OFFICIAL ION 2 (Second-Generation ION) HTPC Nettop Thread - Page 2

just an update, I had assumed the driver update was out, 257.29, but I think i'm wrong, there are newer versions on nvidias site, but they will not install on the q150, I downloaded the 257.29 driver from zotac's site, and it will not install either. I get an error message saying the drivers are not compatiable with my system.

Not to change the subject of the thread, but has any one tried this nettop from zotac? It has an AMD L325 ebedded CPU. Released last year, and I can only guess being AMD it wasn't a big seller.

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=...arebone-System

The passmark score is much higher than the ion 330 and D510, but I can't find any information on the CPU and chipset.

Passmark is 798 compared to 662 on the ion 2 and 634 for the ion 1.
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_look...Dual+Core+L325

Have any of you guys tried XBMC on the Q150 (D510)? I'm planning on running that media system when I get mine, either dual boot or as a Windows App.

Anyone with any XBMC experience?

Thanks.

The ATI drivers might have had something to do with it, the flash support was erratic.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2876/3

The ION 330 chipset has the advantage through the design in the original chipset, the iGPU has no limitations for DXVA in flash or 1080P content through better drivers. It is the the most important feature IMHO when you're dealing with a weak Atom CPU to begin with. The redesign of ION2 with the new Atom CPU took that away, as it now limits how much incoming data the iGPU can process.

The ION1 platform was a weak chipset before the available acceleration by the GPU of the Flash 10.1 update. It was a struggle to play flash content smoothly. Only after Flash was DXVA supported that it became a viable low power platform for many people.

Yes, I did. I installed a Windows 7 version of XBMC and so far have not seen any issues. Do you have any specific questions?

Same here. I've spent close to an hour trying different versions of ION drivers from NVIDIA site in Lenovo Q150 but it refuses to see my card as compatible. I did not try beta versions though.

@ zzyckz, thanks for the info, some of this stuff gets very complex real quick.

For Anyone with the Q150, have you been able to install the updated drivers? I've tried the automatic option on Nvdia's site, and it identifies the drivers for the ION Netbook for the Q150, but when I try to install them, I'm only provided with an option to install HD Audio.

Has anyone w/ the atom/ion2 been able to stream netflix HD? SD works fine. Flash HD works fine. I tried watching w/ GPUz and can see the GPU kick in for HD flash, for local HD content. But, when I turn on netflix, as soon as "HD" lights up, my GPU drops from about 5% to 0, and the video becomes unwatchable.

I found info on another forum saying silverlight 4 doesn't really do HD decoding yet. BUT, on a different system (pentium d, nvidia 210) when netflix HD comes up, the GPU jumps up to about 40%.. so what's up w my atom/ion system dropping the gpu to 0?

At first I thought it was a x32 vs x64 bit thing, so tested both. I even got a 2nd zbox, thinking it was a hardware issue. I have the same symptoms on each ION2 system.

It's a zotac zbox v11 (thats not exactly the model number, but its the one w/ the 11 in it)

Thanks for any help!

ok thanks.
I just keep seeing the odd post that says it works fine. I think there is one towards the beginning of this thread, and there's a post in the NewEgg review section for the zbox saying netflix HD works fine. Same w/ the mediactr forums and a few other places I've looked. There's always one odd guy saying his is working perfectly.
I guess they probably aren't actually watching a HD clip.

This is frustrating!! 90% of my htpc use is Netflix.

yeah, i've gone back and done some testing, Netflix is either a lower bit rate, or drops frames, I had the same movie going on the Q150 and then started it again on the Ps3, and the PS3 had much better image. I was demoing 2012.

I've built a HTPC on Newegg, Foxcon SFF, with E3300, Radon 4350, 2gb, memory, windows 7, with HDD, for $330, i'm about to pull the trigger, and put the q150 on ebay.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...Combo.425959:p

The worst part is that it's got to be a programming issue. That atom/ion combo can do it. All the other HD sources work fine. All of the resource monitoring I do seems to show that the Cpu thinks the work has been offloaded to the Gpu, (the Cpu drops a bit, the same as any other system) but the Gpu just crashes out at 0%, where on other systems it jumps up and starts doing the work.
Other people w/ the atom/ion(2) combo, run gpuz and see if you get similar results. (gpu going to 0 when netflix HD should turn on)

I just ordered a HTPC build from newegg, Frankly, I'm not sure why I bought the ion, sound (fans) is not an issue for me, and I have the room for a larger case, guess I was caught up in all the ion hype.

