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Interests: HTPC, Web App authoring.
turb: Do you need to use such a small case?Old tivo case. Got it for free andbit fits with my other components and has tons of potential I belive. Yea its small and tight though but it saves at least $30.
It seems to be limiting you quite a bit.
I have an Antec NSK2480B which is huuuge, but at least it's easy to keep cool and I can get whatever components I like.
xpd:Mostly recording and streamingto multiple devices. (Pc phones, tablets eventually rasberry pi) never more than probaly 2 streams and native playback to tv at once. It also will be used as a media server for our home movies and music. Occasional web browsing(including web gaming) and maybe a little gaming most likely like seek and find and older games maybe n64 and snes emulator if enough power.What are you hoping to do with it ? use it purely for viewing, or wanting recording ability as well ?
I think your budget is too low. If you want all that (including a tuner, 1TB of storage and enough to stream and transcode to multiple clients at once) then you are probably looking at spending at least double the $300 you mention. If you want windows instead of linux et al, add the cost of that as well.
I would go with an i5 processor (i3 in a pinch), in a small-form case like an Intel NUC with HDMI out, small SSD for boot, and laptop drive for additional storage, with a USB tuner. But you won't get all of that, including an OS etc, for $300.
Your cheapest option might be to pick up an ex-lease system from the likes of PB Tech or another vendor, which includes an OS, upgrade the disk, and add a tuner and wireless keyboard. But, all up, still over your $300 budget for something decent.
JimmyH:
I think your budget is too low. If you want all that (including a tuner, 1TB of storage and enough to stream and transcode to multiple clients at once) then you are probably looking at spending at least double the $300 you mention. If you want windows instead of linux et al, add the cost of that as well.
I would go with an i5 processor (i3 in a pinch), in a small-form case like an Intel NUC with HDMI out, small SSD for boot, and laptop drive for additional storage, with a USB tuner. But you won't get all of that, including an OS etc, for $300.
Your cheapest option might be to pick up an ex-lease system from the likes of PB Tech or another vendor, which includes an OS, upgrade the disk, and add a tuner and wireless keyboard. But, all up, still over your $300 budget for something decent.
I would try no to trans code as i know that is way to CPU extensive for my budget. I would also be using linux to cut costs and I want to start learning a little Linux. I would try to keep the videos in a smaller more compatible format such as mp4. I don't neccesaryly need a laptop storage drive as there is room for one full sized drive, i would just need a smaller drive for boot preferably not ssd as the cost is higher. I know my budget is low but this is in place of a pc for myself as that would cost around at least $700
Ok I will put this in perspective.
I have this case here.
Its a really good little case. I can get a mATX board in it, and a full size computer PSU. I got a 500W in it. which is probably a little overkill but its what I had left.
I am using the machine for pretty much exactly what you describe and it runs extremely well.
I have:
Asrock B3 Chipset mATX motherboard
Pentium G620 dual core cpu (2.6 Ghz)
4GB of DDR3 Ram
1x 2.5" 80GB SSD for OS.
1x 3.5" 2TB SATA Drive
1x 3.5" 750GB SATA Drive
1x 2.5" 250GB Old notebook Drive.
1x 1000mbit PCI-E x1 adapter (cuz the motherboard only did 100mbit lan which really peeved me off).
And it runs 1080p movies mint, I download stuff while watching stuff while streaming data to other machines. It is fine, doesnt skip a beat. That Athlon processor you had there will be absolutely fine. The onboard Intel graphics are actually quite good. I am contemplating getting a geforce for it, but I have not needed to so far.
I have it run windows 8.1 and xmbc, also have a joypad which i use to play dosbox arcade and emulator games.
If you are using external tuners something like this could be a good starting point
But you'll still need to add RAM and HD which will take you well over the $300 mark
Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.
bm2016:
I would try no to trans code as i know that is way to CPU extensive for my budget.
Ummm... you also said that you wanted to use the unit to record and stream to multiple devices, citing a range (PC, phones, tablets, Raspberry Pi) as examples.
If you are recording, esp from HD sources such as Freeview, and then streaming to a range of devices that diverse then you pretty much have to transcode. Unless they are all capable of playing the recorded material natively. Which for diverse low power devices and sources such as HD Freeview I kind of doubt.
JimmyH:bm2016:I would try no to trans code as i know that is way to CPU extensive for my budget.
Ummm... you also said that you wanted to use the unit to record and stream to multiple devices, citing a range (PC, phones, tablets, Raspberry Pi) as examples.
If you are recording, esp from HD sources such as Freeview, and then streaming to a range of devices that diverse then you pretty much have to transcode. Unless they are all capable of playing the recorded material natively. Which for diverse low power devices and sources such as HD Freeview I kind of doubt.
darylblake:Ok I will put this in perspective.
I have this case here.
Its a really good little case. I can get a mATX board in it, and a full size computer PSU. I got a 500W in it. which is probably a little overkill but its what I had left.
I am using the machine for pretty much exactly what you describe and it runs extremely well.I have:
Asrock B3 Chipset mATX motherboard
Pentium G620 dual core cpu (2.6 Ghz)
4GB of DDR3 Ram
1x 2.5" 80GB SSD for OS.
1x 3.5" 2TB SATA Drive
1x 3.5" 750GB SATA Drive
1x 2.5" 250GB Old notebook Drive.
1x 1000mbit PCI-E x1 adapter (cuz the motherboard only did 100mbit lan which really peeved me off).
And it runs 1080p movies mint, I download stuff while watching stuff while streaming data to other machines. It is fine, doesnt skip a beat. That Athlon processor you had there will be absolutely fine. The onboard Intel graphics are actually quite good. I am contemplating getting a geforce for it, but I have not needed to so far.
I have it run windows 8.1 and xmbc, also have a joypad which i use to play dosbox arcade and emulator games.
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