bottneck graphics or cpu?

[foxitfix]

Hey folks,

I am looking to upgrade and therefore collect thoughts. Currently I have wmc transition effects turned off because stuttered - especially when launching wmc or waking from sleep. When guide is overlaying live tv the tv seems to stutter a bit in background. Overall navigation is a bit more sluggish than would like. Viewing tv, movies, etc ... is fine. Its just overall system responsiveness that isnt where it needs to be in my book.

Here are specs:
Asus AT3IONt
- integrated dual core atom 330
- nvidia ion gpu
4 gb ddr3
32 gb ssd [boot]
2 TB WG green [storage]
Silicondust HDHomerun Prime

So here is question - should I get a dedicated graphics card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814500147 or similar) or new mobo (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813500041 and use spare intel e8400)

I think mobo is probably way to go - would prefer to avoid new build though. So what is the bottleneck do people feel? Atom processor or ion graphics? Would addition of dedicated graphics solve above issues?

As an fyi i had a previous htpc that was way overkill (none of above issues though) so that is why chose at3iont - wanted something 'green' as on quite a bit.

Thanks for any feedback.

[Scallica]

You need a better graphics card. I would suggest the Gigabyte nVidia Geforce 210 card; it works beautifully in my system.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814125392

[richard1980]

I disagree. A new GPU, even the best GPU in the world, isn't going to fix a slow processor like the Atom 330. The WMC UI is handled by the CPU, not the GPU. Additionally, overall system sluggishness (one of the OP's complaints) is a common complaint with Atom processors. Now, I happen to own the exact motherboard the OP is looking at, and I can assure you pairing that with a cheap C2D or PDC processor will solve all of the system sluggishness and UI issues. Plus, the GeForce 9300 is a wonderful GPU for HTPC use. Gaming, not so much, but HTPC, it's great.

FWIW, I've got that mobo paired with a Pentium Dual Core E6500.

And before buying that motherboard, I must warn you that I experience brief audio drop outs with Dolby Digital over S/PDIF. I'm not sure if it's my content, the motherboard, or my AVR. It's not bad....just about half a second drop every 10 minutes or so. It's annoying, but not something I care to rebuild to fix.

[EmirOfGroofunkistan]

If you have win7, just run the Windows Experience Index (start-->computer-->properties) ... it will tell you which component is the slowest (lowest subscore).

[WarrenH]

New CPU, running anything on an Atom is the most frustrating experience around. New GPU, SSD and whatever else you throw at the system won't change the fact that you can't polish a turd...

[StumpyBloke]

Agreed with all...the Atom is NOT the way to go here!

[blueiedgod]

I have used Atom 330 dual core and it was just fine running 2x ATI DCT's, not snappy, but definitely not bad enough to disable transitions. The experience was similar to what you would get from an extender connected to a powerful PC.

[StumpyBloke]

But I expect it to do whatever I ask it to do before I've even pressed the button!! I don't do waiting!!