Is Zacate powerful enough for iPlayer HD?

[Cleanthes]

Hi

I was planning a Zacate HTPC, but have heard some dark rumors that it will struggle with iPlayer because it is CPU intensive. This is really important, because iPlayer, ITV Player etc. is probably what it will be used for most.

If there is any doubt, I will switch to a i3 2100T - but would obviously prefer to avoid the extra cost if possible!

Can those with Zacate lend a hand? Will it play iPlayer HD no problem?

 

[chiily]

Interestingly, I've just been around the same debate and settled on a low power AMD box. Not just the iplayer/CPU problem but also I wanted to fit a ATI 6450 graphics card and a BGT3620 tune card.

 

[stevos]

If i understand it correctly, iplayer is a flash based player and currently (might have been updated now) the flash software does not support GPU acceration for Zacate. Its only a matter of time i suspect before this is fixed.

 

[aenima46n2]

Iplayer HD is still unusable on my atom ion (revo) using a standard browser.

There is a iplayer plugin for XBMC though - HD works perfectly on that.

Maybe a work around for your whilst the BBC and Adobe sort out their differences.

 

[Stephen Neal]

Iplayer HD is still unusable on my atom ion (revo) using a standard browser.

There is a iplayer plugin for XBMC though - HD works perfectly on that.

Maybe a work around for your whilst the BBC and Adobe sort out their differences.

I think the problem is with the way iPlayer and Flash works in the way the BBC are using it.

There are other sources of iPlayer video (the ones used by Blu-ray players, internet connected TVs, iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch etc. which use very compliant formats) in a differently wrapped H264 source - and if the XBMC app uses those rather than the Flash wrapped stuff - then it shouldn't be a problem.

However if you want it in a normal PC browser it might be a problem...

 

[obrother]

No, it still can't handle it. It's fine with blu-rays, BBC HD, etc, but I'm beginning to think I should have gone i3, even though it has the 24fps issue and is more expensive, simply because sometimes you need more "grunt" and there's not really any spare with this.

 

[Cleanthes]

Okay, thanks. It sounds like it can't do it at the moment - and even if it's fixed soon, I can see myself needing to replace a Zacate faster than an i3 - a bit less 'future-proof' perhaps?
I'd rather have a HTPC that was a little too powerful for my needs than one that was not quite powerful enough.

 

[stevos]

It is a shame, since you can have fanless zacate setups, which would be perfect for a HTPC.

I am about to take the plunge myself into buying a HTPC and one of the things making me debate it a bit is that i really don't want to hear the PC whilst watching films/listening to movies like you can with the PS3.

 

[richard plumb]

can't you pull off a fanless i3-2100t setup?
edit: nick these guys' spec http://blog.aleutia.com/2011/05/08/fanless-sandy-bridge-pc-core-i3-2100t-in-aleutia-h3-media-pc/

 

[nunovi]

Well, it's a bit unfair to compare i3 with Zacate really, they're not in the same league. If you can afford the i3 setup then buy that, no brainer. The stock cooler is fairly silent but there are lots of aftermarket coolers, including some fanless, that would make the setup silent. Couple that with an SSD and it will be completely silent.

I have a fanless Atom N270 (No ION) in my bedroom that can do iPlayer 720p through XBMC. It's also a much nicer interface too than going through the browser.

Nuno

 

[nunovi]

I have now an E350 Zacate based on an Asrock motherboard with 2gb HyperX RAM and it does handle iPlayer HD, although with 90% CPU usage. There's a slight tear from time to time but perfectly watchable. In XBMC it plays buttery smooth.