QUOTE (priorax @ Dec 1 2010, 11:33 PM)
Well, at the same hand, you are missing options such as hybrid drives (Seagate Momentus XT) which are standard hdd's which use ssd's for cache.
Also forgetting RAID.
That is my boot drive.
2xSamsung 500gb F3s running on the controller that came built into my motherboard. Cost me under $100, and performs simmilar to a SSD.
My question is what means of network are you using to send the stream. As Jeffy said, this will greatly impact. Not only that, but what hardware is in the media PC itself and what quality videos are you trying to play on it?
Ah so many variables, I use my gaming rig to stream my backed up Blu Ray movies to my Home theater via a PS3 so I don't have to get up, Bottle necks to check as mentioned before Router / Switch, Cable, HDD speed you shouldn't need anymore than a standard hardrive, Bus speed, Network Card / Mobo adapter, and software used.
Use Linux or Windows7, I changed from Vista and my movies stopped stuttering and I now have a bit rate in the 90's instead of the 60's
Really a hard drive is the last thing I would change, so long as its running as it's suppose to, I can stream off an external 2TB seagate via USB and esata and have no issues.