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Smallest HTPC

I knew the via nano coupled with ION was pretty media capable but this seems like quite the stretch! I'd be really interested in seeing benchmarks... and if it could decode blu-ray.
 
It's one thing to expect them to play your high definition media including Blu-ray, but it's another entirely to expect these processors to effectively operate the media center programs themselves.

How does the new Nano fare when opening MediaBrowser and scrolling through the Media Center? Even on my 7MC, it lags quite a bit when browsing through 7MC while my show is still playing, faded to background.
 
It's one thing to expect them to play your high definition media including Blu-ray, but it's another entirely to expect these processors to effectively operate the media center programs themselves.

How does the new Nano fare when opening MediaBrowser and scrolling through the Media Center? Even on my 7MC, it lags quite a bit when browsing through 7MC while my show is still playing, faded to background.

Only lag I get is when I hold the scroll button flipping through my movies in 'Cover Flow' view. Even that is pretty tolerable.
 
Only lag I get is when I hold the scroll button flipping through my movies in 'Cover Flow' view. Even that is pretty tolerable.

I see you're using the newer Athlon II's. How's that working out for you? I'm considering it for my next HTPC build, but my aging A64 5000+ and mediocre Geforce 210 lag more than I'd like.

My gaming rig opens 7MC and MediaBrowser instantly. I have 211 movies in my library (and counting. Still have about 250 more DVD to rip). It's making me want to build an HTPC using my gaming rig specs, but it's going to be loud and hot lol
 
I see you're using the newer Athlon II's. How's that working out for you? I'm considering it for my next HTPC build, but my aging A64 5000+ and mediocre Geforce 210 lag more than I'd like.

My gaming rig opens 7MC and MediaBrowser instantly. I have 211 movies in my library (and counting. Still have about 250 more DVD to rip). It's making me want to build an HTPC using my gaming rig specs, but it's going to be loud and hot lol

I can't have loud. I'll set mine on fire if it's quieter than the stock fan. Hence why I put a fan controller on mine, during the day I'll have the fans up, but at night I'll turn them down to 650~800rpm. The highest I've seen this thing hit, is 33c (92f) but it usually hovers at 26c~28c (80~83f) which works for me. I'm used to seeing my gaming PC hit like 38c just at idle.

I'm digging the new Athlon II, I cannot be more happy with it, it's the perfect proc to get to build off of. I plan on buying a 46xx card sometime in the future, to hopefully finally kill the movie-flip lag. The Integrated Graphics though, are amazing, it plays video at 1080p blurays and audio with no problems through HDMI. I only have about 96 dvds in my library at the moment, but I have 8 full TV series, and about 6 bluray rips (Which I'm still trying to get to work INSIDE MediaCenter). It's only during when I flip through my movies does it lag a tad.
 
I see you're using the newer Athlon II's. How's that working out for you? I'm considering it for my next HTPC build, but my aging A64 5000+ and mediocre Geforce 210 lag more than I'd like.

My gaming rig opens 7MC and MediaBrowser instantly. I have 211 movies in my library (and counting. Still have about 250 more DVD to rip). It's making me want to build an HTPC using my gaming rig specs, but it's going to be loud and hot lol

welcome to the REAL world of htpc's :D its funny how hardcore people get on this site about their low power computers, its a damn enthusiast site its about time people are wakin up to the coffee!

mine is a power chuggin not very quiet gaming htpc, but the entertainment center its in really makes it unnoticeable- even though it sits 3ft from my head. just use good hardware that controls the fans by the heat thats there, and of course something that sleeps well with little power draw. it works out well. it doesnt matter if it gets loud as a hairdryer when youre playing games... well not the games i play:)
 
welcome to the REAL world of htpc's :D its funny how hardcore people get on this site about their low power computers, its a damn enthusiast site its about time people are wakin up to the coffee!

mine is a power chuggin not very quiet gaming htpc, but the entertainment center its in really makes it unnoticeable- even though it sits 3ft from my head. just use good hardware that controls the fans by the heat thats there, and of course something that sleeps well with little power draw. it works out well. it doesnt matter if it gets loud as a hairdryer when youre playing games... well not the games i play:)

Exactly! I have everything cranked up when I play games, it doesn't matter. But when movies come on I need that thing silent, because I don't want anything to break me from the movie.
 
err...... yeah its hardforum and part of the [H] part is going over the top..... that could be performance, build quality or could be low power SFF build with the highest ability.

I am not sure about you guys but my electricity bill is high enough....
 
i know i was just being brass. power draw isnt an issue though, even though my htpc might hit 300w at full load, at idle its more like 100w. and normally its just sleeping overnight, so basically no power draw at all. its not as big of a deal as it used to be, windows is geared toward power savings now....

movies dont crank up a fast system either. mine doesnt even speedstep up, it just runs at its idle 1500mhz speed because the video card is doing the work, and for a video card that work is also very easy.
 
movies dont crank up a fast system either. mine doesnt even speedstep up, it just runs at its idle 1500mhz speed because the video card is doing the work, and for a video card that work is also very easy.

Not even that, I don't have a card in mine, but during a bluray playback, my PC is only using 20% CPU and about 30% RAM, that's with integrated too.

It idles at like 800mhz or somewhere near that though.
 
yeah, if you get sleep to work correcty. otherwise you resume and something doesnt work or it wakes up randomly through the night.

I dont use Sleep states, i power off and on my HTPC with the SIMEREC IR switch, but my WHS stays on all the time and definately chugs power
 
yeah, if you get sleep to work correcty. otherwise you resume and something doesnt work or it wakes up randomly through the night.

I dont use Sleep states, i power off and on my HTPC with the SIMEREC IR switch, but my WHS stays on all the time and definately chugs power

well yeah, i can scratch in $20 a month to run my server. dont ask, i know i need a lower power server:D

sleep isnt finicky like it used to be though. i agree you still need to restart the os every once an awhile to keep things orderly, but windows update tuesday always takes care of that. i have had zero sleep and resume problems on my htpc over the past couple years... ever since vista and proper s3 sleep state hardware those kind of problems have all but gone away.
 
I put mine to sleep just fine. It stays 'on' 24/7 Cept for updates or installed programs.
 
then dont program in the power button. i never use it for the htpc, it auto sleeps after 30min of inactivity, and restarts itself every couple weeks for updates. most of the time it just sleeps...
 
You could make it out of this:
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/ne...ys_1080p_passively_cooled_fits_palm_your_hand

10 cm x 7.2 cm (~4" x 3")
Not too expensive either, I think $200-$300
If I had one of these I would just get an old piece of plywood and mount it on, then put a plastic cover on top.

Not a damn thing cause, I guarantee that their crappy drivers are going to kill whatever potential this thing has. I know cause that's how they "run" all their other Via hardware. They need to pull their head out of their ass and get more Nano based stuff out there with an actual decent chipset like Ion onboard. Do you know how awesome a mITX Nano/Ion based board at an Atom board based price would be?!? Legendary. That's how awesome.
 
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