[mythtv-users] Quiet HDTV frontend: AOpen XC Cube EY855-II?

[Joel B]

Hi, all,

I currently am using a MediaMVP as a frontend system, and I'm happy with it. 
  Despite a lack of features, it does play video with acceptable quality. 
But I've been thinking of what happens when I
eventually go with HDTV (Comcast says Real Soon Now).  I'd like to put 
together a frontend system that can do the HDTV equivalent of the MediaMVP, 
and also do LiveTV from a cable STB firewire feed.  Beyond
that, my main criterion is quietness.  I prefer to boot diskless and store 
things on a backend server.  I also have the luxury of being in no hurry.

Has anybody looked at <a 
href="http://techreport.com/reviews/2005q1/aopen-ey855/index.x?pg=1"> 
TechReports review of the AOpen XC Cube EY855-II mini-barebones system <\a>? 
It's based around the Pentium M, and it seems to be exceptionally quiet.  
Other nice features for a frontend are builtin firewire
and optical digital audio inputs and outputs.  There's a 4X AGP slot (but 
not a very wide one) as well as one PCI slot.  The main drawback is the 
price of the Pentium M, but the low power consumption of that processor is 
also what makes the quietness possible.

Here's a list of prices for what I think would be needed for a diskless 
frontend system. Prices are as of 21 Mar 05, from newegg.com:

AOpen XC Cube EY855-II                                                       
      $304
Intel Pentium M 725 1.6GHz, 400MHz FSB                                       
  212
Corsair XMS3200 256MB DDR RAM (x2)                                           
110
Gainward fanless FX5200 video card FX5200 FX PowerPack! Pro/660        70
Zapway.de lirc receiver                                                      
             20
TOTAL:                                                                       
             $716

One question I have is whether anybody has used a Pentium M with HDTV. I 
have selected fast memory that would be run at DDR333 and is amenable to 
overclocking, but would the 1.6 GHz clock part do 1080i
even with overclocking?  There's still a steep price ramp to the 2GHz 
Pentium M 2Ghz at $435. Also, will the fanless 64-bit FX5200's do 1080i?

Cheers,
  Joel