Linux A330ION or E350M1 for Openelec with VDR PVR
#1
Hi,
I have a decent HTPC that is fully working with MediaPortal latest as a single seat setup with TV Server for the DVB-S2. I watch quite a lot of fullhd live TV (sports mainly, don't know if it is 1080p or 1080i) and 98% i stream from my NAS 720p series and movies, very rarely 1080 content.
The hardware I have is running perfect for all the content I throw at it.

It is the following:

Asus M4A785D-M PRO
AMD Athlon II X2 2400
ATI Radeon HD4200 (integrated, 256MB allocated)
3GB DDR2 1066MHz
A-DATA PremierPro 600 32GB SSD for system and Samsung 160GB HDD for timeshifting buffer and recordings
DVBSky S950 PCIe DVB-S2
Antec Micro Fusion case with built in great Antec PSU 80+

Well, I like the case very much, its great, but I'm getting older Smile, and now I want the most compact system, smallest itx case with picoPSU, hidden behind TV, and I don't need the iMON display and the big case. I'm also keen on power, so a low power system with picopsu would be great. Also, I'm about to move from Windows7+MediaPortal to Openelec latest + VDR.

I get get now two boards for quite cheep, which one would you recommend more and why? I'm more keen on ION with the Atom, but maybe the AMD is stronger and better board?

ASRock A330ION (Dual Core Atom 1.6Ghz + Geforce 9400)
or
ASRock E350M1

1x Kingston 2GB DDR3-1333Mhz LP
A-DATA PremierPro 600 32GB SSD or Samsung 160GB HDD for system, timeshifting buffer and recordings (only one, no reason for both, probably the HDD, since it is fast enough for OE and has more space for timeshifting and recording)
DVBSky S950 PCIe DVB-S2 with riser card or the S960 USB version
LC-Power LC-1340mi with 75W PSU (later the psu will be replaced with 120W picoPSU)
HP MS Infra receiver and Logitech Harmony remote

What do you think? I know it is older hardware, but if they are good enough for the things I need it would be fine for me. I do not want a Celeron 847 board since those that I can get are expensive and none of them has optical audio out that I need.
The two ASRock board are stronger or weaker compared to my integrated HD4200 that I have now? I know the Athlon X2 240 is stronger then both.

Will OE run as it should on any of these, no lagging in menu or when looking at tvshows, livetv.

Many thanks!
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#2
Both Ion and AMD will do what you want. I do not know if Asrock ION has a PCI-E slot, check before.
AMD is better because:
- better gpu, supported by Openelec
- HD audio works, on Ion no
- Asrock E350 has a CIR connector on board, so with a ir diode TSOP (5 USD) and some wires you have the RC, with on/off. Any MCE RC will works, example HP MCE RC.
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#3
(2014-11-24, 08:14)livs Wrote: Both Ion and AMD will do what you want. I do not know if Asrock ION has a PCI-E slot, check before.
AMD is better because:
- better gpu, supported by Openelec
- HD audio works, on Ion no
- Asrock E350 has a CIR connector on board, so with a ir diode TSOP (5 USD) and some wires you have the RC, with on/off. Any MCE RC will works, example HP MCE RC.

Many thanks! It was very helpful! I guess it would be a smarter choice to go with AMD E350 considering that probably the GPU is more powerful then ION is, and the AMD CPU is also more powerful than Atom. And HD DTS Audio passtrough will also work with AMD while I will not have this with the ION.
If I compare my current ATI HD4200 onboard (Athlon X2 240) to the GPU of the E350 will it be more powerful or slower? I'm completely satisfied with everything related to HD4200, everything works great, livetv, hd content, etc.

And also the CIR connector looks as a good option to have. I certainly don't want to buy the ASRock remote, but AFAIK, it is very easy to create a remote as you said with a TSOP diode. I saw a guide where an old CDROM analogue cable is used for this. Since I would like to hide the case, I will have to find a solution to bring the wire of the TSOP diode out of the case. And you say that it will work fine out of the box with any MCE Remote for 100%? Can you post em a link where I can find some easy solutions for this?

What about hardware acceleration on the AMD board? Will Openelec support everything and all my liveTV SD and HD content, 720p - 1080p mkv files will be able to use proper HW acc?

And deinterlacing? Will it work fine?

Many thanks!
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#4
ION will outshine on deinterlacing, but the amd seems to beat it on other stuff.

