Both those current platforms will be replaced with new stuff in 6 months or so according to leaked roadmaps, FYI. So your only choice is another Atom or an AMD Brazos. The only thing that will work fanless in that chitty case is a platform with similar power output to the Atom. Even the new AMD Llano with gamer-level graphics is not the perfect HTPC platform (see anandtech review?). If you want new stuff, I think the hardware reviewers have found that nothing is perfect right now.
Best mini pc for htpc software#
Modern software can use modern video cards to decode video. Combined it still feels like maintaining two separate things.Īlso, you can add a new video card and a usb-to-optical adapter to your P4 to modernize its video and audio output. A “popcorn hour” or another appliance works when your complicated server is broken… and is also one less thing to maintain regularly. I find a dedicated media client to be much more convenient than the ultimate convergence scenario.
Best mini pc for htpc mac os#
On top of that, the iPad video streaming applications only supports Windows or Mac OS X.
Best mini pc for htpc windows 7#
It needs to be cheap, and the operating system is going to be Windows 7 – the machine also acts as an emergency back-up system in case my main workstation which I use for work dies. It also needs to have an old-fashioned VGA port to connect it to my TV (my TV doesn’t have DVI and its HDMI ports are all taken).
I want it to be silent, so preferably I want a board which is passively cooled and does not require a case fan (I have this mini-ITX case, also from Foxconn). So, what I want is to replace the Foxconn 45CSX mini-ITX motherboard with a modern replacement that can handle HD video and sports and optical-out. It also lacks an optical digital out, another requirement since my entire audio setup uses optical cables. Sadly, the server’s current specs are far too low to handle HD video, which is a requirement. The reason for this is that I find it a bit of a waste to have and the server, and the HTPC running at the same time whenever I want to watch some downloaded films or TV series.
This way, I can retire the aging Pentium 4 after a decade if trusty service. It runs Windows 7 and Boxee just fine, but what I want is to move the server to my TV, and aside from servering, also let it take care of my living room HTPC needs. One of the machines that accesses the media files regularly is my current living room HTPC – an old Pentium 4 machine with some AGP Radeon 6300 in it. You see, this server hosts all my media files and other important stuff that I access from my other machines. This is perfectly adequate for its current task, but it’s far too underpowered for what I have in mind. It’s a Foxconn 45CSX mini-ITX motherboard, which sports an Intel Atom 330 processor (dual-core, 2×1.6Ghz) with an Intel GMA950 graphics chip. I currently have a media server sitting in my closet. The backstory here is that I want to consolidate two machines.
Then I realised I have you people to help me out, and, well, one thing led to another. I’m on the hunt for a mini-ITX motherboard for use in a living room HTPC, and considering there’s so much choice out there, I’m a little confused.