Topic: Share your HTPC set-up Part2

[klpangan]

Mga bros,

Pa help naman po planning to build a HTPC.... so far ito po kasi yung napupusuan ko...

http://www.manli.com/en/product/t2-amd-fusion

E350 po yung board na yan... maganda kasi yung review ng E350 and pede sa light gaming and low power consumption.

Baka po may masuggest kayo na ibang build ang hanap ko kasi HTPC na pede light gamit and at the same time low power consumption. Budget nasa 15k. dapat mag Xtreamer Ultra ako kaso parang over-priced siya.

How you can help me... Thanks

[AC]

if i were to build a system now
i would probably go G620


G620 2700 or i3-2100 4900
asrock H61 matx 2400
ram 4gb 2000
hd.. siguro 2tb kasi htpc.. i heard bumaba nadaw samsung @4500
generic case w/psu.. around 1000

G620 total 12500
i3-2100 total 14700

[klpangan]

if i were to build a system now
i would probably go G620


G620 2700 or i3-2100 4900
asrock H61 matx 2400
ram 4gb 2000
hd.. siguro 2tb kasi htpc.. i heard bumaba nadaw samsung @4500
generic case w/psu.. around 1000

G620 total 12500
i3-2100 total 14700

anong difference ng g620 sa i3? pede na ba sa gaming ito ang 1080p na movies?? hmmm gusto ko kasi maliit lang para portable siya parang NMT style pero pc pa rin at the same time...

yung MANLI kasi maliit lang talaga.. and portable... also di ba parang mahirap maginvest ng generic na psu?

[AC]

1080p yes.. kaya po ng setup na yan.. G620 or i3...
lamang i3 ng konti lang... hehe similar chip yan... hanap niyo nalang po sa wiki or google difference ng chip..
games.. depende.... light games.. yes... heavy.. malabo

footprint.. malaki yan.. matx... pwede ka kumuha itx.. pero dagdag cost po.. mas mahal itx mobos eh.. pero most of them H67.. so.. may usb3 etc etc

manli... parang hindi po yata available yang E350 satin.. available na lianli dito sa alam ko... atom525 nasa 5500..
nice small unit but not guaranteed to play all your 1080p... gma3100 lang po kasi

[Stagea]

Mabagal po ang E350 imho, maski yung E450 bitin pa din unless disable mo most ng post-processing features. It'd still be better than a typical media tank/player in this configuration, pero since mag HTPC ka na din lang, parang mas sulit na to go for something that'd give you a much better experience.

The G620 is like a lower-clocked i3, less Hyperthreading. The G620 does HTPC work more comfortably, handles 3D, and will likely be of use for a longer period of time.

As for gameability, saying that the E350 is gameable is like stating that an underbone bike is raceable. It's something relative. The E350/E450 APUs aren't bad, they're just too limiting in terms of performance (imo).

If you want to go the AMD route, check out the A6-3500 APU. It's significantly more powerful than the E350, and is far more gameable (if that's what you're after).

[klpangan]

Mabagal po ang E350 imho, maski yung E450 bitin pa din unless disable mo most ng post-processing features. The G620 is like a lower-clocked i3, less Hyperthreading. The G620 does HTPC work more comfortably, handles 3D, and will likely be of use for a longer period of time.

As for gameability, saying that the E350 is gameable is like stating that an underbone bike is raceable. It's something relative. The E350/E450 APUs aren't bad, they're just too limiting in terms of performance (imo).

If you want to go the AMD route, check out the A6-3500 APU. It's significantly more powerful than the E350, and is far more gameable (if that's what you're after).

thanks@AC

@Stagea how about power consumption?? and how much it will cost to build a A6 unit

[Stagea]

thanks@AC

@Stagea how about power consumption?? and how much it will cost to build a A6 unit

Not much separates a Pentium G620, an i3-2100 and an A6-3500 when it comes to power consumption. These are fairly efficient processors. Expect around 20w at idle, and between 30 and 40w during movie playback.

AMD A6-3500 APU - 4250
Asrock A55M-HVS - 2880
Kingston 2 x 2GB DDR3-1600 - 1300
Samsung 2TB HDD - 4500
Cooler Master ERC-371K-KWR460 - 3000

Lalabas yan ng 15930. Large casing yan with a good power supply. Kung gusto mo maliit na casing with the same power consumption, magdadagdag ka pa ng konti. Mahal po kasi ang mga efficient na power supply. Mga generic and cheaper branded power supplies are quite inefficient, kaya be particular po diyan kung low power consumption ang habol niyo.

