ASRock Vision 3D HTPC... interesting. - Page 2

HD audio bitstreaming really doesn't seem possible with that system.

Could they connect the video from the Nvidia chip and the audio from the Intel processor to the same HDMI port?

"Intel® Flexible Display Interface - A innovative path for two independently controlled channels of integrated graphics display data to be transported to the Intel® 5 Series Chipset."

Not sure, but present logic would still say that using Nvidia graphics means no HD audio support.

Peter

This thing looks awesome. Even better then the mac mini imo. I wonder what the THX certification actually means. They should have just used the intel graphics, still dont see how this thing is going to bitstream.

Looks awesome, but isn't this a bit overkill for a HTPC? Unless you're playing 3D games also, I'm not sure why you'd need such a powerful system (maybe for media encoding?). I'd certainly pick this up if they come in at $600 on the low-end, but I have a feeling these will be running closer to $1K.

They said in the video that it does bitstream HD audio.

Any new news??

They are probably waiting for nVidia to release the 3D Play software.

While I enjoyed avatar 3d @ imax, the 3d demo frys had for nvidia was sorely lacking. I really thought after the movie there was a great potential for re-emergence of 3d, but unfortunately, in reality / consumer oriented technology isn't quite there - still.

I saw both panasonic (consumer reports recommended) and the samsung 3d models for this year playing 3d content. IIRC it was at best buy or Frys.

The effects are no doubt intriguing but seems uhmm fake(ish) - like an optical illusion. For instance I saw blu-ray 2d avatar and OMG it looks so much brighter the colors so much more vibrant.

There is another asrock SFF HTPC thread on the front page showing newegg selling this device. Here is the eggalicious link:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856158013
Reviews:
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.ph...&limitstart=12

August or September for v1.0

This little guy looks amazing. I think i will wait to see some reviews and if all is well pull the trigger. Does anyone have an idea of time of release? I have searched high and low on google and not a thing is out there but the youtube review.

Looks like this unit got delayed because Nvidia wasn't ready with bitstreaming in July

As followers of HTPCs know, Nvidia has got its act together in the GF104 series (GTX 460) wrt bitstreaming capabilities. So, it can be assumed with a fair degree of certainty that all cards based on GF104 and later will support bitstreaming.

The GeForce unit inside the 3D Vision HTPC will be based on a mobile version of a Nvidia GPU based on GF104 or later (Look up the specs for the yet to be released Asus N73JQ). So, we will have bitstreaming and Nvidia's 24p together with HDMI 1.4a (As supported by Nvidia mGPU -- I don't think any other GPU vendor has HDMI 1.4 yet) in this chipset.

Many manufacturers are just waiting for Nvidia to get their act together. Personally, I think this is one of the most exciting leading edge HTPCs to appear in the market. A review will be posted as soon as I get my hands on the unit ( another 4 weeks or so )

Jakmal, did you see something moving at Asrock? We see nothing happening, no news at all from them. I want to buy this box but this silence helps me only to decide buying an other device (or build it myself).

Yes, things are getting closer to shipping.. As I said before, 4 to 6 weeks, so another 1 - 2 weeks left.

Nvidia is supposed to release the bitstreaming drivers to the public next week.. so it all depends on when it happens.

jakmal,

Thanks for your quick reply. I gues I have to be patient.

Yes, even if you decide to build such a system yourself There is no solution out there as of Aug 27th 2010, that is able to do 3D over HDMI and also HD audio bitstreaming. The previous Nvidia solutions don't have HD audio bitstreaming, but were able to do 3D at least over dual link DVI. On the other hand, the ATI and Intel GPUs don't have the drivers for 3D over HDMI or DVI AFAIK.

I will update this thread as and when I receive any non-NDA updates from ASRock.

I believe the GTX 460 is already out and will do this with the new driver that's supposed to be out next week (but currently works with WinDVD).

Right.. I said, as of Aug 27 2010 --> the bitstreaming driver is not available

However, I feel that the GTX 460 is an overkill for the HTPC.. this unit should be able to work off a power brick rated at 90W probably. The GTX 460 minimum PSU requirement is 450W!

But works with WinDVD currently, so there is a current solution that works as of 27 Aug. 2010.

Nope, it works with WinDVD only if you have AnyDVD HD installed.

Basically, any AACS protected source is a no-go for HD audio bitstreaming with GTX 460 right now.

The specifications of the ASRock Vision 3D HTPC systems are already to be found here for the Blueray version (Vision 3D 135B) and here for the dvd version (Vision 3D 135D). Click on 'Product Specifications'.
I have no idea if ASRock wants us to see the specs already

Specifications
CPU - Intel® Core™ i3-350M Mobile Processor
- Support Intel® Core™ i7 / i5 / i3 Mobile Processor Family
OS - Microsoft® Windows® 7 / 7 64-bit / Vista™ / Vista™ 64-bit / XP / XP 64-bit compliant
Chipset - Mobile Intel® HM55 Express chipset
Memory - 2 x 2GB DDR3-1066MHz
- Support DDR3 1066MHz, 2 x SO-DIMM slots, Max. up to 8GB
VGA - NVIDIA® GeForce GT425M Graphics, NVIDIA® 3D Vision Capable
HDD - 500GB ,7200 rpm
- Support 2.5" SATA HDD
ODD - BD Combo / DVD Super Multi
I/O - 1 x HDMI
- 1 x DVI-I
- 5 x USB 2.0
- 1 x S/PDIF
- 1 x eSATAII
- 1 x USB 3.0
LAN - Gigabit LAN
Sound - 7.1 Ch HD Audio with THX TruStudio PRO™
WiFi - 802.11b/g/n
Remote Controller - MCE Remote Controller
Power Unit - 90W/19V Adapter
Dimension - 200mm(W) x 70mm(H) x 200mm(L)
Volume (liters) - 2.8L

mathijs

Very interesting, this hidden page on the asrock website!

What I find disapointing is the processor. In the other publications on the net an i5 was mentioned and this shows an i3 again, just like the 100HT.

The performance difference between the mobile versions of the i3 and i5 are not that great to justify the increase in price. In any case, the play for this PC over the Core 100 series would be the nV graphics. In my Core100 review, I had indicated that the processing power in the PC is more than enough for almost all HTPC activities (including overnight video encoding) within an appropriate power envelop (Note the form factor of the PC also). Personally, I would have no issues if the PC side of the Vision 3D performs the same as the Core 100.

My only worry is that nV should come good on the driver front soon for the GPU side. In all probability, I will have some initial performance numbers by this time next week (of course, the numbers would depend on the quality of nV's beta drivers).

jakmal,

You are right I think with your remark about the performance of the processor. My worry is not even the nV drivers alone, but more the combined cooling of the processor and chipset and videochip to one fan. I really hope the fanspeed stays at a low level to avoid a lot of noise when the videochip is doing heavy processing because the drivers are not efficiënt enough!