Dual Core Atom 330 as GbPvr Server?

[tjb]

i'd think you'd want to use the Atom as a client considering it's small size & HD capability.

I plan on using the Dual Core Atom 330 system as both a server as well as a client on my main HDTV. I also have two NMT's that I want to be able to access this sytem as a server.

[Bathman]

A brought a Point of View Dual Atom 330 as at the time this was the cheapest Dual Atom board I could find.

This forms my main HTPC in the living room and it ouputs via HDMI to a 37 flat screen tele. It has a Pinnicle 7010 TV card. So it has two DVB-T inputs and two DVB-S inputs. It plays BBC HD and ITV HD without problem.

In my bedroom I have a Pentium M 1.6 (Shuttle bare bones) which used to be my main unit but now I use it as a client and I use file sharing mode. It plays back recorded SD TV and divx, mp3 etc. It can't to live TV or HD but I have always assumed this is due to the homeplug network units that I use (comtrend - they aren't that good).

Personally I think the Dual core atom is excellent. It runs silent - one very small low volted fan and the case it in is very small.

Hope this helps

[ilovejedd]

Is anyone using an Atom 330 processor based system as a GbPvr server?

Let me back up for a moment. In the past I had been using an HP Proliant ML150 as my main server, which included GbPvr recording and hosting two PCH's as clients. It definitely was up to the task, but used around 250 to 300watts at idle. So I started searching for a greener solution. First, for storage, I got a NAS from Qnap (Ts-410) which uses only about 20 watts with three 1.5 TB disks in it. Then for the heck of it, I temporarily tried to use my Dell Vostro A90 (Atom 1.6, identical to the Dell Mini 9) to act as a GbPvr server. To my surprise, it works perfectly for recording shows. However, it is not up to the task of streaming video to the NMT. So now I am thinking about building a system based on the Zotac IONITX motherboard (which has a dual core Atom processoor) so I can get my Vostro back. I'd be very interested to know if anyone else has tried this and if they had any success.

Do you have any size requirements? Because you can build a pretty low power AMD-based Micro-ATX computer for around the same price as a dual-core ION motherboard, probably even cheaper. You wouldn't be faced with the dilemma of the processor being underpowered, either.

Perhaps an Athlon II X2 240 Regor ($58) + AMD 785G ($60~80) would work?

[tjb]

Do you have any size requirements? Because you can build a pretty low power AMD-based Micro-ATX computer for around the same price as a dual-core ION motherboard, probably even cheaper. You wouldn't be faced with the dilemma of the processor being underpowered, either.

Perhaps an Athlon II X2 240 Regor ($58) + AMD 785G ($60~80) would work?

Turns out the problem is the NAS, not the Dell Vostro. I attached a usb drive to the vostro, then recorded some test shows. Streaming the recordings to a PCH worked perfectly then. It appears that even a single core atom processor is enough for a GbPvr server (as long as you do not do any transcoding So I just ordered the Zotac Atom 330 motherboard along with an MI-008 case. I will stick a local drive in the Zotac for recordings and I think, or at least hope that everything will be perfect, quiet, and green.