ASRock ION 3D - For use with XBMC?
#1
Question 
Has anyone here got one of these new asrock boxes running XBMC. Seems like a great little machine and ticks all the boxes for me. Supprised that i couldnt find any mention of them on this site.

Intel® Atom™ D525 Dual Core Processor
NVIDIA® GT218-ION Graphics, NVIDIA® 3DTV Play Capable
DVD Super Multi or Bluray drive
2 x USB 3.0
6 x USB 2.0
Gigabit LAN
7.1 CH HD Audio with DTS
802.11b/g/n
MCE Remote Control

http://www.asrock.com/nettop/overview.as...D%20Series

Listed at $419 on Newegg (seems to be with 2GB DDR2 and 320GB hdd)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6856158016
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#2
Yep, I got one. It runs XBMC solidly on top of Windows 7, I haven't tried the LIVE version yet.
With the latest Dharma releases you can enable Hardware Acceleration on Win7 so all 1080p videos run smoothly!

Haven't had any regrets yet!
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#3
How is the noise on this unit? I'm very sensitive to noise in my livingroom Smile

Considering the shuttle xs35gt or this unit, mainly this one looks interesting since I have a 3D tv.

Although not sure if there is such a thing as backing up blu-ray 3d?
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#4
Ramshackles Wrote:Although not sure if there is such a thing as backing up blu-ray 3d?

Time for me to chime in:

Yes, you can find 3D Blu Ray ISOs on the net. But the only way to play them properly (as in a way that works with the TV) is by using closed source software such as PowerDVD. I tried this for like a week, but it is really hard to make it remote driven.

My solution?

Now I just go after Half SBS files. These are basically 720p 3D files in a mkv container. Not only do they play perfectly in XBMC (you just have to set your TV to 3D mode manually), but they playback on ION1 level hardware. Bonus is this method also works with a HDMI 1.3 receiver...

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#5
When viewing the Half SBS MKVs do you still use your active shutter glasses on the 3DTV. I assume you do, otherwise it would not look 3D. I just do not understand the full technical details of SBS video and attempted to research online a couple times in the past month and was unsuccessful.
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#6
bmcclure937 Wrote:When viewing the Half SBS MKVs do you still use your active shutter glasses on the 3DTV.

Yes.

All basically half SBS is is 720p 3D. Instead of 1080p per eye its 720p per eye (or 1080p total). That last fact is why half SBS works on so much hardware well.

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#7
Hi all!

Has anyone tested the ASRock ION 3D for 1080p playback with more demanding videos? It would be nice to know since it's about two thirds (DVD-player, "slow" CPU) to half (BD-player, "fast" CPU) the price of the ASRock Vision 3D (in Sweden) which should play anything thrown at it without breaking a sweat. Or are there any other good alternatives? The small form factor is a plus and the remote support is a must =)

(Yes, I know of several small and nice boxes like ASUS EEE and Zotac [random alpha numeric combo]. But it seems to me very few have an IR remote receiver.)
// Etrai
Insert witty signature line here
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#8
The Asrock ION 3D isn't anywhere close to the ASrock Vision 3D. The Vision has almost three times as much power on both the CPU and the GPU. The Vision 3D is fully capable of demanding 3D playback, the ION 3D is a scam to get people who don't know better to buy an underpowered, almost vanilla, ION system with the false promise that it has real 3D support.

For 1080p files, any ION works including the ION 3D. For 3D playback though, the Vision 3D is the only system available that I will personally say is able to REALLY do 3D.

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#9
I agree with poofy here, but the only problem is that it is hard to find ASRock's older ion system. Of course, one could go shuttle route, but I found my ion 330 pro from asrock a good buy.
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#10
I mean, if you know what you are getting (a regular ION system) I guess it is ok but I hate how they are selling it as a 3D solution.

Personally though, I would rather ION systems from Shuttle, Jetway, or Zotac first.

