Need help on downgrade
#1
So its time to downgrade the htpc Sad i have a baby due in 6 weeks and need to free up some cash.

ATM i have a core i5 661 cpu intergraded graphics
80+ enermax psu
4gb ddr3 ram
asus p7h55D-M EVO mobo
2Tb green drives
silverstone RV02 raven case
samsung bluray drive (never gets used)


im not happy about losing the htpc at all but it has to be done so i thought i would ask the hardware pros what i should do about this.

I have a couple questions

First of all i am interested in a nvidia ion system i am currently re building AEON from the ground up targeted at apple tv and ion systems so it makes sense that i have a ion system to test/build on.

what i would like to be able to do is run photoshop 64bit is this out of the question using a ion setup (photoshop is for skinning it is a must) i could however use cs4 photoshop that runs on 32bit systems.

Because i am Re building Aeon it will have pvr support so i need a tv tuner has anyone run a ion setup with tv tuner is it powerful enough??.

1080p is a must for bluray rips but i know ion is capable of this.

Also would it be better (more cost affective) to build a ion system or buy a zotac nettop.

any suggestions on what to get would greatly appreciated

i dont need a built in bluray drive what i am after is the most power i can get without getting too expensive here is what i am looking at at the moment.

Zotac ZBOX ID40 u

ZBOXHD-ID40-PLUS-U Dont see any difference between the two which one is betterHuh?

ZBOXHD-ND22-U supports up to 8gb ram but less cpu

ZBOXHD-ID11-U

Any suggestions on what to get/ what is the best system in my list would be awesome any other good nettop recommendations also would be greatly appreciated or would just building a system give me more bang for buck.

i don't expect all questions to be answered but if anyone could give me a few pointers would be awesome thanks guys
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#2
First of all congrats on the new baby!

To questions:

1. Dual Core ION Nettops come with 64bit CPUs, so you can run 64 bit OSes. Trying to run Photoshop on an Atom system might be a terrible experience, but it will do it.

2. TV Tuners makes the whole thing VERY messy.

The only decent network based TV Tuner (The HDHomerun) has pretty poor TVHeadend support currently. And from my research all USB based TV Tuners basically suck. I recently bought a Hauppauge 950Q to test what might be the only non-crappy USB tuner out there, but I am not gonna sign off on it yet.

That means if I was you and I wanted TV Tuner support, I would be looking to make a system that has PCIe 1x slot so I can use a tuner with better support (in particular this tuner:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...-_-Product

That of course is a problem because most ION mobos have a PCIe 16x lane which sometimes (depending on the manufacturer) CAN'T be used as a 1x slot.

Of the ION boards with PCIe 1x slots most come with single core Atoms which will make Photoshop impossible. So remove those and you are left with two options:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813500051

Or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813500037

With a case that supports an expansion slot. I recommend this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...-_-Product

Or its more attractive looking brother:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...-_-Product

Or if you need something more flat my case:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie..._900wt_907

Ask more questions if you need more help. I really respect your work.

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#3
Awesome thanks for the reply yeah i know that photoshop would be awful oh well sacrifices are what its all about great info looks like i will do a bit more research and see what i can come up withWink would be good to test my new skin on a ion system tho its only 13mb with all multiplex views list view only thing i am missing is lowlist and clearart cheers for the help
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