[mythtv-users] Build a robust FE - irritated with IONs

[Christopher Kerr]

On Thu, Dec 23, 2010 at 4:33 PM, Greg Oliver <oliver.greg at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, Dec 22, 2010 at 11:18 PM, Dave Richardson <mythtv at derdev.com> wrote:
>> I forget if it's been Robert's axe to grind about the IONs being
>> underpowered, but... I've just about had it with my IONs.  (ZOTAC C-U,
>> B-somethings)
>>
>> I have one specific FE that I really want to have perform well and this ION
>> mITX stuff amounts to half-a-solution and lot of wasted time tuning. Yeah,
>> Myth's a hobby, but if the point of the hobby is to actually WATCH something
>> instead of tinkering and tuning, then I want to think about some gear that
>> isn't so marginal.
>>
>> Main complaint: truly high quality vdpau playback isn't consistently
>> possible and seems to require quite a bit of tuning and fiddling to sustain.
>>  For me, this makes a credible case against Comcast HD DVR difficult to
>> support.
>>
>> What specs would put forth a quiet-as-possible FE that had some real balls,
>> was ideally fanless/quiet, and didn't need a lot of tuning to kick ass?
>>
>> Basically, spec something that doesn't breathe hard when I watch the damned
>> nightly news (yes, you may laugh that I watch the news - it's kind of a
>> metaphor anyways)
>>
>> Anyone else feel this pain?  Is it just as simple as getting into the GT 2xx
>> chips/cards?
>
> I did feel the pain - I cannot bash the revo 1600s I have, but I have
> to admit that they are underpowered for anything that needs a good
> de-interlacer.  I would especially not recommend any system that is
> truly only capable of a vdpau slim profile with a screen larger than
> 42" for a sports fan  :)

My Ion's do VDPAU Normal flawlessly, what's wrong with yours? Never
had a reason to even consider Slim.

To the OP - yeah, the GT220 has plenty of guts for any video you care
to throw at it, and appears to be identical to the new GT 430 for
video decoding purposes. The GT210 has most of the same limitations as
an Ion.

- Chris