[ninjababez®]

Asrock A55M-HVS - 2880

Stageaness, a bit ot sa topic.  pansin ko when i was copying files kila DMF, effecient yung pag copy ko ng files, dahil ba dito yun "ASRock XFast USB Technology - Faster Than Your Imagination!", or im just imagining things 

[Stagea]

Stageaness, a bit ot sa topic.  pansin ko when i was copying files kila DMF, effecient yung pag copy ko ng files, dahil ba dito yun "ASRock XFast USB Technology - Faster Than Your Imagination!", or im just imagining things  

Effective yung XFast ek-ek na yan sa experience ko, especially with USB 2.0 devices... whether you're using the USB 2.0 or the USB 3.0 ports. I can get 40MB/s+ transfers sa mga meron nyan, which is awesome for USB 2.0. Pero siyempre mas mabilis pa din yung USB 3.0. Medyo madami akong PC na ginagamit, pero yan talaga ang pinaka mabilis sa USB 2.0 transfers na nasubok ko. Na-experience din ni Paul yan sa PC ni DMF, nung kinabit nya sa USB 2.0 port yung HDD nya, akala nya sa USB 3.0 nya nakabit kasi mabilis yung transfer (USB 3.0 yung HDD nya).

Yung 3x USB Power Boost ng Gigabyte is effective din. Yung mga devices na usually kailangan ng dalawang USB sockets for power, kayang kaya ng mga Gigabyte na may ganitong feature with a single socket. Pero hindi siya nakakabilis ng transfer, unfortunately.

[klpangan]

Effective yung XFast ek-ek na yan sa experience ko, especially with USB 2.0 devices... whether you're using the USB 2.0 or the USB 3.0 ports. I can get 40MB/s+ transfers sa mga meron nyan, which is awesome for USB 2.0. Pero siyempre mas mabilis pa din yung USB 3.0. Medyo madami akong PC na ginagamit, pero yan talaga ang pinaka mabilis sa USB 2.0 transfers na nasubok ko. Na-experience din ni Paul yan sa PC ni DMF, nung kinabit nya sa USB 2.0 port yung HDD nya, akala nya sa USB 3.0 nya nakabit kasi mabilis yung transfer (USB 3.0 yung HDD nya).

Yung 3x USB Power Boost ng Gigabyte is effective din. Yung mga devices na usually kailangan ng dalawang USB sockets for power, kayang kaya ng mga Gigabyte na may ganitong feature with a single socket. Pero hindi siya nakakabilis ng transfer, unfortunately.

so mas recommended mo ito kaysa e350?? wala bang small form factor na katulad na xtreamer ultra? gusto ko kasi mejo portable...

may hiccup na ang e350?

[ninjababez®]

Effective yung XFast ek-ek na yan sa experience ko, especially with USB 2.0 devices... whether you're using the USB 2.0 or the USB 3.0 ports. I can get 40MB/s+ transfers sa mga meron nyan, which is awesome for USB 2.0. Pero siyempre mas mabilis pa din yung USB 3.0. Medyo madami akong PC na ginagamit, pero yan talaga ang pinaka mabilis sa USB 2.0 transfers na nasubok ko. Na-experience din ni Paul yan sa PC ni DMF, nung kinabit nya sa USB 2.0 port yung HDD nya, akala nya sa USB 3.0 nya nakabit kasi mabilis yung transfer (USB 3.0 yung HDD nya).

Yung 3x USB Power Boost ng Gigabyte is effective din. Yung mga devices na usually kailangan ng dalawang USB sockets for power, kayang kaya ng mga Gigabyte na may ganitong feature with a single socket. Pero hindi siya nakakabilis ng transfer, unfortunately.

atleast di sya imagination 
akala ko nga nung una dahil sa sarap lang ng kwentuhan namin ni DMF eh.  yun pala talagang mabilis 

[Stagea]

so mas recommended mo ito kaysa e350?? wala bang small form factor na katulad na xtreamer ultra? gusto ko kasi mejo portable...

may hiccup na ang e350?

Napakalayo nyan sa e350, performance-wise. You get around 4x as much graphics power and 5x as much processing muscle based on synthetic benchmarks. You can build a small form factor one, pero baka asa 20k lalabas ang system mo.

