Kodi Community Forum

Hi all im pretty new to all this and could use your thoughts and advice...

here the set up im considering for my HTPC...

A Zotac Zbox Id41
www.ebuyer.com/398176-zotac-zbox-id41-plus-mini-pc-intel-atom-dual-core-d525-1-8ghz-2gb-zbox-id41-plus-b

with an additional 2gb of RAM installed, bringing it up to a total 4gb.
http://www.ebuyer.com/159916-crucial-2gb...5664bc1067

I went with this zbox with the thinking that the Nvidia ION chip would handle most media thrown at it, but my main concern is for smooth play back of 1080p HD mkv files and streaming media. Your thoughts on this please?

I plan on installing XBMCUbuntu, however iv heard OpenElec is good. Which should I go for?

Also any thoughts on a remote? iv heard all MCE remotes work well with XBMC.
I plan on using my smart phone in the mean time, any one tried this?

Any other advice is welcome. thanks!

Why do you want to buy an outdated model? Go for the new ID42.

Ion2 will play 1080p fine.
This is the best remote I have ever used. Full stop. http://rtr.ca/sapphire_remote/ cheap. Flexible. Easy driver install. No lirc.

The id42 comes with a nvidia Geforce Gt 610 and a 1.1 Ghz, but the id41 comes with a NVIDIA ION GPU (w/512MB DDR3 memory) and Intel Atom D525 CPU (1.8 GHz, dual-core) which I thought was the more powerful choice?
Am I wrong?

Yes, you are wrong. GT610 is more powerful than ION and the Celeron is much better than the Atom.

Explain please FErnetMenta?

Why is a 1.1ghz CPU better than a 1.8ghz CPU? I thought the higher the Ghz the better?
Also arnt the ION the leading Nividia chips? which I have been told are more powerful, than the GT610?
Explain why you disagree? give me some info/proof?

Comparing the clockspeed of two different processors is meaningless:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megahertz_myth
http://www.lockergnome.com/hardware/2013...ng-matter/
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2011/04/a...rformance/
http://www.pcmech.com/article/megahertz-myth/

Hi Ned Scott,

so do you agree with Fernent Mentta? the Nividi GT610 is more powerful than Nividia ION and the Celeron is much better than the Atom when comparing the two zboxs below?

A Zotac Zbox Id41
http://www.ebuyer.com/398176-zotac-zbox-...d41-plus-b

Zbox Id42
http://www.zotac.com/products/mini-pcs/z...ued/1.html

Ned scott Would you go with the Id42 aswell then?

There's no question about it, a GT610 is way better than ION and all Celerons are better than Atoms (basically anything is better than an Atom, it's hands down the slowest x86 CPU on the market).

Agreed here too.

I would buy a tank, cause it has more power ...

Zbox id42 with a nvidia Geforce Gt 610 and a intel celeron 1.1 Ghz
http://www.ebuyer.com/484280-zotac-zbox-...ox-id42-be

2x 2gb of crucial RAM...
http://www.ebuyer.com/191208-crucial-2gb...5664bc1339

WD Scorpian Black 750gb Internal Harddrive...
http://www.ebuyer.com/252715-wd-750gb-bl...wd7500bpkt

do you think his will meet my requirements as stated above?

Thanks again guys for all your advice, its been really helpful and sorry for being such a newb to all this, but we all have to start some where right?http://forum.xbmc.org/images/smilies/wink.png

Oh any advice on a good remote with hassle free set up?

- If you don't need the storage, i would advice you go with an SSD, more silent and faster bootup time.
- The ID42 ships a remote, that should work out of the box with OpenELEC
- Your requirements are met, I will buy such a system myself :-)

I plan on gettin an ssd in the future and putting the WD in to a NAS system with two holders. one for the WD 750 gb for music, the other a 2tb Wd for video files (movies) etc.

Oh and im buying the bare bones zbox id42 which does not come with the remote, so ill have to still buy a seperate remote. any ideas?

I have already suggested a perfect remote.