Old bits good enough for an SFF media PC?

[eddiew]

Hi guys,

I find myself with a few spare bits from my old PC, and a little bit of cash burning a hole in my pocket, so I'm hoping y'all can help me find a good use for it

What I want to build: the smallest, quietest PC possible that will play blu-rays, and have enough HDD space to use as a network storage box.

Expected spec:

Core2Duo E4300 (@1.8GHz?)
2 GB of DDR2 (4x1 sticks available if the motherboard could hold them all)
ITX motherboard with nVidia 9300 (any alternatives?)
HDD: have a 3.5" but open to buying a new 2.5" if required
Case: something cheap and cheerful like a Lian Li Q07B

What I don't know and would appreciate help with :

1) is this thing going to be able to play blu-rays or is it just too slow?
1a) if too slow, can it be overclocked to the task within an ITX enclosure without getting too hot? Will reliably run @2.66 with good cooling.

2) is 2 GB memory going to cut it if I stick Windows 7 on it? Won't be used for games, just media playback and file storage.

3) what are the odds it will idle cool enough that speedfan (or similar) can safely turn off the fan when it's doing nowt? Would love this thing to be motion-free when not under load.

4) need to pick a cooler - I am assuming my zalman 9500A will not fit in an ITX case, although it would be lovely if it did!

Thanks in advance

 

[Si105]

I play games with 2GB on Windows 7 fine.

 

[Baboonanza]

I used to say 2GB was fine, but I've recently upgraded my HTPC to 4GB.

It depends what you will be running though. With MediaPortal (and a load of plugins) running I only had ~350MB spare which isn't really enough to do disc ripping in the background. I'd start on 2GB, see how it goes, and keep your eye on the Members Market for a 4GB upgrade.

I think you should be ok with the 9300, ASFAIK the ION chipset is essentially a 9300. Not 100% sure though.

I'd be very suprised if you could turn off all the fans when idle, though you should be able to make it inaudible.

 

[eddiew]

I play games with 2GB on Windows 7 fine.

Hehe, I've gotten used to a desktop with 8GB, I'm losing my frame of reference - guess I don't need to be quite so greedy for a light-use system ^^;

It depends what you will be running though. With MediaPortal (and a load of plugins) running I only had ~350MB spare which isn't really enough to do disc ripping in the background. I'd start on 2GB, see how it goes, and keep your eye on the Members Market for a 4GB upgrade.

Not really planning to do a lot with it besides plain old disk playing. If I decide to rip to disk, it'd likely be some time when not watching

I think you should be ok with the 9300, ASFAIK the ION chipset is essentially a 9300. Not 100% sure though.

Sounds good, if it has the same sort of playback support as ION then it can enable a significantly slower CPU than this C2D to do the job!

I'd be very suprised if you could turn off all the fans when idle, though you should be able to make it inaudible.

Well, the difference in sound between 0 rpm and 800rpm tends to be pretty much nothing - I might experiment a bit with undervolting too.


Anyone have any thoughts on a good cooler that will fit in an ITX case?