[mythtv-users] flash-capable frontend

Joey Morris rjmorris at nc.rr.com
Fri Nov 19 14:50:40 UTC 2010


I want to build a frontend-only system that will play back recordings
from my HDHomerun and Miro, but also handle Flash content as well as
can be expected on Linux. The Flash I intend to view is primarily
video from Comedy Central with a little Hulu now and then. This will
be in the living room, so I'd like it to be quiet, and low power would
also be nice.

I've priced out a couple options below (prices include shipping). The
first is based on a suggestion on the list a couple weeks ago,
mini-ITX with onboard nVidia 9300. The second is a micro-ATX with a
discrete video card.

For both options, I plan to netboot or boot from a flash drive, so
I've left off a hard drive. I'm also considering running caseless, so
I've left off a case. I have enough keyboards, mice, and remotes to
get me started, so I've left those off as well.

Mini-ITX
--------
Motherboard: Zotac GF9300-G-E NVidia 9300 ($140)
CPU: Intel Pentium E5500 2.8GHz 65W ($70)
RAM: A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 ($40)
Power: picoPSU-120 + 80W Adapter Power Kit ($60)

Possible upgrades:
CPU: Intel Core2 Duo E7500 2.93GHz 65W ($125)
RAM: A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 ($60)

TOTAL ($310-$385)

AMD Micro-ATX
-------------
Motherboard: ASRock A785GM-LE/128M ($58)
CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 245 Regor 2.9GHz 65W ($58)
Video: EVGA 512-P3-1213-LR GeForce 210 512MB 64-bit ($40 - $25 rebate = $15)
RAM: A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 ($40)
Power: picoPSU-120 + 80W Adapter Power Kit ($60)

Possible upgrades:
CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 240e Regor 2.8GHz 45W ($73)
Video: ECS NSGT220-1GQS-H GeForce GT 220 1GB 128-bit ($77 - $10 rebate = $67)
RAM: A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 ($60)

TOTAL ($231-$318) ($256-$328 without rebates)


Any thoughts on these setups? Do you think the 65W CPUs will be too
much for the picoPSU-120 + 80W brick? I can step up to a 102W brick
for $5 more, but that one has a fan. Are my CPUs way overpowered? My
desktop has a 2.4GHz dual core, and while Flash can be a little
choppy, the load is only about 40% on each core, so the problem may
not be the CPU speed.


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