Low power download/streaming box

phil675 · 7 Jun 2013 at 14:17

Hey, so since moving into the gfs flat, I've had to leave the desktop on for long periods of time, her internet is half the speed I'm used to and downloads take a while, also streaming to the PS3 means it stays on to watch films etc.

This is rinsing the leccy meter, so what could I use to stick on the shelf, to download and transcode hi def mkvs? I tried an old atom powered netbook I've got but the processor was awful at transcoding. A skt 775 setup would probably be fine but not sure this would be cost efficient after buying a small case and all the gubbins. Low power laptops tend to be rubbish?

What would OCUK do?

Sprite · 7 Jun 2013 at 14:29

How small does it need to be? Obviously size wise ITX will be better than MATX but it will cost more for the motherboard and case.

If you're not worried too much about size I would buy a MATX 775/AMD setup second hand, or through the OCUK B-Grade section.

Gav_881 · 7 Jun 2013 at 14:51

N54L microservers is a low power low cost solution and should be fine for what you need.

There going for sub £100 after cashback and draw ~12W downloading

Sprite · 7 Jun 2013 at 15:01

Gav_881 said:
N54L microservers is a low power low cost solution and should be fine for what you need.

There going for sub £100 after cashback and draw ~12W downloading

Will the CPU in that be able to transcode MKV at 1080p? A 2.2GHz AMD X2 would be on the borderline I thought.

Edit: Quick Google led me to http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2025114, where a guy says it transcodes 1080p with Plex fine.