?
Some variant implementing MythTV would seem like a good bet. Read this.
Libavcodec is a CPU hog when it comes to H264 (which most HDTV stuff is encoded in).
If you have access to windows, coreavc uses nearly 3x less CPU power to playback the same file.
Have a friend with an Eee (630 MHz Dothan) and he can't play SDTV 264 smoothly on Xandros. The C7 will be roughly the same speed as the Dothan, maybe very slightly faster. He's going to try XP once the driver situation for the Eee clears up.
If you have access to windows, coreavc uses nearly 3x less CPU power to playback the same file.
Have a friend with an Eee (630 MHz Dothan) and he can't play SDTV 264 smoothly on Xandros. The C7 will be roughly the same speed as the Dothan, maybe very slightly faster. He's going to try XP once the driver situation for the Eee clears up.
I can do just video on a c7 for less than 100, so I'm almost inclined to just forget HDTV and stick with 480p for now on a cheap setup.
So... what's the cheapest setup for mobo +proc +1gb ram I can do that will play 720p on a TV? Please post mobo/proc and ram prices for setups - I'd love to do 720p, but not worth the cash, I can always bring my laptop over to do it if its going to cost that much.
So... what's the cheapest setup for mobo +proc +1gb ram I can do that will play 720p on a TV? Please post mobo/proc and ram prices for setups - I'd love to do 720p, but not worth the cash, I can always bring my laptop over to do it if its going to cost that much.