I'll hang on too my q150 for a few more weeks incase anything changes, I can repurpose it to my kids, but I'm going to keep the wireless keyboard and mouse for myself, I really like this guy, too bad the rest of it does not meet expecatations.

Wicked, you having the same driver issues with the zotac that I'm having with the q150? I used the automated nvidia app, and it identifies my q150 nettop as a netbook, and I only get an option to update the HD audio, and the HD audio doesent' even install, I've tried all the other drivers, with no success.

The Silverlight issue is also affecting regular PCs - its an ongoing issue with the poor implementation by Netflix - There are some other threads in this forum on it . .

I can't get my new full HTPC to play Netflix correctly - it is jittery.

Dbailey,
The driver auto detect on nvidia's site doesn't find anything, but I am able to tell it I have a desktop ion, and manually download and install the driver.

Guitar,
The only reason I'm leaning towards something more than usual being wrong on the ion systems is that I can monitor my GPU, and on the 210 system it clearly kicks on for HD netflix, and jumps up to 40% or so.
On the ion system it drops to and stays at 0%, as soon as HD kicks in.

But regardless.. It's a software issue that these people should be able to fix!!

That link seems to be broken!

I can stream netflix to my PC with out issue, I'm not connected to a large TV, just a 19" HD monitor, and I don't really have an easy way to connect my PC to my TV to try it, but I do agree, based on the GPUZ results posted there's an issue with the way the ion decodes the video with netfilx.

Here's what I ended up going with, will purchase a couple things from Mircocenter, as they were less than newegg, and I drive by MC everyday going to work, so no problem stopping. I ended up adding a blu ray drive too, some reviewers have had issues with the blu ray drive going into the foxconn, but if there are issues, I'll just install in my main PC.

Foxconn R10-G3 barebones
MSI R4350-MD512H Radeon HD 4350 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP
combo disount $110
windows 7 special price $85
LG Black 10X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Disc Combo Model CH10LS20K $60
Seagate 320 HDD $37
E5300 CPU $50 Microcenter
2GB Patriot Memory $50 Microcenter
shipping $5

Rebates
$25 memory
$20 on MSI R4350

I usually have good luck with rebates, so it makes the deal even better.

after rebates $352

Here's a link to the Shuttle X350.

That's great, and thanks for the info. I'd love to hear how you get on with it. I was going to order the Q150 on Newegg but (fortunately, it seems, perhaps) they ran out of stock on the last day of the $330 sale before I pulled the trigger. I might still get it, but after your experience I'll have no illusions about using it as my first HTPC.


Is there a reason why this might be better than the Q150? I notice it doesn't have HDMI unless ordered with the ION2, and otherwise, it doesn't seem to have a digital audio output either.

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=176424

maybe there is hope.

Anyone with a Q150 please post a request for them to update the drivers.

OK, so now that you've had time to think a bit more about your systems...what are you thoughts.

Correct me if I'm wrong please, but this seems to be the situation:

Ion2 (and Ion1) seems to do the job pretty well for local media and general WMC functions. However, an issue with Silverlight 4 makes Netflix unusable since it doesn't offload actual video playback to the hardware (it only does animation????).

If this is the limitation, and it seems widely known, then there must be a fix in the works.

If this were fixed, would you be happy with your system? Flash playback was fine, right???

I guess after reading with this thread, i'm struggling with the pro's of an ION system over getting a used Shuttle Core 2 Duo, and adding a Radeon 5xxx card for HDMI with bitstreaming. That would be more powerful and roughly the same price as an ION system. Why go with the ION? Size/power consumption/noise are all better with the ION, but if those aren't a consideration, then I suppose most of us might be better off with a "standard" HTPC.

That said, I hope they get that Silverlight issue fixed!

Maybe a little OT, but I'm just wondering if anybody has tried the VIA Artigo A1100? Clock for clock, the Nano CPU architecture is significantly more powerful than the Atom, but this is only a 1.2Ghz option. If they'd used the 1.3+ it would probably have a better chance of handling Flash/Silverlight acceptably.

