Silent Sytem that can serve HD video?

Osamede · Post by **Osamede** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 10:42 am

I am looking for a silent unit that can be run as a NAS with Freenas or Windows Home server, primaryly to serve video files to Popcorn Hour, music to Squeezeboz and display photos-

I had been looking at the tranquid T7 units but they seem to be iffy for anything beyond 720P, due to the graphics chipset they are based on.

Can any one recomend a Mini ITX sized unit that I could buy, either barebones or complete, to do what I need?

Thanks.....

psiu · Post by **psiu** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 6:49 pm

Is the Mini-ITX a firm requirement, or can you go up to Micro-ATX?

I think there are some AMD 780G based mini-ITX solutions around. That would have enough oomph to get the job done and some careful planning should get you a silent system as well.

jessekopelman · Post by **jessekopelman** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 1:46 am

If all you are doing is serving the video to a Popcorn Hour, the server's GPU will not be used at all . . .

Osamede · Post by **Osamede** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 11:22 am

For this first one, I plan on using it to serve data DLNA/UPNP and run a Squeezecenter, basically instead of buying a Synology 209+. So if that usage pattern means GPU not relevant, that is even better.

Mini or Micro is fine with more. More concerned with making sure that is it is quiet unit that can be installed with a couple of 500GB 2.5" drives.

Also which OS is bet to use for this kind of usage? Windows Home Server? FreeNAS or Ubuntu server?

After getting this unit, I will try to build a second unit, that one a silent HTPC to replace the Popcorn Hour. So there I will need the GPU capable of 1080P HD decoding. I guess that means trying to build something with AMD 780 but still fanless and with couple 2.5" drives. So any advice there is helpful as well.

teststrips · Post by **teststrips** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 11:40 am

I used to have a p3 - 733mhz (might be 766mhz) machine on my network that can record and serve full HD. I recorded OTA signals from my antenna using an internal PCI card.

In trying to lower power usage, I've since updated my "server" box, but the physical act of recording and/or serving this media doesn't require much.

What recording and serving of HD requires is about 20 megabits per second - about 1/5th of a standard 100mb ethernet connection... I had no trouble with two tuners, recording one show and watching another live - all streaming through this one - super old machine.

now PLAYING of that content... that's another story.

Osamede · Post by **Osamede** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 9:42 am

psiu wrote:Is the Mini-ITX a firm requirement, or can you go up to Micro-ATX?

I think there are some AMD 780G based mini-ITX solutions around. That would have enough oomph to get the job done and some careful planning should get you a silent system as well.

Anything specific in mind here?

psiu · Post by **psiu** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 3:32 pm

Osamede wrote:
psiu wrote:Is the Mini-ITX a firm requirement, or can you go up to Micro-ATX?

I think there are some AMD 780G based mini-ITX solutions around. That would have enough oomph to get the job done and some careful planning should get you a silent system as well.
Anything specific in mind here?

J&W and Jetway have them so far:

Jetway: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813153124
Available from mini-itx.com in the UK here: http://mini-itx.com/store/?c=34#jnc81
J&W: at geeks.com: http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid ... 8M&cat=MBB
Also saw a Zotac nvidia based model, and Jetway has an Intel based model also.

amdavies · Post by **amdavies** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 4:52 pm

Intel front-end: http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_5542.html

For the back-end, an under-clocked AMD X2 would more than likely be fine.
I bought a 5200+ X2, Gigabyte 740G (mATX) motherboard and 2GByte of RAM for about Â£110.
I've under-clocked the processor and it's running at 2Ghz @ 40W idle and 57W load. With the case open, and under load, it's very quiet; however you could easily buy a tower heatsink and run it passively if you needed it silent.

If all you're doing is serving media, then it might well be better for you if you buy a stand-alone NAS with the requisite functions built-in. Running a 40W computer 24/7 for a year is going to be at least Â£40. A PC back-end gives much more flexibility at more cost, there's not much else out there that can record FTA TV and serve it over a network, for instance.