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#11
How do the regular ION system's go with upscaling? I'm not sure how XBMC treats upscaling.
Just curious after reading this on another forum:

Quote:The Ion chipsets are great but the downer of the whole concept for me is that there's no way that the CPu has enough juice to upscale material and apply post processing via FFDSHOW (which most in the HTPC community agree is a massive part of its appeal).

I mean lets face it most of us have an overwhelming majority of our digital content in sub-1080p resolutions and hence there is quite a benefit to be gotten through quality upscaling and post processing in FFDSHOW.

The only caveat to this is that at present almost all the GPUs that allow DXVA hardware decoding of H264/VC-1 don't allow both this and post-processing/upscaling etc........but you have to know within a few more months they'll have this enabled as well.

So I'd love to move my HTPC to a ultra low power/Atom type CPU but there's significant scope for what those CPU cycles can be used for both now and in the future.....plus with undervolting of pretty low draw CPUs you can have your performance and a power draw that won't be massively above Atom levels.

Of course they're a great fit for others needs - so dont' get me wrong - I don't pretend that what I say is right for everyone (most folks don't even know about FFDSHOW's hidden tricks).

:-)
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#12
That is more a problem with the Windows build only having partial DXVA support (it won't use the GPU to de-interlace content for example) that is already fixed in the DS Player build.

On Linux with my ION system I can enable post-processing AND lanczos upscaling with no problems due to superior VDPAU support in XBMC. The Atom in ION systems is only not good enough for things that are beyond average playback- such as gaming or 3D!

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#13
Nice. Thanks for clearing that up.

Stopping short of building a HTPC I'll probably grab a Zotac Mag MAGHD-ND01-U... It's around my budget ie $350 for an xbox1 replacement.

(Sorry about the thread hijack! )
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#14
Thanks for the replys! I honestly didn't consider the "3D" part of the name(-s) to indicate 3D playback. Complete woosh =) This is however a null point since I don't own, nor plan to own in the foreseeable future due to what I consider technology limitations, among other reasons, a 3D capable viewing device. I do however need it to do what it's "supposed" to do: play anything up to 1080p that's thrown at it. ION should, as you all say, handle it. But you don't want an HTPC that plays almost everthing Wink ...but on the other hand, it's an old XBOX getting retired, so pretty much anything is better anyway. But I digress...
Would any of you say it matters much whether it runs Wintendo or Linux? I only ask because some not-as-technically-literate are going to use it too. I have a hunch as to what the answer will be, but better have the question asked than not.

@poofyhariguy: Why would you take Shuttle, Jetway or Zotac over ASRock? Scorned by previous buys? I'm only curious =)

@Mickeyjuice: No worries. Actually a valid line of questioning, in my opinion. =)
// Etrai
Insert witty signature line here
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#15
I bought the Asrock ION3D 152B (Bluray model) a few days ago. Only because everyone nearby was sold out of the 330HT-BD and this one replaces that. Not because of any 3D stuff.

Installed XBMC Live from XBMCFreak Nuvoton 10.00 v2 and everything worked straight off:

- Power on/off via remote
- HDMI video
- Optical audio
- Navigation sounds

Cannot test HDMI audio (no HDMI receiver), and did not test wireless networking (am all wired). Can't think of anything else right now as everything just works. The box is silent. Blue power LED is turned off via BIOS setting, there is an occasional orange flicker of the small HDD light which lets me know its on.

My only comment against it would be that the in built IR receiver is behind the front air intake grill, so there is not a huge margin of error in pointing the remote at it. You pretty much have to point straight on. But it works fine when you do.

Also the drive is one of those slim notebook type "plop" drives - it just plops out a bit when you press the button. Not the fullsized desktop drive similar to what you get in an actual dvd/bd player that extends and retracts fully and automatically. Cosmetic observation only.

Obviously plays all media fine and looks awesome on 50" Viera Panasonic Plasma.

No regrets buying it. Tiny black shiny box looks good with other AV equipment.
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ASRock ION 3D - For use with XBMC?0