If size, noise, and convenience are your primary concerns and you've got a little extra cash to spend, I'd highly recommend one of the AOpen MP45-DR or GP7A systems. They use laptop parts and are a proprietary form factor so they're more expensive, but they work great. You can use a cheap SSD for an OS and a big eSATA drive for media storage, it has two mini PCIe slots (wifi + BT), Blu-ray drive as an option, and with a dual core CPU (P8700 is ideal, but a T3100 Celeron costs a lot less and should be sufficient) it has enough horsepower for any multimedia playback you'll need for the foreseeable future.

And yes, I know, it's 2-3x the cost of an ION system, but sometimes it's worth paying a bit more to avoid a headache - same reason I pay to have my oil changed in January, but do it myself in June.

I love the atom/ion systems, other than the netflix issue. Flash and local 1080p video playback work perfectly.
They're worthless with the netflix issue.. (for me)

So, looking forward and assuming that this silverlight issue HAS to be fixed, what else are the drawbacks for media playback?

In particular, I'm wondering how these chipsets handle HD audio? I know they can't bitstream HD audio. Do they just play the core dd or dts track, or can they convert hd audio to 7channel lpcm?

The HD audio is 8 channel (7.1) LPCM. While some people may consider this an issue if this is their primary system for media playback.

A lot of people use them as secondary systems, considering the chipset limitations and low power consumption. When streaming networked HD content to other rooms from a media server or main htpc, it does quite well, in fact.

Good to know, thanks!
I want bitstreaming, but only to see the cool blue light on my AVR

From everything I've read, you shouldn't be able to hear the difference, so that shouldn't matter.

Well, I've changed my build a bit,

Foxconn R10-G3 barebones
MSI R4350-MD512H Radeon HD 4350 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16HDCP, changed to the 5450 card that does bitstreaming, only becuase the original card would not fit the case, needed half height card,
windows 7
LG Black 10X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Disc Combo Model CH10LS20K
Seagate 320 HDD, went with 250gb laptop drive for lower power.
E5300 CPU
2GB Patriot Memory

My build price with a blu ray drive is right at $415, not counting rebates and the 4350 card which I repurposed to my main PC it was actually an upgrade over my current card. Remove the blue ray and it's in line with the ion systems. Issue, the PSU on the foxconn is very loud, but other than that harware performance is good, I've not tried bit streaming yet, I guess I really can't until I upgrade my AVR, no HDMI, yeah, it's that old.

Hardware wise, it all works. I need to do some more testing with Netflix, all sources today were not doing well, must be my network, i'm not sure. It plays fine, but the quality was not great.

If I can find a case that's quite, I would not give the ION another look. Though I've spent a little more becuase of trial an error, I believe you can build a Core duo system or better for the price of ion.

db75, I've been waiting to hear how you got on. The noise and performance both bother me, but during the wait, I've been toying with this idea:

1) HP s5500z series slim desktop @ $300.
2) Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit included.
3) Upgrade: Sempron CPU to AMD Athlon(TM) II 220 dual-core processor [2.8GHz, 1MB L2, up to 4000MHz bus] for $30.
4) 2GB DDR3-1066MHz SDRAM [1 DIMM] Included in price (only 1 DIMM, so I could easily upgrade with another later).
5) 320GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive included.
6) Upgrade: Integrated NVIDIA graphics to 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 315 [DVI, HDMI, VGA adapter] for $60.

This would be under $400 with the default LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive. A Blu-ray player would add an extra $120, but I don't think I want that integrated just now. The dimensions are L:16" x W:4.5" x H:12", so it's not quite as small, but still much smaller than a normal desktop. Wireless N can be integrated for $40, but I thought I would just buy a separate adapter for that. Some of them are only $10 on sale these days.

Any thoughts?!

Kex,

I have also started looking at prebuilt systems, and I think the Dell s580 looks pretty nice too. It is slim, and has a core i3 processor, so you get the HD graphics and HD audio bitstreaming. I saw it for about 50 bucks more than what you've put together, but since then they only offer the i3-540 (not the i3-530; maybe a supply issue?) and it is up to 499.