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[mArnell]

I'm putting togeather a new media pc and I'm thinking of using JRiver as my preferred media player.
What do I need hardware-wise for flawless smooth use?
CPU, RAM, SSD,...

I'll be using a external asynchronos USB-dac.
I'm not interested in minimum requirements. I'm talking the full JRiver media center experience maxed out.

[NRGman]

well these are the min. requirements:

Hardware Requirements (minimum)
600 MHz Pentium
512 MB RAM
60 MB Free hard drive space
Sound card
Video card
Microsoft Internet Explorer I.E. 5.0 or above
Internet connection (recommended).

I'll let other tell you what they use

[Alex B]

Those requirements are ancient. Where did you find them? MC15 does not fit in 60 MB once the program files have been expanded and it starts creating the default user data items (library, thumbnails, automatic backup files, etc). A 600 MHz Pentium (this must be Pentium III, there was no 600 MHz PI or PII) would be too slow for using a modern graphics-heavy program. IMO, the practical minimum is a first generation Pentium 4 or similar. Also the graphics card must be quite recent for fully using the various display features.

I have recently posted a list of components which would make a very good PC for MC use: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=60650.msg410213#msg410213 (read also the other related posts in that thread).

If the intention is to do lots of file encoding the listed dual core processor can be replaced with a four or six core AMD Phenom II processor (or try if the two disabled cores in the Phenom II X2 processor can be unlocked successfully).

A similar Intel CPU based PC would probably be a bit more expensive, but not necessarily better or worse. I think the most important thing is to have a nice motherboard that has lots of useful connectors and versatile features. For that reason, I also prefer the standard ATX size instead of microATX.

[mArnell]

I would have thought a 3.2GHz CPU to be massive overkill for a dedicated media pc.
There will be no encoding on this machine, I'll do that on my "big" rig.
All the media files will be supplied by the NAS.

The goal is to make it small and silent while still good enough.

[Alex B]

A fast processor is good for decoding HD video and quick thumbnail creation. I have a Phenom II and it runs very cool because the modern motherboards can adjust the clock speed and voltage values on the need basis. I don't think it makes sense to buy a slower CPU because the price differences are quite marginal. The ASUS board in my list has a passively cooled Radeon HD 4250 onboard graphics chip and the Corsair PSU is practically silent. It is also possible to replace the standard CPU cooler with a quieter third party cooler, but that may not be necessary (mine is quite silent unless I am doing some very demanding processing). The modern PC cases have several mounting options for fans and it is possible to use silent fans if additional cooling is needed.

Regarding the size, personally I have no need to hide the main component of my home entertainment center. In any case, my speakers and TV screen are a lot bigger. For instance, the Cooler Master case I mentioned in the linked thread is a quite compact case for a standard ATX motherboard and it can be used also in the horizontal position.

[mArnell]

You do have a valid point. I guess it depends on what you're after.
My initial thoughts are mini-itx and passive cooling but that will limit my options in a big way.
A i5-560UM cpu seems like the best choice but that's only 1.33GHz and 2.18 GHz (or something like it?) with the turbo. (18W TDP)
It's probably more expensive than the 3.2GHz cpu that you're suggesting.

If the demands are too high I'll have to abandon the idea of passive cooling, that's why it's important to know the demands before I start pouring money into the project.
More heat might force me to go with bigger case/form factor. It's a vicious circle and everything starts with the cpu.

[NRGman]

Those requirements are ancient. Where did you find them?

http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Installation_%26_Removal

[WinoOutWest]

I just inherited a Viewsonic ViewPad 1000 that I would like to use only as a theaterview touchscreen remote for my htpc.
Its a touchscreen tablet circa early 2000's
Specs: http://www.viewsonic.com.pe/support/mobilewireless/tabletpc/viewpad1000/#specs
800Mhz Mobile Celeron
128MB RAM
800x600 touchscreen panel

I cleaned it of and loaded a clean WinXP Sp3 and loaded up JRiver to test and its pokey as.
I can upgrade to 512mb ram but thought I'd ask you all if you think its got the horsepower to run MC15 in theater view as a remote control only.
I know I could run WebRemote and it would probably be fine.

It won't actually do any playing and would be dedicated to MC15 Theater View.
I can upgrade to 512MB ram for about $40.  Would also consider putting in an SSD IDE drive if required.
Any thoughts?  Should I bother with the upgrade?

[JimH]

In Theater View options, try reducing the drawing quality and the frame rate.

[fitbrit]

I have a variety of PCs throughout the house using JRMC15. They all run it well for video and audio. The highest spec'd PC is an i5 750 (quad core, 2.67 GHz), 4 GB RAM and 2.5 TB disk space, with an nVidia 512MB 8800GT.

The most lowly is an Acer Revo 310 with a 1.6 GHz dual core Atom with an Ion graphics chipset. This small form factor PC runs theatre view just fine and can even decode Dolby Digital TrueHD and pass on the LPCM to my receiver.

I'm also running an Opteron 180 in a socket 939 mobo that has both PCIe and AGP, running with 2 GB RAM and an nVidia GT240.

My main HTPC is an i3 530 on a Gigabyte H57 mobo, using onboard graphics and 4 GB RAM. This only has 30 GB storage in an SSD, but all these PCs are connected to the 27 TB server by wired gigabit ethernet - and that contains ALL my media.

There's also a laptop or two somewhere and the have ATi/AMD 3000-series video cards. Therefore they can run all the video files and TheatreView just fine, also.

As you can see, a beefy CPU isn't necessary, but it will make elements of the GUI more responsive, for sure. However, even the Atom with Ion graphics can take care of some of the most demanding h264 video decoding. Audio-only files are a breeze, even 5.1 DTS files in a wav container.

[mArnell]

Just to make it clear.
You're running theater view on a 1.6GHz dual core Atom CPU with a Ion graphics chipset and it's doing fine?
There are fanless cpu-on-board solutions with these specs. If This is so then it's a no-brainer...

[fitbrit]

Just to make it clear.
You're running theater view on a 1.6GHz dual core Atom CPU with a Ion graphics chipset and it's doing fine?
There are fanless cpu-on-board solutions with these specs. If This is so then it's a no-brainer...

Sorry, I lost track of this thread. Yes, I'm doing what you stated. It's not the zippiest, but is definitely usable enough to be enjoyable. I've also just posted a thread on my recent experience with Windows 7 on my s939 HTPC.

[mArnell]

Cool, it lokks like I'm going shopping then.