DVD Playback
DVD Playback
A shuttle SV24 is an ideal
chassis for a HTPC setup (Home Theatre PC)
Its small, good looking and would fit in nicely next to a modern TV. It
could replace your DVD player, VCR & Stereo System and all in such
a tiny space!
But one obvious factor which springs to mind is noise control. The shuttle comes equipped with 3 rather noisy fans, one inside the PSU one as a rear exhaust and another on top of the slimline heatsink. Normal DVD and HIFI setups run completely silently as to not interfere with your enjoyment of the film / music.
The downfall of using a powerful processor is that a fan is essential to keep the processor cool. But with the C3 in our shuttle we might just be able obtain a silent HTPC. But can it handle the task we are about to se it?
The Celeron:
Running the shuttle with the Celeron in the machine is just not an option
the fans are a constant annoyance whilst watching a film, however the
DVD playback was flawless and would not stutter while performing other
mundane windows tasks but the quieter parts of the films are always accompanied
by the whirring of the fan blades.
The C3:
It's a very close call between whether or not the C3 can handle DVD playback.
If left alone it will quite happily churn out a watchable film but it
requires the machine to be entirely devoted to just one task. If any programs
kick in the playback immediately stutters.
However all this could be avoided if a hardware decoder card was used
to relieve most of the stresses from the C3. Another advantage of using
a hardware decoder card would be the improved TV-out capabilities.
The C3 is the definite winner in this test with a little extra cash to buy a hardware mpeg decoder you could have a perfect base to run all your home theatre needs and at the same time keep it completely silent!