But if you can get an ION2 machine, the playing field may be more level.
If I have helped you or increased your knowledge, click the 'thumbs up' button to give thanks :) (People with less than 20 posts won't see the "thumbs up" button.)
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#5
(2014-11-24, 09:48)nickr Wrote: ION will outshine on deinterlacing, but the amd seems to beat it on other stuff.

But if you can get an ION2 machine, the playing field may be more level.

I'm afraid ION2 is not an option.
Leaves me with the ASRock 330ION and the ASRock E350M1, or perhaps the new Intel J1800 based ASRock D1800B-ITX board.

I'm very n00b to linux and xmbc/kodi-OE, so what I need is a board that is fully supported and able to do what I have asked in the first post.
I have read a long debate about Nvidia being much better on linux compared to AMD. The post was quite old here, I don't know if things have been sorted out for AMD already and there is no drawback of using AMD in linux for latest OE editions?
I have no such problems on Windows7+MediaPortal, everything is working fine with my quite old onboard HD4200.

I don't know anything about Intel's J1800 solution, is it able to do proper hardware acceleration and the required deinterlacing, is this a better choice in terms of GPU then ION or AMD Fusion? The CPU is definitely better.

By the way, what deinterlacing options should I have to have the best results in livetv and 720p playback?
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#6
How cheap is cheap? I wouldn't pay actual money for either one of those they are so outdated. I might buy someone a beer for it or give them a lift somewhere for one but no way I'd pay cash.
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#7
(2014-11-24, 19:44)Dougie Fresh Wrote: How cheap is cheap? I wouldn't pay actual money for either one of those they are so outdated. I might buy someone a beer for it or give them a lift somewhere for one but no way I'd pay cash.

I know it is outdated, but if it is still good, why not? It would cost me about 30 EUR with 2GB Kingston DDR3 RAM, I don't think it is so much.
At least not considering the alternative solutions, of course more or less within this price range.
Even the J1800 would cost much more (double, without RAM), and I'm not sure if Intel HD is any better then ION is, at least nobody confirmed here any opposite.
i3 is not an option, and that leaves me pretty much with no other options to choose from, unless not in this price range. However, I'm more then willing to listen to your actual recommendations what to buy now for cheap that has support for everything I need!
And of course, if you happen to have a board like this, I'm more then willing to buy you a beer for the boardSmile
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#8
Asrock is not so "outdated" as many people think. You can construct a good HTPC which may respond to requirements as 1080p, 3D (SBS or TAB) and HD audio. Even a ION device can be used for TV shows, DVB-C/S/S2.
For 30 euros is super ok.

I have both as HTPC and works fine, with limitation as above.
For RC, use information from here:
http://blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2012...ified.html
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#9
If they are only 30 EUR each, get both. Then resell the one you don't like.

I have one ion device, it is in one of the kids rooms. I hesitate to recommend it as I just haven't used it enough. I do recommend ion2.
If I have helped you or increased your knowledge, click the 'thumbs up' button to give thanks :) (People with less than 20 posts won't see the "thumbs up" button.)
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#10
(2014-11-24, 21:08)livs Wrote: Asrock is not so "outdated" as many people think. You can construct a good HTPC which may respond to requirements as 1080p, 3D (SBS or TAB) and HD audio. Even a ION device can be used for TV shows, DVB-C/S/S2.
For 30 euros is super ok.

I have both as HTPC and works fine, with limitation as above.
For RC, use information from here:
http://blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2012...ified.html

Many thanks! I don't need 3D at all, and the maximum of audio I need is DTS via optical out or HDMI.
I don't know exactly in which format are the channels on my DVB-S2 provider's HD channels, they are 1080 p or i, don't know. But I need proper livetv that is very important, without shuttering, dropped frames.

(2014-11-24, 21:19)nickr Wrote: If they are only 30 EUR each, get both. Then resell the one you don't like.

I have one ion device, it is in one of the kids rooms. I hesitate to recommend it as I just haven't used it enough. I do recommend ion2.

I know it is not lot of money, but I can afford only one nowSmile And I don't have time to play with TWO systemsSmile))) even one will be enough to explain to my wife why I'm playing with this gadget againSmile)))

So to clear things: are there any drawback of AMD version compared to ION? You mentioned deinterlacing, is it very bad with AMD and fine with ION? Anything else?

One more important thing! Some time ago I have read that for linux it is only nvidia an option because of driver issues that affects hardware acc. and deinterlacing too. Now I see that many people are using ATI cards with Openelec, does this mean that this has been resolved already and ati/amd cards have proper support now, so there is no downside of using ATI card in respect of nVidia?

I can't decide between ASRock A330ION and ASRock E350M1...
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