Need you advice...Re: ION vs. Celeron/9300 HTPC

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Grentz

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So, I am looking to build a new HTPC. Most of the use is streaming video from my server over the network. Also though would like the ability to add a bluray drive in the future. Currently I use an old Xbox with XBMC, but would like more support for bluray rips and such. I have not completely decided on what frontend, but it will either be boxee/xbmc or Win 7 MCE.

I am looking at
-N330 ION setup from Zotac (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813500030) a
-alternatively a combo of a Celeron 430 w/Zotac Geforce 9300 Mainboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813500019).

What do you think would be better for the application? I really want to have VP3 CUDA/VDPAU support which it seems like either solution would have/handle easily. Also want to be able to play bluray from a bluray drive for in the future. Would either of these solutions work for that? Is the Celeron 430 fast enough at stock speeds for this use and bluray playback?

The thing is the ATOM ION setup is actually $10 more and I know it does not handle flash very well full screen, so it seems like to me it would be better to go with the Celeron/9300 combo to get the same video power but more CPU power for flash and other things at the expensive of a bit more power draw and a bit more heat. Is this correct thinking? Is the 9300 close to the ION 9400 graphics?

No gaming whatsoever and I dont want a separate graphics card unless I have to.


Thanks in advance for any help!
 
Last edited:
Ok, so the E3300 is needed over the 430? I have no problem with that...but would like to know more details on why (would the 430 work for bluray at stock speeds?).

What about the board though? The one you linked to looks the same as the one I had above, just it is Mini ITX and has Wifi...neither of which I need. Isn't the 9300 graphics the same on both? It is a fairly large price difference for things I dont need (Mini ITX and Wifi).

Some other notes on the build, I will be using 2gb of DDR2-800 RAM and a SATA hard drive that I already have.

It is weird that I ask for advice for a build, just really confirming things...in fact I dont know if I have ever asked, I am usually the educator to others :p
 
1. They are NOT the same. You linked a mATX board; w1retap linked an ITX board.
2. The Ion is ITX so... decide on your form factor.
3. ITX setups are usually immensely smaller than mATX
4. Buy them from Superbiiz/Ewiz - An E5200 costs LESS than the E3300.
 
either celeron would work with the 9300 board for blu-ray.

all current ways of playing a blu-ray disk have HA enabled so a CPU is almost not needed..... even a single core can manage...

however playing h.264. mp4 and such in MKV container high bit rate video a more powerful CPU is needed.

any dual core CPU will do fine playing almost any 1080p rip or flash video.... Have a e1400 that does fine with a 4830 running hulu HD video
 
lowteckh said:
1. They are NOT the same. You linked a mATX board; w1retap linked an ITX board.
2. The Ion is ITX so... decide on your form factor.
3. Buy them from Superbiiz/Ewiz - An E5200 costs LESS than the E3300.
Click to expand...

I didnt say they are the same, I said they are the same besides the fact it is Mini ITX and has Wifi....is that correct? Aka same graphics setup? That is mostly what I am worried about...

I dont care on the form factor, it can be ITX or mATX. Most of the cases I am looking at are mATX anyways and fit in the space I am looking at.

Thanks for the tip on the E5200, I know that is plenty powerful.
 
I linked the new e3300 because it's the die shrink 45nm which will mean less heat, thus much quieter with the cooling I selected for a slim chassis.
 
Adidas4275 said:
however playing h.264. mp4 and such in MKV container high bit rate video a more powerful CPU is needed.
Click to expand...
Incorrect. Hardware acceleration (DXVA, CUDA, VDPAU) can be taken advantage of in that situation as well.
 
w1retap said:
I linked the new e3300 because it's the die shrink 45nm which will mean less heat, thus much quieter with the cooling I selected for a slim chassis.
Click to expand...

Makes sense, I didnt know if you were doing it for the power/cooling side of things or the speed before ;)
 
w1retap said:
Incorrect. Hardware acceleration (DXVA, CUDA, VDPAU) can be taken advantage of in that situation as well.
Click to expand...

i know it can, but i know what I have ran into and I have had rips that studdered on my BE-2400 and my newer 245 X2 II they do not... these rips are 1080p high bit rate x264 wrapped in mkv.

i know the HA is do able but I have had issues with getting it to work correctly in 7MC... MPC-HC it works fine...

I have followed the guide in the sticky, but not with my older BE-2400

i will try and put it back in my HTPC and see if i can get all my blu-ray rips play with out studder....
 
I'd recommend the Celeron/9300 over the ION any day. The Celeron, despite having one less core and theortically slower speeds, outpaces the Atom in all situations but multithreaded apps.

Even gaming on a Celeron is faster than Atom.
 
Adidas4275 said:
i know it can, but i know what I have ran into and I have had rips that studdered on my BE-2400 and my newer 245 X2 II they do not... these rips are 1080p high bit rate x264 wrapped in mkv.

i know the HA is do able but I have had issues with getting it to work correctly in 7MC... MPC-HC it works fine...

I have followed the guide in the sticky, but not with my older BE-2400

i will try and put it back in my HTPC and see if i can get all my blu-ray rips play with out studder....
Click to expand...
I've never had problems with a BE-2400 or 4850e. It works flawlessly with the 600 some odd HD movies in MKV containers I have playing through 7MC. Hardware acceleration keeps the CPU usage well under 30%. Some of my 1080p encodes are L5.1 with high reference frames and very high bitrates.
 
I am looking at the E3300/9300 combo right now...main issue is finding a good case for not a ton of money that will work in my space (as far as airflow)...not many good sub-$100 desktop style cases out there that look decent and have a full size 5.25" bay TBH.
 
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