So maybe use an atom with a Nvidia GPU?<br>If not, then does a Nvidia 9400M that I see listed frequently onboard with the atom work well?<br><br>This is where I get confused on the frontend atom vs Nvidia etc...<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">
On Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 2:55 PM, jedi <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jedi@mishnet.org">jedi@mishnet.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
<div><div></div><div class="h5">On Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 04:02:25PM -0400, Michael T. Dean wrote:<br>
> On 08/24/2010 02:51 PM, Mark wrote:<br>
> >Mark Hutchinson wrote:<br>
> >>Good point yes.<br>
> >>What might some good options be for small frontend machines be<br>
> >>that can be turned off and on easily? I plan to have the<br>
> >>frontends all in the basement as I have 3 CAT 6 cables run to<br>
> >>each TV. 2 cat6 for HDMI and the 3rd for a remote or kb/mouse.<br>
> >>Does suspend work for this? How would they be woken up?<br>
> >><br>
> >>Thanks for the thoughts.<br>
> >have you considered mini-ITX atom boards for local frontends?<br>
> >They are very small and make no noise.<br>
> ><br>
> >Remote pc's and long wires are a pain, in case you have'nt played<br>
> >with that yet...<br>
><br>
> OK, I'm not going to recommend any specific system. Normally, I<br>
> wouldn't even reply, but I'd just like to inject a bit of<br>
> non-marketing reality into the thread.<br>
><br>
> Note, also, in the interest of full disclosure, I am a /confirmed/<br>
> Atom-hater. I have a huge and deep bias against Atom. (For some<br>
> reason, I feel a computer should be able to compute.)<br>
><br>
> That said, low-power doesn't have to mean a toy. See what proper<br>
> design of a real computer system can do (whether you do it or Apple<br>
> does):<br>
><br>
> <a href="http://www.apple.com/macmini/specs.html" target="_blank">http://www.apple.com/macmini/specs.html</a><br>
> <a href="http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3468" target="_blank">http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3468</a><br>
><br>
> (10W idle and 85W max power consumption) and if you figure you'd be<br>
> using VDPAU for decoding /when VDPAU works with the stream you're<br>
> decoding/, you'd be running at close to that idle 10W even when<br>
> decoding, for example, h.264 video. The big difference, however, is<br>
> that you actually have computing power in reserve when you need it<br>
> (for Flash or video that doesn't meet the codec, profile, bitrate,<br>
> and deinterlacing limitations of VDPAU or whatever other proprietary<br>
> problems we can't solve).<br>
><br>
> Now, even if an ION system ran at 0W, and we assume the Mac Mini is<br>
> running at close to idle when using VDPAU decode, that's a typical<br>
> savings of only about 10W. And, if you're shutting down your<br>
> frontend when not in use, the difference between an Atom-based toy<br>
<br>
</div></div> OTOH, the Atom based toy probably has a very user friendly power button.<br>
<br>
Plus they are cheap.<br>
<br>
I'm the first guy to declare that an Atom is crap for anything but that<br>
which can be accelerated by an nvidia GPU. However, I have still used them<br>
to replace Mac Minis.<br>
<br>
[deletia]<br>
<div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br>