Intel Atom D525

[JDNewell]

Hi all.

I want to thank all of the people that responded to my thread on building an HTPC using the Conroe Celeron 430 (the 64 bit one).

Until my house payments come down I will have to continue to go the cheap route and I wanted to get input on the Atom D525 for general HTPC use.  The MB under consideration has the older GPU, but it is a full $100 cheaper than the NVIDIA’s supposedly higher end GPU’s.  The candidate is:

Foxconn D52S Intel Atom D525 (dual-core, 1.8GHz) BGA559 Intel NM10 Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo

along with the usual appropriate RAM, case with PS, etc., etc.

My question is how this would handle video streaming for things like Youtube, Hulu, at 1080 resolution, or at the very least 720.  I am perfectly content using it for the basics and am not a power user.  Just want a nice competent entertainment box.  The Newegg build I am looking at tops out at $205 for board, case, drives, and 2 gigs RAM, which is just right for me until I can refinance my home loan.  Might be waiting a while in this housing market.  OK, maybe I will splurge for 4 gigs, and the system will top out at $215.   I have exhausted reading all of the reviews, but it is nice to get feed back from actual users and have an actual interchange of ideas.

Thanks–John

[swoon]

Run away from that board. You will not be able to use Flash in HD without it choking. Have you considered a media player or streamer? If your budget is a problem to the point where a modest budget HTPC as we suggested in the previous thread is out of the question, you’re probably going to be much happier with a media player than this Atom-based board you’re looking at.

[Crim]

If it’s not an Ion board then it’s not worth using. You’ll have nothing but headaches.

[mikinho]

For a similar budget I would recommend an AMD E350 board.  Overall I’m not happy with them as a primary HTPC but at the same time for the cost you do get a good value.  

[Mike Garcen]

I reviewed the Intel D525MW atom board, and I wouldn’t even consider it for HTPC usage, it’s just too weak and really not the intended purpose. You’ll be much happier with something else.

[JDNewell]

Even if you add something like a Crystal Broadcom card?  I read about one guy doing that and he was happy with the results.  Actually the writing is on the wall.  I think a Sandy Bridge in maybe 3 months or so would be a much better decision.  A new computer is more of a need than a want right now.

I do like that ZBOX with the Celeron SU2300 though, just for its compactness.  Looking forward to the review.

[swoon]

 

Let’s presume for a moment that the Atom with the Crystal Broadcom card will suffice. You will be adding another $50 to your price which brings your Atom system to $255 compared to a MUCH better Sandy Bridge system costing $290 that Andrew put together as an example. If you can wait until the Pentium G530T comes out (by end of Sept.), you can save another ~$15.

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