ASRock, Asus and Nvidia.

[2Tired2Tango]

When I said HTPC use, I meant one that could support a TV Tuner card and lots of storage.

Ahhh... that's the traditional definition.

These little guys are mostly intented to be attached to TVs, I think.

 

[Kougar]

Well, even Atom with an older model AMD IGP, which while much better than Intel's IGP still couldn't handle heavy video offloading. There seems to be a big difference between having a single core and one of those more uncommon dualcore Atoms.

 

[2Tired2Tango]

Well, even Atom with an older model AMD IGP, which while much better than Intel's IGP still couldn't handle heavy video offloading. There seems to be a big difference between having a single core and one of those more uncommon dualcore Atoms.

Absolutely... from my (admittedly limited) experience with the Atom processor I wouldn't even consider a single core.

I still recommend that people do video and data crunching on their main computers and leave the ASRock as a networked playback device. I'm using these things like overgrown iPods... to play music and videos. It's the NVidia graphics that make everything tick along so nicely.

Once the Mini-ITX platform stabilizes a bit and you can pretty much count on the board fitting your case (currently a problem) I will look into more robust systems such as the AM2 platform to see if they can be used reasonably as a proper desktop computer... There are a few boards out there now, but CPU placement --and thus heatsink placement-- can cause some problems finding the right tiny case to stuff it all into. Right now the best combination seems to be Zotac mobo and Foxconn chassis.

 

[2Tired2Tango]

Those drives are slow, but the CPU or chipset would become a bottleneck way before the hard drive. I've actually installed SSDs in netbooks and saw slower or equal performance as a normal notebook drive.

Sorry I didn't address this point earlier Rob... but I did find the bottleneck and, well it was my own fault. When I updated the bios to fix the known issue with the fan speed, I went through everything very quickly and missed a crucial setting... I actually had the hard disk running in IDE mode instead of AHCI... flip one setting, and voila... no more bottleneck.

Silly me.

 

[Kougar]

Yeah, gotta use that AHCI setting!

Glad ya got that one sorted out Tango.

 

[2Tired2Tango]

Yeah, gotta use that AHCI setting!

Glad ya got that one sorted out Tango.

Me too! Thing is it wasn't in the 1.0 Bios that was supplied in the machine. It was added by the update, half way down a menu, defaults to IDE and I completely missed it...

But it's all good now... CPU usage is way down, the drive light flickers were it used to be full on, HD video plays casually instead of straining the machine... I really like this little box.

 

[Rob Williams]

I'm actually surprised that they allow you to enable AHCI... no complaints though! Glad you got the machine working even smoother!

 

[2Tired2Tango]

I'm actually surprised that they allow you to enable AHCI... no complaints though! Glad you got the machine working even smoother!

Ummm... why wouldn't they? If the interface can do it, why not allow it?

I think the IDE mode setting is there mostly for OSs that don't support AHCI drivers... like Win98 or 2000.


Looping back to the NLite discussion for a moment. The difference between your method and mine is not any matter of incompatibility. In fact you could do yours after mine. The idea behind NLite is to create an installer (empty HD) that drops a working OS on a system in minimal time with minimal operator interraction... You way works wonders for people with single machines.... But what if you've got 30 of them to setup and get going? That's where NLite shines.

(Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner on this. Been a tad distracted by other projects.)

 

[Rob Williams]

Ummm... why wouldn't they? If the interface can do it, why not allow it?

It sure wouldn't be the first time a company has deliberately crippled functionality to help push people towards a more expensive model ;-)

But what if you've got 30 of them to setup and get going? That's where NLite shines.

Simple: don't install the system drivers as part of the backup. It's not as though NLite takes away the requirement to install required drivers after the install.

I still stand by my method. Install once, back up, and then restore whenever you want just by clicking one button. It's simple.

 

[2Tired2Tango]

I
Simple: don't install the system drivers as part of the backup. It's not as though NLite takes away the requirement to install required drivers after the install.

Actually it does exactly that. You integrate the drivers right into the install.

Turn the machine on, press F12 for the boot menu, insert the CD, press Enter and go have a coffee... when you come back, about 10 minutes later, you have a fully functional computer with all the drivers installed and most settings already taken care of...

As an advantage you can take out stuf that computer doesn't need... like modem drivers, ancient video drivers... and any driver where you're integrating your own into the install....

Instead of knocking it, Rob... why don't you give it a try.

 

[Rob Williams]

Actually it does exactly that. You integrate the drivers right into the install.

What exactly is the difference between our methods, then? Both offer one-click installs, and can take care of drivers if need be. The only difference is that mine's a mirror image, and yours is a "real" install. Both accomplish the same goal in a similar number of clicks.

As an advantage you can take out stuf that computer doesn't need... like modem drivers, ancient video drivers... and any driver where you're integrating your own into the install..

I run a fast Quad-Core PC with 8GB of RAM and 2TB+ of storage. For what reason should I be concerned over such minute details, when disabling a simple service such as Windows Search would vastly overshadow any gain you'd receive by removing what you mention? As far as I can tell, the only real benefit I'd gain from removing all that stuff would be knowing it's not there, and I can't say I've ever had that nagging feeling.

To be clear, I am not at all knocking NLite, and if I come off as such, I apologize. It's fine, and it has its use - just not for me. I don't even run Windows unless I have to. If I reboot into my real install of Windows, it's to play a game, and that's it. All other Windows usage is done via my virtual machine under my Linux desktop.

For our benchmarking machines, I have greater needs than simply installing an OS. I need things to be installed and pre-configured, such as applications and games. Then there's other minor things, like Windows settings, shortcuts on the desktop, special folders where I need them... et cetera. Because we like to use a refreshed environment where possible, I restore these backups often, so it's imperative that after the restore, what's left for me to do requires a minimal amount of effort (like drivers).

From my understanding, NLite is designed only for fresh installs, meaning a clean Windows installs along with the optional drivers, rather than a full-blown configuration. If that's not the case, then I might find it a little more interesting. But either way, I still can't say I have any complaints at all about my method.

 

[2Tired2Tango]

From my understanding, NLite is designed only for fresh installs, meaning a clean Windows installs along with the optional drivers, rather than a full-blown configuration. If that's not the case, then I might find it a little more interesting. But either way, I still can't say I have any complaints at all about my method.

Apples and oranges, Rob.

The thing is that you are working in a scenario where you need exactly the same setup every time... in fact, the more rigid the better.

My scenario is quite different. I need an installer that can be used on (say) 50 similar machines --like the ASRock-- but with a range of different setups and peripherals... One machine might have a printer, the next a webcam and some may have both, or different peripherals altogether. It varies customer by customer. What I need is an adaptive installer that can detect the variations in hardware and decide which drivers to install, on the fly... Just think how much time it saves me to just stuff in a CD with drivers for the stuff I sell all pre-set to install... My systems come out of OS installs with webcams, printers, scanners, all-in-ones, bluetooth dongles, etc. already installed and working.

Moreover; once the bas OS is there with drivers running things change a lot for me... One machine might have 2 partitions, one for the OS and a big one for data... the next might have 6 parititons as every family member gets their own drive letter... the one after that might have an extra drive in it, and so on... Then there's the matter of different combinations of application software... all of which has to be manually set up.

Where you need sameness... i need flexibility... and NLite gives me that.

 

[Rob Williams]

My scenario is quite different.

So why exactly are you so adamant that I give NLite a try? ;-)

Even if I ran Windows my main OS, I wouldn't see the use in NLite... it's that simple. I can especially see its use where you are concerned. If I was in that position, I'd be using it too, trust me.