Curse

cebalrai · Apr 17, 2010, 10:58 PM // 22:58

I'm considering purchasing a cheap Nettop to attach to my 50" plasma TV for Hulu, iTunes media, etc. Yeah it would be a cruddy Atom processor, but I'd make sure to buy the dual-core one at least, and I'd upgrade the RAM.

But then I got to thinking about doing some light gaming on the thing, maybe GW, GW2, Civ IV, etc. Has anyone gamed on an ION? What are your experiences?

Also, looks like the ION 2 will be out in a couple months. Perhaps it's worth waiting for?

Elder III · Apr 17, 2010, 11:48 PM // 23:48

build your own HTPC for $300 and you won't have to worry about it.

cebalrai · Apr 18, 2010, 12:03 AM // 00:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elder III

build your own HTPC for $300 and you won't have to worry about it.

I could do that. Know of a decent fanless GPU? Or I could build one off ION 2.

With low-cost systems like this, it's often hard to save money doing a BYO though, especially if I have to float $110 for Windows 7.

Lord Sojar · Apr 18, 2010, 09:30 AM // 09:30

This should do for a discrete solution for most low end gaming (ie. Guild Wars)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131349

Only issue is mixing ION with an ATi card may prove more trouble than it's worth.

Enter the GT240 as another option:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814500138

Might be a bit more driver friendly setup tbh, not to mention more powerful. The GT 240 is actually a great little card, albeit no DX11 support, it is 40nm (runs cool and low low power), DX10.1 support, and it's on par with a 9600GT. The only card that can beat it in ATi's current budget 5xxx lineup is the HD 5670, and that card costs substantially more money (On average, there are some exceptions where it is the same price)

Quaker · Apr 18, 2010, 02:38 PM // 14:38

One thing to keep in mind about nettops and IONs is that they are usually designed to drive relatively low-rez displays, such as 1366x768. Trying to run GW on an HDTV at 1920x1080, while possible, would be a struggle - and trying to run the game at a low rez would probably look crappy.

Building a reasonably good and good-looking HTPC may cost a bit more, but will work much better. Of course, if you don't care too much about looks, you could reuse an old case and/or other parts.

cebalrai · Apr 21, 2010, 02:01 PM // 14:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quaker

One thing to keep in mind about nettops and IONs is that they are usually designed to drive relatively low-rez displays, such as 1366x768. Trying to run GW on an HDTV at 1920x1080, while possible, would be a struggle - and trying to run the game at a low rez would probably look crappy.

Building a reasonably good and good-looking HTPC may cost a bit more, but will work much better. Of course, if you don't care too much about looks, you could reuse an old case and/or other parts.

IONs are designed to run 1920x1080 displays actually. They run 1080p content... some ION platform machines come with Blu-Ray players.

Quaker · Apr 21, 2010, 03:05 PM // 15:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by cebalrai

IONs are designed to run 1920x1080 displays actually. They run 1080p content... some ION platform machines come with Blu-Ray players.

Well, yes, they are designed to run 1920x1080 displays - and they are designed to be able to decode DVD and Blu-Ray content, but dynamically producing 3D game content is a whole other thing.
I was a bit un-clear in my last post. So let me put it this way - running an ION chipset on a laptop with a relatively low rez like a typical laptop LCD display, you might be able to get playable framerates in games. But, trying to play games at 1920x1080 with an ION is beyond it's capability (for now).