Putting together an HTPC...what do you think?

[Silent_Buddha]

Except current SSDs would be horrible for a HTPC unless you got a SLC drive or possible the Intel MLC drive. Unless you never record with your HTPC that is.

Regards,
SB

 

[MfA]

It's just for booting ... everything else goes on the "storage server" ...

 

[Silent_Buddha]

It's just for booting ... everything else goes on the "storage server" ...

Yeah but you still have temp files, and whatnot that will be written on the main drive.

Booting isn't terrifically faster on an SSD versus a HD but I suppose if you turn the machine off and on a LOT during a day it may make a difference. And the cost difference is still rather large.

In a year or two maybe when the technology matures. And if Win7 does improve access control of SSDs.

Regards,
SB

 

[Mariner]

If you're interested in silencing a HTPC and are planning to keep most of your files on an NAS device, you'd so just as well to use a suspended 2.5" laptop hard disk, IMHO. This would be inaudible (providing you select a suitable model) and would cost a fraction of the amount of an SSD whilst providing greater capacity. If money is no object by all means go for an SSD but in this straitened financial climate, the cheaper option may be better!

If you're worrying about power consumption, just use S3 suspend to ram. My PC draws less than 1W more when in S3 suspend than when switched off and resumes to desktop within seconds whenever you need it. Very straightforward and easy to set up.

The other cheaper option, of course, would simply be to replace the hard disk in your PS3 with a higher capacity model - 500GB laptop disks are now available. This wouldn't solve the MKV problem though.

 

[MfA]

Yeah but you still have temp files, and whatnot that will be written on the main drive.

With windows, I guess ... but it's not like you would need an awful lot of capacity.

With Linux only the kernel would need to be on the SSD ... hell, a cheap USB stick would suffice, booting almost entirely from LAN is easy. Last time I looked boot from LAN options for Vista which didn't require all kinds of nasty tricks weren't cheap ... but they are available.

Booting isn't terrifically faster on an SSD versus a HD but I suppose if you turn the machine off and on a LOT during a day it may make a difference. And the cost difference is still rather large.

It's not about boot time or speed, it's about noise. Of the cheap drives the Samsung's are the best of the bunch, and they are not silent in a quiet setting. Sure you could get a 2.5" drive and/or a HD box, but those add cost too.