[mythtv-users] Motherboard upgrade question - ION2 or CPU grunt?

[PJR]

I'm experimenting with Jetway JNC98-525 Fanless Dual Core 1.8GHz Atom
ION2 from mini-itx plus 290e DVB-T2 usb decoder, 2Gb ram in a 1u case
(also from mini-itx). The result so far is that HD works very well to my
test monitor.  Haven't tried recording yet as my Caviar Green 1TB discs
in RAID 1 have failed (awaiting replacement)!!  Plan is to HDMI connect
this to my TV via my Marantz SR5002 for full 5.1 sound on HD.  I
anticipate this all working as my current setup is similar but using and
AMD m/b with onboard Nvidia graphics but no DVB-T2 (and uses a lot more
power).




On 16/01/12 10:33, Mike Perkins wrote:
> As I mentioned recently, I'm thinking about upgrading my system, having 
> unexpectedly - and entirely legally - received a recent cash boost.
>
> With the upcoming Olympics in mind, I want to go from my current SD-only setup 
> to HD. This will be initially UK-Freeview (DVB-T2).
>
> The board I'm looking at is the Asus AT510NT-I (Atom/ION2) [1]. I'd put 4Gb on 
> this even though it's probably not needed just yet. From mini-itc.com I can get 
> this for £169.00 + VAT.
>
> While I was looking through the motherboard page, I came across another board of 
> interest, Gigabyte E350N-USB3 [2]. This board plus (cheaper) 4Gb would cost £129 
> + VAT.
>
> Now, this has an AMD processor, so I'd be doing the whole decoding thing in CPU 
> rather than GPU if I went that way. Does anyone here use this board, and/or know 
> if it is capable of handling HD? I know there are people here who suggest that 
> ION2 boards have their limitations, but if I went with the Asus that would be 
> all it would do. Does the Gigabyte board have the grunt to handle HD?
>
> Another factor I'm looking at is future upgrade paths. If I subsequently 
> upgraded my front-end to a better board that isn't out yet, is the ION2 useful 
> for much else? I know that I could certainly put the Gigabyte board into use as 
> a general server. I don't want to waste a board I could make use of in the future.
>
> Does anybody have other motherboard suggestions? I'm limited to mini-ITX for the FE.
>
> [1] http://www.mini-itx.com/store/~AT5IONT-I
> [2] http://www.mini-itx.com/store/~E350N-USB3
>