The e350 will play most file formats smoothly, as long as accelerated siguro nung GPU nya. The downside is pag hindi accelerated nung GPU, possibleng makupad na. Another thing is maski accelerated na, hindi mo magamit ang postprocessing features nung GPU if you want to maintain good frame rates dahil kulang sa processing power ang e350 to do that. Kumbaga sa car masyado mahina yung engine na hindi ka pwede mag aircon or magkarga ng mabigat. Aandar pa din siya, pero you don't get all the advantages of driving a car.

Nasa sayo pa din naman yan, if you're willing to make that compromise.

[klpangan]

Napakalayo nyan sa e350, performance-wise. You get around 4x as much graphics power and 5x as much processing muscle based on synthetic benchmarks. You can build a small form factor one, pero baka asa 20k lalabas ang system mo.

The e350 will play most file formats smoothly, as long as accelerated siguro nung GPU nya. The downside is pag hindi accelerated nung GPU, possibleng makupad na. Another thing is maski accelerated na, hindi mo magamit ang postprocessing features nung GPU if you want to maintain good frame rates dahil kulang sa processing power ang e350 to do that. Kumbaga sa car masyado mahina yung engine na hindi ka pwede mag aircon or magkarga ng mabigat. Aandar pa din siya, pero you don't get all the advantages of driving a car.

Nasa sayo pa din naman yan, if you're willing to make that compromise.

I see... in terms of power consumption? gano naman kataas ang iaangat? yung board na binigay you sa akin wala optical in.. hanap ko kasi may optical na din

[Stagea]

I see... in terms of power consumption? gano naman kataas ang iaangat? yung board na binigay you sa akin wala optical in.. hanap ko kasi may optical na din

You mean optical out?

Madami naman yan basta FM1 board humanap ka lang ng type mo.
A75 Pro4-M meron yan optical, saka USB 3.0 at SATA 3 asa 4450 pesos ata.
A75M-ITX same price, pang small form factor na board.

Power consumption would depend on your use. Maybe 10-15w higher with typical HTPC loads. You can undervolt (or use ULV components) kung talagang naghahanap ka ng low power consumption.

[Stagea]

AMD A6-3500 APU - 4250
Asrock A75M-ITX - 4450
G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB DDR3-1600 - 2180
Samsung 1TB 2.5" HDD - 4995
Antec ISK-100 -3690

Total: 19565

Ayan sample ng sobrang portable na build, 8GB RAM na para less likely mo i-upgrade sa future. Eto hitsura nyan:



Parang Mac Mini na lang, less the optical drive. Take note that you may have to make some mods sa included HSF (or replace it with a low profile one) for proper fitting sa ganitong type ng case. Most likely baka kailangan na tanggalin yung Fan sa Heatsink, since may fan na din naman on top yung casing.

The included power supply is very efficient, kung power consumption ang biggest issue mo. Also take note that the proper PC software configuration has more to do with your actual consumption than the parts that you use. Maski matitipid pa sa kuryente yung parts mo, if you don't use the power saving features of those parts, in the end baka mas mataas pa konsumo than mga matatakaw na parts.

Parang sa car, maski matipid sa fuel na model ang bilhin kapag bad ang driving habits ng magmaneho, gastador pa din.

[yygoob]

Anong recommended os para tipid kuryente? Thanks

[Stagea]

Anong recommended os para tipid kuryente? Thanks

The OS type is only a small part of the picture. It's the configuration that matters more... if it's setup to power down unused hardware, and to utilize efficient means of processing that's available in the hardware. Power use optimization po ang dapat gawin. Napakadaming features ng PC components these days to make them "green," hindi lang ginagamit ng most.

As for the OS, yung mga magagaan sa resources na OS ang pinakamatipid sa kuryente if done right, like a customized Linux install. Pero even a full-blown Windows 7 / Vista Ultimate install can be very power-efficient when configured properly.

[Wildfire™]

AMD A6-3500 APU - 4250
Asrock A75M-ITX - 4450
G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB DDR3-1600 - 2180
Samsung 1TB 2.5" HDD - 4995
Antec ISK-100 -3690

Total: 19565

Ayan sample ng sobrang portable na build, 8GB RAM na para less likely mo i-upgrade sa future. Eto hitsura nyan:



Parang Mac Mini na lang, less the optical drive. Take note that you may have to make some mods sa included HSF (or replace it with a low profile one) for proper fitting sa ganitong type ng case. Most likely baka kailangan na tanggalin yung Fan sa Heatsink, since may fan na din naman on top yung casing.

