NVIDIA makes a move on Media Center PCs

Media Center PC, HTPC or whatever you want to call a computer that acts as a multimediastation in your home is getting more and more common. The graphic card manufacturer nVidia has no intention missing out on this and has announced its own reference design for a Media Center PC. What may sound fairly exotic is actually just a collection of  nVidia’s different products to create a more or less nVidia-based PC with focus on coolness and silence.

 

NVIDIA has in their pressrelease presented the main ingredients of their reference design for Media Center PCs.

“The reference design created by NVIDIA reduces the size of the chassis for the entry model by incorporating integrated graphics on the motherboard and a low riser to hold an add-in card. For other models, chassis size was streamlined by using components that produce less heat and can be packed more densely, and by selecting a special, low profile chassis that accepts the standard micro ATX footprint. The reference design makes perhaps the biggest improvements over the first generation of living room PCs in the areas of heat, power consumption, and noise reduction.

To build a cooler, quieter living room PC, NVIDIA recommends:

1. Choosing a CPU with a variable power level and a variable speed fan.

2. Using a silent GPU card with high definition hardware accelerated decode and display capability.

3. Selecting a hard drive rated for intensive streaming applications.

4. Providing intelligent power control software that customizes processing power according to the activity.

5. Offloading CPU tasks such as Internet security firewalls to other components.

NVIDIA is the technology of choice for Media Center PC systems and has been working with system builders worldwide to develop products and technologies that enhance the multimedia capabilities of today’s PCs, including:

* NVIDIA PureVideo technology – a combination of hardware and software technologies that provide home theater quality video on today’s desktop and notebook PCs.

* NVIDIA GeForce™ 6600 passive and NVIDIA GeForce 6200 TurboCache GPU – GPUs which provide fluid high-definition smooth video without noisy cooling fans.

* NVIDIA nTune™ technology – intelligent software to automatically adjust settings to the optimal configuration of GPU, CPU, MCP, RAM, voltage, and fan operations at any given time.

* NVIDIA NVTV PC Tuner Cards – single and dual tuner PCI cards that provide flexible TV viewing and recording options.

* NVIDIA PureVideo Decoder – a high-quality decoder that unleashes crystal clear playback of DVD and HD DVD content.

* NVIDIA Unified Driver Architecture – NVIDIA ForceWare™ drivers include software extensions that enable easy set-up and configuration of video and audio settings using the remote control from the main Media Center Edition menu.”