New toy: Asrock ION 330 (2 Viewers)

[Moracco]

jonaskp: Great tip with the firmware update for disabling the Power-LED. I almost put a sticker in front of it, because it's really too bright.

I will try another skin and see if the responiveness of the movie database is better then while displayling small icons. Currently I am using the Black & White theme.

 

[mardup]

Hi all
Excuse my poor English ...
I have also an Asrock and my question is about the connection between the Asrock and the TV
I use an HDMI connection on a plasma TV HD-Ready.
The resolution "recommended" by Nvidia driver is 1280 x 720 ... but in this case, not all the desktop is visible on my TV. The resize of the desktop with the nvidia tool, only decrease the resolution to something like 11xx X 6xx
So is'it the same on yours TV ?
Is it preferable to connect lthe asrock to the plasma via VGA ?
What is better between the asrock an the TV, VGA or HDMI ? ( the audio out is connected to my audio system )

Thanks

 

[jonaskp]

HDMI will give a better picture. How much, is up to how big a difference you can see.
I have the same issue. My TV is a Samsung Plasma, and I can resolve it by changing something in the TV-menu in order to enable 1:1 pixelmapping. On my tv, it is a setting called "Just Scan". The normal setting is "16:9", but If I change this to "Just Scan" the desktop fills the screen, no overscan with the resolution of 1280x720p. So if your tv has the same setting, I would recommend using it.

Problem for me is that everytime I reboot and BIOS is shown on screen, the above setting changes back to "16:9". So I just have to keep my TV turned off when I boot the PC, and everything is fine. At the moment, I am using IR Server Suite (plugin to MediaPortal, search for IRSS) to blast a "TV ON/OFF" command to my tv, when the computer has booted windows and the same when it shuts down. So I don't have to manually turn on the tv at the right moment anymore.

Before I found this solution, I did however use the same resolution of 11xx 6xx like you have found. The picture goes almost all the way to the edge, so it was a resonable compromise for me at the time.

 

[Moracco]

My ASRock is connected via HDMI to a Samsung LCD which supports 1920x1080. It doesn't matter if the TV is on or off when i boot the ASRock. Sounds like the issue is somehow related to the TV.

I also use "just scan" as display mode of the TV.

 

[Songok]

I just got one of these 2 days ago and am delighted with it.
My concerns were:
1. fan noise
2. cpu power
3. remote control issues.

I have win 7 32bit runing. I have overclocked the cpu to 2.1ghz stable for 6 hours on prime 95. It was plenty fast at 1.6 but very very snappy now! I whipped out the 320gig drive and put in a faster 7200rpm drive as this is the bottleneck in the system under general usage. The new firmware is great: supersilent fan setting enabled and led's disabled. I am using the xfactor skin with moving pictures and mp-tvseries plugins.
One of the best features about the 330 i have found is the "instant boot" software that comes with it. Means instant access to mediaportal home screen from standby.
I stream 1080p .mkv files from my server with no issues. i have Core avc codec decoding on the ion gpu so processor never breaks a sweat. Usually ~15% usage.
Overall, a great choice for a silent but powerful htpc solution

 

[nikos1671]

from where did you buy it ??? from store or from web??

 

[Songok]

from where did you buy it ??? from store or from web??

Got it on ebay for 270 euro delivered. Brand new.

 

[nikos1671]

thanks
very good price....

 

[jonaskp]

I just got one of these 2 days ago and am delighted with it.
My concerns were:
1. fan noise
2. cpu power
3. remote control issues.

I have win 7 32bit runing. I have overclocked the cpu to 2.1ghz stable for 6 hours on prime 95. It was plenty fast at 1.6 but very very snappy now! I whipped out the 320gig drive and put in a faster 7200rpm drive as this is the bottleneck in the system under general usage. The new firmware is great: supersilent fan setting enabled and led's disabled. I am using the xfactor skin with moving pictures and mp-tvseries plugins.
One of the best features about the 330 i have found is the "instant boot" software that comes with it. Means instant access to mediaportal home screen from standby.
I stream 1080p .mkv files from my server with no issues. i have Core avc codec decoding on the ion gpu so processor never breaks a sweat. Usually ~15% usage.
Overall, a great choice for a silent but powerful htpc solution

Just the same as my experience. I didn't overclock it though, since I don't need the extra power. I am really happy about the noise levels too. I can't hear it running, unless I put my ear close to it.

 

[Gixxer]

Hi, this little system looks quite interesting. I have been thinking of getting one but I was wondering...

Are this systems 'better' than a system build from parts ? better as in quality and as in what you get for the money.

Example...

I have done this very quickly but basically you get:
- 2.5ghz instead of 1.6ghz of the atom.
- 500gb instead of 320gb of hard drive
- same ram but expandable to 8gb

Cajas Sobremesa
Sharkoon Rush Case (N° Art.: TQXS25)
Rush Case (1 x 5,25" externas)
54,00 €

Procesadores Socket 775 Celeron
Intel® Celeron® Prozessor E3300 (N° Art.: HPDI58)
Celeron® Prozessor E3300 (2x 2500 MHz)
49,90 €


Placas base Socket 775
Asus P5QPL-VM EPU (N° Art.: GPIA68)
P5QPL-VM EPU (Intel® G41 Express)
64,90 €

Módulos de memoria DDR2-800
OCZ DIMM 2 GB DDR2-800 (N° Art.: IBIEM0)
DIMM 2 GB DDR2-800 (2048 MB)
34,90 €

Fuentes de alimentación Hasta 600 vatios
Tacens Radix III 420 Watt (N° Art.: TN4D07)
Radix III 420 Watt (420 vatios)
29,99 €

Discos duros SATA de 3,5"
Seagate ST3500418AS 500 GB (N° Art.: A9BS73)
ST3500418AS 500 GB (500,0 GB)
44,90 €
44,90 €

....


TOTAL PRICE:
308,36 €


I think what I mean is there any further benefit from the asrock apart from coming all put together instead of having to build it yourself ?

for any feedback