Another HTPC quandary: thinking of going Intel Atom

[211]

I recently posted my HTPC build in this thread. It was based around an ATX mobo with Athlon X3 Triple core CPU.

Well now I'm thinking of going a different, much more compact and less expensive route with this ASUS ION HTPC combo build. It consists of:

ASUS AT5IONT-I Intel Atom D525 mobo w/ CPU
Kingston 2GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB 7200 RPM SATA
SAMSUNG 8X DVD+/-R 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner
Compucase micro case

This comes to about 100$ less than my original build

I'm also considering getting a SSD to put the OS on.

Based on plenty of reviews it appears that it'll handle HD quite well, including 1080p BluRay content (which I wont be getting a BR player anytime soon and my tv is only 720P plasma)

This will ONLY be an HTPC, I wont be running games on it and wont be surfing the web from it. I will primarily run XBMC as the media center interface.

So any thoughts on this? Pros or Cons maybe vs. my other build posted in the link earlier.

Also, are there any thoughts on the SSD as a OS drive?
I have the option to run 32 or 64 bit; I would use 64 bit due to the 4gb of ram but then again 64 bit requires more ram anyway doesn't it? So at this point i'm wondering what the gains would be by using 64 bit especially since if I used 32 bit I could probably but it on a 20 GB drive but with a 64 bit I'd have to double that to 40gb drive which drives the price up.

 

[Ponmayilal]

Have a look at the recent Mini-PCs by Zotac Mini-PCs - Products . The recent ones come with a blu-ray optical drive.

You may also be interested in my thread on "A cute mini-HTPC". Just google Ponmayilal or Ponmayilal's posts and you will get it.

 

[kurahk7]

You can also try AMD's Zacate APUs: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&Description=zacate&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20
The on-die gpu is very capable of 1080p.