Soldato
Hi all.
I currently have a Zotac Zbox AD02, it does everything I need apart from run Netflix HD and Sky Go in high quality. Despite there being a more than capable GPU there, a combination of poor coding on MS' side (Silverlight can only acceleration h.264) and poor codec selection on Netflix's side (VC-1) this is never likely to be resolved. If you want more info, have a look here
So this leaves me with a problem.. what do I replace my AD02 with.
My requirements are that has HDMI out, SPDIF, Silent (or as near as possible), quick and painless wake from S3 via IR (USB connected IR), decent enough to CPU to handle decoding VC-1 without any help from the GPU, needs to be VESA mountable. It'll run Windows 7, be connected via ethernet to my file server and will have XBMC on there.
I'm thinking;
Something that the Z77 based boards will over of what I currently have is the PCI-E slot - This'll allow me to add an HD tuner to the box at a later date - which is something I considered with the AD02 but it would've only been possible via USB.
WRT the CPU. Do I aim for lower TDP, or HD4000 over HD2500. I'm thinking HD4000 so that there's a better GPU there if anything does want to make use of it.
How do I cool the CPU?
What about the PSU - I'm going to need a pico PSU and an external brick. I'm unsure on these. The price seems to shoot up as the power requirements shoots up. How do I work out how much power I need?
I currently have a Zotac Zbox AD02, it does everything I need apart from run Netflix HD and Sky Go in high quality. Despite there being a more than capable GPU there, a combination of poor coding on MS' side (Silverlight can only acceleration h.264) and poor codec selection on Netflix's side (VC-1) this is never likely to be resolved. If you want more info, have a look here
So this leaves me with a problem.. what do I replace my AD02 with.
My requirements are that has HDMI out, SPDIF, Silent (or as near as possible), quick and painless wake from S3 via IR (USB connected IR), decent enough to CPU to handle decoding VC-1 without any help from the GPU, needs to be VESA mountable. It'll run Windows 7, be connected via ethernet to my file server and will have XBMC on there.
I'm thinking;
- M350 mini ITX case
- Something Z77 based, like the Zotac Z77ITX-A-E
- Cheapest IB CPU I can get away with
- Whatever SSD I can get for around £60
- 8GB DDR3
Something that the Z77 based boards will over of what I currently have is the PCI-E slot - This'll allow me to add an HD tuner to the box at a later date - which is something I considered with the AD02 but it would've only been possible via USB.
WRT the CPU. Do I aim for lower TDP, or HD4000 over HD2500. I'm thinking HD4000 so that there's a better GPU there if anything does want to make use of it.
How do I cool the CPU?
What about the PSU - I'm going to need a pico PSU and an external brick. I'm unsure on these. The price seems to shoot up as the power requirements shoots up. How do I work out how much power I need?
Likely be a bit cheaper too.. 
