ASRock ION 330 In HTPC Mode

My own HTPC is a spare generic Atom 330 dual-core nettop running Mac OSX. Granted this isn’t the most ideal setup, it works for me. One of my grips though is the inability of this system to play larger HD movies and mkv versions of shows I have. The dual core isn’t enough to process these videos to deliver even a useable picture.

Now, put in an NVIDIA Ion in this setup and couple with Flash 10.1, you have a decent movie playing machine right there. The GPU-acceleration is a boon to those who want to just dump their videos and play them whatever the format maybe. Of course there will still be some video that won’t play like 1080p ones but for all the rest, this is a nice alternative if you’re on a budget. It’s also small, just the same size as a Mac Mini, so it won’t cramp your media center station.

The best setup for an HTPC is using a mid-range Core 2 Duo processor and maybe a higher end one if you plan to play games as well. I recommend using XBMC as your media center for its great eye candy while browsing your collection and the ability to play online video.

Video of the ASRock ION in action

via liliputing