# Hardware for low energy / mc

## era

I'm about to upgrade my old computer (Athlon Xp1700) and is wondering what would be the better choice for Core2 system:

A cheaper motherboard like a ASROCK P43DE with a Geforce 9400 separate graphics card or

Asus P5Q-EM (GMA 4500 HD graphics) or something else?

I'm primarily looking for a soloution that would be quiet, function as a movieplayer and normal computer and with a low power consumption. I thought at first that Blueray movie discs was possible straight on linux but as far as I understand it is not. Does someone know if it will ever be? (That was the reason for the GMA 4500 HD chipset with HDMI out)

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## CrankyPenguin

I've had good experiences with the HP laptops both as low-power systems and as movie-players.  As a warning though the remote controls that they include on some newer systems are not always supported under linux.  

One recommendation for any laptop is to purchase the largest battery you can get.  All batteries degrade over time.  It is always cheaper to upgrade to the 12-cell battery over the 6 when you get the laptop than to purchase a new one later.

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## era

I was planning on still using my old tower, but thanks for the idea!

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## TA Munchkin

Personally I'd go with the 9400 since it's most likely better supported than the GMA, I have always had little faith in an onboard gpu's performance especially if you'd like to play blu-ray.

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## doctork

I'd take a look at the Zotac Nvidia ION/Intel Atom 330 combo.  It has an onboard 9400.

--

doc

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## energyman76b

go intel. Why? At least it works with the opensource drivers. 

Also, nvidia onboard GPUs are famous for their mass dying in 2007&2008 - and who knows if nvidia really fixed it?

but the ultimate low-power combo is a litte amd cpu+780G.

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## snIP3r

hi era!

i would recommend buying the Asus P5Q-EM board with onboard graphics if you want to use your old hardware. onboard graphics usually have less power consumption.

HTH

snIP3r

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## pappy_mcfae

Of course, if you'd prefer not to be buffeted about by the whims of kernel devs, Intel, and the folks who "make" drivers for them, go with the nvidia. Intel may be "making" open drivers, but they still suck as far as I'm concerned. I'd gladly change the video setup in this machine if I could.

Blessed be!

Pappy

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## era

Thanks for all the replies. pappy_macface - do you mean that the intel drivers doesn't work or what? I thought I read something about that the drivers worked well with the G45 chipset.. but I have been wrong before  :Smile: 

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## cach0rr0

In looking at building out my own HTPC, basically...to get what I wanted, at the price point I wanted, I ended up saying screw it and bought this:

http://www.tvix.co.kr/Eng/products/HDM6500A.aspx

(am I allowed to link this? I can nuke the link if need be, and just mention it by name)

I couldn't build a system with comparable features for cheaper, nevermind the time spent optimising the UI to my liking. That thing rocks - intuitive, plays every format known to man (even a dvd .iso), does proper HD, supports streaming media over NFS or Samba, built-in FTP server, and so on

Streams a 1080p Matroska rip over a wired connection without issue even. Can't say enough about that lil gadget.

Isn't any bigger than a Mac Mini either (my rig: http://blueball.me/reading/06012009154.jpg )

There's even an OpenTViX project dedicated to building out open source firmware for the lil guy. 

Anyway, it owns.

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## pappy_mcfae

Yes, I mean that the Intel drivers have been a lot less than I would expect. Intel is offering up the code for both the kernel inclusions, and the drivers. With all that, I still have openGL screensavers that tear. While that is a slight improvement, it's a far cry from what nvidia can do out of the box with so called "closed source" drivers. 

Add to that the i810 and it's derivatives have been put out to pasture, at least as far as all the new development is concerned. The .27 kernels remain in production because the i810 chipset will work with that kernel, and with X (up to 1.5.2-r3 before gen-tosh died), but will not work with anything >=.28. This may have changed, but I haven't read anything about any change, and the fact that I had a few issues I had to address with a user who has an i865 recently, it seems the trouble remains.

My hope remains that they will finally get the incantations correct, and the great digital beast that is the Intel GPU will be tamed, or at least taught to be more like an nvidia GPU. For now, I know the truth, and it's sad.

Blessed be!

Pappy

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