The included power supply is very efficient, kung power consumption ang biggest issue mo. Also take note that the proper PC software configuration has more to do with your actual consumption than the parts that you use. Maski matitipid pa sa kuryente yung parts mo, if you don't use the power saving features of those parts, in the end baka mas mataas pa konsumo than mga matatakaw na parts.

Parang sa car, maski matipid sa fuel na model ang bilhin kapag bad ang driving habits ng magmaneho, gastador pa din.

brader ano kaya power consumption nyan? parang gusto ko magbuo ng ganyan pero with videocard

[Stagea]

brader ano kaya power consumption nyan? parang gusto ko magbuo ng ganyan pero with videocard

Around 20W idle siguro and 30-40W siguro typical htpc load with a properly configured one (ymmv). That's a fraction of a PS3's consumption, and closer to a notebook.

You may wanna check out a larger ITX chassis kung gusto mo may video board. The video board may consume more power than the rest of the system kung midlevel or higher ang gusto mo (dependent on load din). You may want to go the Intel route na lang, if you're going for dedicated video anyway. The AMD Llano's main draw is the much faster on-chip graphics (which may not matter for your intended configuration, unless you plan to setup Radeon Dual-Graphics).

Here's a benchmark comparison between the i3's in-chip GPU and the A6's on-chip GPU.

[AC]

lakas pala niyang A6.. mismatch ang i3 sandy.. hehe
not to mention.... power efficient.. @20watt idle...

[Stagea]

lakas pala niyang A6.. mismatch ang i3 sandy.. hehe
not to mention.... power efficient.. @20watt idle...

Malakas siya sa GPU-intensive tasks bro. Sa CPU-intensive tasks mas mabilis yung i3 Sandy.

Yung built-in graphics ng A6 and A8 are comparable sa entry level discrete graphics chips, which are more powerful than Intel's integrated solution.

The AMD Llano is a 1.5B transistor chip, with a big chunk of that being the GPU:


The Intel Sandy Bridge is a 1.0B transistor chip, most of which is taken up by the CPU:


That partly explains the disparity in performance.

[Wildfire™]

Around 20W idle siguro and 30-40W siguro typical htpc load with a properly configured one (ymmv). That's a fraction of a PS3's consumption, and closer to a notebook.

You may wanna check out a larger ITX chassis kung gusto mo may video board. The video board may consume more power than the rest of the system kung midlevel or higher ang gusto mo (dependent on load din). You may want to go the Intel route na lang, if you're going for dedicated video anyway. The AMD Llano's main draw is the much faster on-chip graphics (which may not matter for your intended configuration, unless you plan to setup Radeon Dual-Graphics).

Here's a benchmark comparison between the i3's on-chip GPU and the A6's on-chip GPU.

i3 sandy na lang ako, can you recommend a good videocard solely for movie watching with 3d capabilities

[Stagea]

i3 sandy na lang ako, can you recommend a good videocard solely for movie watching with 3d capabilities

That's a very low requirement, actually. Even Intel's integrated GPU can handle that.

The HD 6570 may serve your needs, pero almost the same performance sa built-in ng AMD Llano. Imo, to give merit to spending more for dedicated graphics, go for the HD 6670 or HD 6750 at least.

[Stagea]

Llano vs. Sandy Bridge power consumption for typical HTPC use:



Take note that this is the A8, and the A6 should consume less power (fewer execution units and lower clock speeds).

Because the A6 / A8 comes with a relatively strong graphics unit (for an integrated device), power consumption gets higher when the GPU is loaded (like when you're gaming). You have to pay for performance, one way or another.



It is still a lot lower than running dedicated graphics, however.

