I need some advise on hardware not specifically for a HTPC but it is sort of a media box.
Here’s what I’m trying to do:
I want to build a very small very low-power box to run a stripped down XP install with WinAmp and a DSP plug-in called SoundSolution for my truck. The box will be controlled by the radio head unit (I already have the addapter & plug-ins for that).
I tried to set up a VIA PicoITX motherboard to do this (1GHz cpu w/ 1Gb of ram). The Pico MB did run WinAmp fine (about 4~10% cpu) but when I enabled the SoundSolution DSP the CPU use slammed to the wall and choked. I chose the Pico MB for the low power use (7w) and obviously size. There are only 12 processes running and I’ve tried every adjustment in WinAmp to smooth the playback to no avail. So it would seem that the 1GHz VIA cpu just isn’t powerfull enough to handle the DSP plugin.
This brings me to my question…
I need a more powerfull, yet cool/low-power CPU to handle the 12 or so process of the stripped XP install, WinAmp and the DSP plug-in and that is all. Mini-ITX MBs and cases are available. (though larger that the Pico-ITX it will still be manageable) Also needed will be a [i][b][color=red]very[/color][/b][/i] effective cooling solution as this will be in a small case and in a truck where ambient temps can get rather high in the summer.
Thanks for any suggestions you may have.
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