Intel Atom Z3735F (Intel Sticks etc...)

[GiGo 108]

So with all these low powered Intel Sticks/Small form factored PocketPC's running on the Atom Z3735F, I've been very tempted to get one to stick behind the TV instead of having the 'Desktop' sitting next to it.

 

But as my Media Center is the Emby Server, could I run the Server on one of these Atom Z3735F based systems?  All media is pulled from my NAS boxes so it would only be playing and updating the metadata?

 

Any ideas if it would be suitable for say 2 or 3 people streaming at the same time?

[Deathsquirrel 745]

An atom CPU is not really suitable for use as a server with other clients in most cases.  I expect it could be fine running both the server and client for its own use tough there could be issues with the disc space limits for caching of data.

[JeremyFr79 228]

While Atoms have come along way's when it come's to power, they just don't have the brute power needed for transcoding etc.  They'd make great media center's on a stick, but I would have a dedicated machine tucked away somewhere with a decent i5 or i7 even for transcoding/streaming etc.

[GiGo 108]

Cheers fellas, that what I thought.  Will dust off an older machine or laptop and see what I can come up with lol

 

Transcoding seems to work OK with 1 or 2 sources streaming from a 2/3 year old Celeron! 

[dragon2611 29]

While Atoms have come along way's when it come's to power, they just don't have the brute power needed for transcoding etc.  They'd make great media center's on a stick, but I would have a dedicated machine tucked away somewhere with a decent i5 or i7 even for transcoding/streaming etc.

 

Or you could use the new Sync feature to offline Transcode, it also depends on the clients in use, for instance I tend to use the FireTV/FireTV Stick (Currently running kodi) and it direct plays most stuff so don't need to worry to much about transcoding.

[ronvp 92]

Actually, it should work just fine for up to 1080p movies, but not for games. Transcoding is actually done on the server and then a transcoded stream is send to the client.  I have used less powerful atoms for years without any transcoding. Transcoding is normally initiated and performed by the server if it sees that your wireless connection bandwidth is to low. So if even if I have a powerful  I7, if the WIFI connection is poor, the server (unless you override it), will still send a transcoded stream to the PC.

 

For playing video with the stick, what matters for video is that it has intel HD graphics (4000 series I believe), and should hardware decode h.264 without problem. if you have the right wireless connection, there will be no transcoding at all and it will handle 1080p with a 5.1 dolby or AAC/AC3 audio without any issues.

 

Thus depending on your wireless connection, you maybe able to work this just fine for most movies. As long as you have a good wireless router with wireless "N" it should work. It maybe a little sluggish with movie browsing though

 

I recommend you try it and if it does not work well enough return it..

[JeremyFr79 228]

Actually, it should work just fine for up to 1080p movies, but not for games. Transcoding is actually done on the server and then a transcoded stream is send to the client.  I have used less powerful atoms for years without any transcoding. Transcoding is normally initiated and performed by the server if it sees that your wireless connection bandwidth is to low. So if even if I have a powerful  I7, if the WIFI connection is poor, the server (unless you override it), will still send a transcoded stream to the PC.

 

For playing video with the stick, what matters for video is that it has intel HD graphics (4000 series I believe), and should hardware decode h.264 without problem. if you have the right wireless connection, there will be no transcoding at all and it will handle 1080p with a 5.1 dolby or AAC/AC3 audio without any issues.

 

Thus depending on your wireless connection, you maybe able to work this just fine for most movies. As long as you have a good wireless router with wireless "N" it should work. It maybe a little sluggish with movie browsing though

 

I recommend you try it and if it does not work well enough return it..

His original post asked about using the Atom as a Server, in which case it would be highly underpowered to transcode content for other clients.  Now if he was asking if he could use it as a client then you are absolutely correct.

[politby 88]

Edited April 21, 2015 by politby