[BangBang]

Hi there!

You know the story: Old Xbox works as a charm with SD content. As soon as you get a HDTV you want more.
Requirements are:
-Noisless (or near noisless)
-Windows as OS
-full HD capability
-(XBMC as Media Center, i don't think i need to highlight this )

I only watch bittorent TV Shows (and every now and then a movie) the machine, nothing else.
The device will be 24/7 up in my bedroom, so it should be quiet.
So far, i've had

• Asrock ION 330: Too loud
  
• Acer Aspire 3610: A lot less noisier but incapable of full HD (with Windows 7, latest beta of XBMC, MPC HC as external player)
  
• Mac mini 2,26 Ghz: Amazingly silent, but still dropped frames with full HD content (with the stable release and the pre-Release Camelot Beta1
  

With full HD Content i mean standard material, 10-15 Mbit/s. Tests with the killa sample are much worse.

The Mac mini was the last desperate attempt to get an out-of-the box installation. I tried OSX as the last alternative.

Don't get me wrong, i'm familiar with Linux, i like it very much for server installations. But there is so much hassle with the remotes, getting wifi up, get the correct video drivers...i'm tired of reading hours of manuals.
Can anyone give me some advice for getting this setup running? Either software or hardware tips is appreciated! Thanks!

[Jaerin]

Look on these forums. There are numerous full guides on how to install an Asrock or Revo and that can translate to pretty much any hardware you will use.

I can say for certain that the Acer Aspire Revo 1600 running jaunty minimal install with xbmc Camelot-beta1 can run full 1080p video with no dropped frames. Plug in a USB Bluetooth or USB IR dongle and you can use whatever remote you want.

Or go with Windows and one of the external players until the internal player catches up or dsplayer is made the defacto internal player.