Quote Originally Posted by Ev0 View Post
I think the big question is:
Why does an STB need that much cpu power and that much memory ?
The simple answer is: it does not. And the prove is in the many STB's that have (max) 400MHz CPU's.

The only reason can be in extra functionality, such as restreaming (down converting) and full MediaPlayer functionality (as such a CPU can probably use software codecs).