- May 16, 2013
- 4
- 0
- 18,510
I would like to upgrade my existing combined multimedia and storage PC (it is a few years old and uses a low power AMD E-350 CPU) since I am disappointed with the video streaming performance under Windows 8 / 8.1 / 10.
The box is located in a utility room next to my living room and uses my TV as screen (DVI cable) and a wireless Logitech keyboard (receiver on a USB extension cable in the living room).
I already own a good chassis (full size from fractal design) and a total of 7 disks (6 "green" mechanical SATA disks and a fairly new SSD as boot drive), and a good PSU (platinum 400 W).
I am NOT interested to do any gaming on the PC but would like video from all providers (YouTube, Netflix etc) to run "smooth as butter" in 1080p resolution (we have high bandwidth fiber connection with low latency so this is not a problem on some Gaming PCs we already own).
As a file server it does not need to perform "ultra fast" - we mainly use it for storing backups of all other PCs in the house and as a "media library" for saved video, music and extensive photo collections - it can be assumed that no heavy disk access needs to be performed at the same time as streaming video (even though it would be nice if it could serve some files without video streaming become "choppy").
The machine is backed up to cloud storage for disaster recovery.
Since the box is intended to be running 24x7 I am looking for using as low power components as is possible without compromising on the goal of very good video streaming performance. I am not overly budget conscious but nobody wants to "throw money away needlessly" so good value for money suggestions are appreciated!
The box is located in a utility room next to my living room and uses my TV as screen (DVI cable) and a wireless Logitech keyboard (receiver on a USB extension cable in the living room).
I already own a good chassis (full size from fractal design) and a total of 7 disks (6 "green" mechanical SATA disks and a fairly new SSD as boot drive), and a good PSU (platinum 400 W).
I am NOT interested to do any gaming on the PC but would like video from all providers (YouTube, Netflix etc) to run "smooth as butter" in 1080p resolution (we have high bandwidth fiber connection with low latency so this is not a problem on some Gaming PCs we already own).
As a file server it does not need to perform "ultra fast" - we mainly use it for storing backups of all other PCs in the house and as a "media library" for saved video, music and extensive photo collections - it can be assumed that no heavy disk access needs to be performed at the same time as streaming video (even though it would be nice if it could serve some files without video streaming become "choppy").
The machine is backed up to cloud storage for disaster recovery.
Since the box is intended to be running 24x7 I am looking for using as low power components as is possible without compromising on the goal of very good video streaming performance. I am not overly budget conscious but nobody wants to "throw money away needlessly" so good value for money suggestions are appreciated!
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