[AC]

sir stagea.. tama po ba intindi ko?

malakas ang a6/a8 sa graphics mahina sa processing
ang i3 naman malakas sa processing mahina sa graphics?
kaya sila at par sa performance?

hehe honestly.. now ko lang nalaman may ganyan na amd.. hehe medyo intel fanboy here eh.. hehe those are very nice consumption po for the amd.... 16.2watts @idle... most of the time.. idle lang naman ang... htpc.. downloading.. hehehe
and for me.. ok lang matakaw when im watching or playing... kasi nagagamit ko naman.. nanhihinayang lang ako pag... matakaw kahit idle..

sir wildfire... lakas napo ng built in graphics ngayon.. hehe i made my i3 htpc for my dad eh.. favorite game niya is civilization5... bago ko binuo yun.. i checked kung kakayanin ng sandy graphics yun... nagulat ako it can play that game smoothly.. (which my msi U210 netbook now can not play na kaya din naman 1080p movies)

[yygoob]

The OS type is only a small part of the picture. It's the configuration that matters more... if it's setup to power down unused hardware, and to utilize efficient means of processing that's available in the hardware. Power use optimization po ang dapat gawin. Napakadaming features ng PC components these days to make them "green," hindi lang ginagamit ng most.

As for the OS, yung mga magagaan sa resources na OS ang pinakamatipid sa kuryente if done right, like a customized Linux install. Pero even a full-blown Windows 7 / Vista Ultimate install can be very power-efficient when configured properly.

thanks ..can u direct me to a site or link on how to properly configure windows 7 to be more effecient? thanks

[Wildfire™]

brader stagea 3d capable na ba ung HD 6670?

sir wildfire... lakas napo ng built in graphics ngayon.. hehe i made my i3 htpc for my dad eh.. favorite game niya is civilization5... bago ko binuo yun.. i checked kung kakayanin ng sandy graphics yun... nagulat ako it can play that game smoothly.. (which my msi U210 netbook now can not play na kaya din naman 1080p movies)

i agree kasi ung msi u230 ni misis ko kaya ung skyrim

pinapapabili kasi ako ng dad ko ng videocard para sa pc nya ang plan ko ibigay ung dedicated physx card ko (nvidia gt220) tapos ung pera pambibili ko ng HD 6670 para sa project htpc ko 

[Stagea]

sir stagea.. tama po ba intindi ko?

malakas ang a6/a8 sa graphics mahina sa processing
ang i3 naman malakas sa processing mahina sa graphics?
kaya sila at par sa performance?

Tama po. Yung general processing capability nung Llano is more in line with the Clarkdale processors pa (and sometimes with the Yorkfield pa nga), while the graphics capability is quite a bit ahead of the Sandy Bridge. Intel might try to bridge the gap with Llano's graphics capability with the upcoming Ivy Bridge processor. The AMD Trinity should come out sooner though, and it's supposed to further improve on graphics and parallel compute capability (by integrating an HD 7xxx series GPU).


Here are Intel processors and their AMD counterparts that we normally find in a Home Theater:

Nettop:
Intel Atom ~ AMD Brazos

Entry Level:
Intel Celeron ~ AMD Brazos (Zacate)
Intel Pentium ~ AMD Llano A4

Mainstream:
Intel Core i3 ~ AMD Llano A6, AMD Bulldozer FX-4
Intel Core i5 ~ AMD Llano A8, AMD Bulldozer FX-6

High End:
Intel Core i7 ~ AMD Bulldozer FX-8

Enterprise:
Intel Xeon ~ AMD Opteron


The Llano and Bulldozer processors overlap in pricing and market coverage. To simplify things:
Llano - Efficiency-oriented; Higher IPC design; w/ Integrated GPU
Bulldozer - Enthusiast-oriented; Higher Clock Speed and OC Headroom; Multiplier-Unlocked

hehe honestly.. now ko lang nalaman may ganyan na amd.. hehe medyo intel fanboy here eh.. hehe those are very nice consumption po for the amd.... 16.2watts @idle... most of the time.. idle lang naman ang... htpc.. downloading.. hehehe
and for me.. ok lang matakaw when im watching or playing... kasi nagagamit ko naman.. nanhihinayang lang ako pag... matakaw kahit idle..

I agree. Most PCs stay idle most of the time. Tulad nito at nagtatype lang tayo sa PDVD at nagbabrowse.

[Stagea]

brader stagea 3d capable na ba ung HD 6670?

Halos lahat po ngayon 3D video capable na over HDMI 1.4, maski nga yung Intel HD Graphics 2000 capable nyan eh.

[Wildfire™]

Halos lahat po ngayon 3D video capable na over HDMI 1.4, maski nga yung Intel HD Graphics 2000 capable nyan eh.

thanks pero baka hintayin ko na lang ung AMD Trinity or Ivy