Hardware recomendation for Linux HTPC

[LinuxWarrior]

Hi!

I'm looking forward to buy an HTPC. Considering the following requirements I would like to have some advices:

• Graphics card with OSS drivers and video decoding acceleration
• Small case and low power consumption
• Budget: ~250€

I will use Fedora and XBMC.

[chithanh]

• Graphics card with OSS drivers and video decoding acceleration

At present your only choice is Intel for that.

Example configuration: A mini-ITX socket 1155 mobo will set you back around 70€, a Core i3 2100T 105€, LC-Power 1320mi including PSU 35€ (verify that the boxed cooler fits), 4 GB DDR3-1333 25€, 320 GB 2.5" SATA HDD 35€. Total is around 270€.

If you don't have to buy immediately, you can follow the progress of the Gallium3D VDPAU project, and see if maybe an AMD Brazos/Llano solution fits your needs better.

[LinuxWarrior]

If you don't have to buy immediately, you can follow the progress of the Gallium3D VDPAU project, and see if maybe an AMD Brazos/Llano solution fits your needs better.

The problem is the amount of time to be developed more the time needed to be shipped by a distro is probably more than 6 months.

[chithanh]

Not with Fedora, what they ship is usually very close to fdo git.

[Melchior]

nVidia Geforece 9300M with an intel Atom 330 processor board in mini-itx is the current de-facto standard.

Outdated, yes, cheap usually, well supported drives - YUP!

This will probably get replaced by AMD's new socket LM1 cpu+gpu systems in the mini-itx form factor (as the drivers get perfected).

[Kano]

You need very much time when you compile something with those cpus. The older ion(1) can not decode several res with vdpau - not even using win and flash. When you want to decode a res % 16 != 0 then you usually get a problem. ion(2) would be better but sometimes this is optimus (especially with netbooks). i would use the iX-2xxx cpu. If needed combined with a g210 or something like that when you don't want to use latest kernel/mesa/ddx/vaapi. Last time i checked vaapi+vc1 was not working correctly with xbmc but only using mplayer-vaapi. h264 worked with vaapi and xbmc. That does not really help when you have to disable it everytime you play vc1. Well the cpu should be fast enough to decode everything using software. btw. vlc with enabled hardware accel on win does not work too with intel - intel should test that codepath, ati had to fix their win drivers too for vlc...

[LinuxWarrior]

So an Intel system with integrated graphics card still can't do video decoding (h264) with hardware acceleration?

[chithanh]

Of course it can. H.264 VA-API decode acceleration works for all Core i3/i5/i7 integrated graphics (GMA HD/2000/3000).

[droidhacker]

An alternative to trying to mess with an IGP that happens to have a working H264 decoder is to get a mainboard with a mini-PCIex slot and get yourself a BROADCOM CRYSTALHD. Then you can use your favorite GPU (like a Radeon...) and still have open video decode acceleration. The UVD unit on Radeons and the Broadcom crystalhd share some common ancestry.

[LinuxWarrior]

Right now I'm more inclined to buy an Intel system... due acceleration support and opensource drivers. The Core i3 2100T with 35W of TPD looks good...

In the past all my Desktop CPU's were AMD, but due the lack of proper opensource support I'm kinda forced to buy an Intel CPU with integrated graphics, and an Atom don't seems a good investment if I want to run some services on the same machine...