Okay well i was going to build a htpc that i will be able to download music and movies from itunes on to it. would this build be okay ZOTAC NM10-A-E Intel Atom D510 (built in wifi and a 1.66ghz cpu) 2gb of ddr2 ram 64gb ssd boot drive 1tb Samsung f3 150 watt pico psu
I'm running a Zotac ION ITX A-E with 2GB DDR2800 and a 1TB WD Green 5400 and it can play any 1080i-stuff I've thrown at it just fine. Don't know if the intelGMA can cope with FullHD-content as well as the ION tho, an I like the Zotac ION ITX A-E for it's integrated PSU.
Why does an HTPC need an SSD? Save the cash for something else, like a more powerful motherboard/CPU/GPU. Your current selection would need a hardware decoder before it could handle 1080p ('Full HD'), which is a pretty serious drawback if you're intending this to be a proper HTPC. I'd go for something with a little more oomph; as an Intel fanboy that would be a Zotac H55ITX-A-E married to an Intel Pentium G6950 or Intel Core i3 530, which has considerable kick to it, especially when overclocked. The processor's GPU is the so-called 'GMA HD'; the 733Mhz version in the i3 530 sits at below 40% CPU usage during Blu-Ray playback, though I don't have figures for the 533Mhz version in the cheaper G6950. Another alternative, as jrs77 points out, is an ION motherboard, which is much less powerful than the G6950 but is designed to carry the load of video so should handle 1080p just fine; there are also AMD options though I couldn't suggest any.
There's so many different things at play here it's almost scary. ION has a bit o' nVidia behind it, the GMA 3150--well, it leaves something to be desired with BD playback in general. There's some better information for the GMA 3150 at Intel (intel.com) with regards to it's capabilities.
I've gotta agree, take the money out of an SSD and put it into the board. The setup won't push HD considering the entire NM10/GMA 3150 stack was built to annoy HTPC owners. I went a touch larger in my HTPC so I could squeeze a bit more into the rig. I can say that my rig is rocking an AMD Athlon II X3 435 (2.9GHz) processor, 4GB of middle-of-the-road RAM, and an ASUS M4A785TD-M EVO MicroATX motherboard inside of a Lian Li PC-V351B case (I couldn't help myself, it was pretty). I'm running XBMC on box so it's all running off the CPU as far as video decoding is concerned (well, atleast for now). It's handled my insane x264 1080p rips without any difficulty. Of course, your mileage may vary due to prices being insanely different on the other side of the pond...
The integrated gpu in the board will struggle with HD, something the ION platform was designed to handle. The alternative is that some mini ITX cases (you haven't listed a case in your build) have room for a GPU. Something cheap and best of all passive (like a 9500GT) will breeze through HD playback. Mine does.
Yes it does Clocked at 533MHz rather than 733MHz (or 900MHz on the 661). Ive had 1080p h.264 playback running smooth with a 661 clocked at 2GHz - 1V, with its IGP at 500MHz and 1.25V . For a HTPC, you want to think about which motherboard will let you UNDERCLOCK to save heat and noise - it's about having "enough" to run your movies smooth, but without taking too much power. Intel's latest GMA HD is fantastic for HD video - Clearvideo works great - it's about the only thing it does do that's worth mentioning
I run XBMC on an Acer Revo R3610 which is an ION net top so will be the same as the ION board you linked too. Its quiet, energy efficient and plays my 1080p blu ray rips perfectly using the ION chip. However moving through the XBMC menus, changing backdrops and loading CD/Movie covers is a little laggy. Not by much but enough to be annoying at times especially when you have run it on something faster and everything happens straight away. You are also completely dependent on what ever your playing being hardware accelerated by the ION chip. So if I was building another HTPC unless you really need the small size of a net-top i would go for something with a bit more grunt than the ION.
