How fast computer do I need for Air Video for iPad?

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Gawd
Joined
Aug 28, 2007
Messages
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I'm going to get iPad soon and found out about app called air video for iPad which I wished there's app like that when I was hesitating about getting iPad. To me, it kind of makes sense to run air video server 24/7 because I don't want to power on/off every time I want to watch something.

I currently have Q6600 running at default speed for my 2nd game/htpc. I hate to run it 24/7 because it's power usage and I was thinking maybe this might be excuse to build new PC.

I have 2 options at this point. I can give Q6600 to my brother and take his(actually mine) E2180 and use that to save $$$. I can't remember how much watts it uses but I think it was pretty low.

Second option is to sell Q6600 and all other parts related and get i3-530 or something similar which seems to use around 25w idle.

The question is, since it has to transcode on the fly, would E2180 be good enough handle that? I have some h264 clips that I want to watch too. Or can even i3 handle this or would it be safer to stick with Q6600?

Thanks
 
I transcode on the fly with my $25 sempron 140. It doesn't take much. I can only transcode one stream at a time though. I've streamed 3 streams at once, but 2 at native m4v/mp4 format which doesn't require transcoding, even at hd resolutions.
 
Keep what you have and use it. You have a quad core, that is more than enough. There is no reason to try and justify buying something that you don't need, which will do the same thing that you're wanting it to do with the hardware you already have. You claim 'power savings', but in the end you're going to be spending so much more with the hardware upgrade than you would ever use in electricity. If you're that stuck on power usage, make sure you have things like speed step enabled and even a hybrid sleep mode that will wake on lan or something.
 
You might want to invest in a kill-a-watt and find out if your pc is really using what you think it is. The power rating that you're worried about is just that, a rating, and not what it draws all the time. If you have a proper power supply and power profile, the system may only be using as much power as the system you would buy. In that event you would have gained nothing, spent more money on hardware that is likely under powered to what you currently have. I know the q6600 is getting long in the tooth at thus pint but it is new enough that it has power saving features.

You should definitely investigate you power saving settings in your OS, the power saver settings of your motherboard drivers and bios, and the certifications on your power supply.
 
If you want to help out your brother, swap CPUs with him (assuming his hardware can support the Q6600). But the Q6600 is fine for your setup. Going to an i3 from a Q6600 for your purposes is pointless (unless you just want new hardware, in which case, go for it!).
 
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