Upgrade a relative's rig (now my new HTPC)

VirtualLarry · 10-29-2012, 05:46 PM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138333

I purchased the above motherboard, when Newegg was offering their free 8GB of DDR3-1600 bundle deal. (Figures they would discount the board another $10 after discontinuing that deal.)

Anyways, it need to go into a GlobalWin slimline micro-ATX case with like a 200W PSU.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=56867

I still need to choose a CPU to go in it. Let me see if I can find a pic or review of that case.

http://www.madshrimps.be/articles/ar...#axzz2AjOVPKih

I don't know what the max TDP is for that case. It comes with a 60mm side fan, and a vent on the opposite side.

I can choose between 65W TDP dual-core LLanos, or 100W quad-cores, or a 65W triple-core that is kind of factory downclocked a bit to save TDP.

mfenn · 10-29-2012, 05:57 PM

A 100W CPU would be pretty toasty in a case like that with such minimal ventilation. Either that or you'd have to slap a really loud 60mm fan on there. Best stick with the 65W chips.

T_Yamamoto · 10-29-2012, 05:57 PM

I'd choose a 65watt because that case has little ventilation unless you want to mod it a little

dave_the_nerd · 10-29-2012, 06:40 PM

What else is he running in there? May be time for a larger PSU. (They can degrade over time.)

I'd also stick with 65w. Max.

VirtualLarry · 10-29-2012, 07:03 PM

Yes. After reading about the PSU only having 10A on the 12V rail, then it might not be able to power an entire motherboard, SSD, DVD drive, and a 100W CPU.

Ok, what about the triple-core 65W LLano? Would that work out? It has a better GPU than the dual-cores.

Edit: Or would I be better off just using what I have in that case, an AMD mobo with chipset IGP (forgot which chipset, whether it's 760G or 880G), and a 45W (?) AM2 CPU?

T_Yamamoto · 10-29-2012, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VirtualLarry

Yes. After reading about the PSU only having 10A on the 12V rail, then it might not be able to power an entire motherboard, SSD, DVD drive, and a 100W CPU.

Ok, what about the triple-core 65W LLano? Would that work out? It has a better GPU than the dual-cores.

Edit: Or would I be better off just using what I have in that case, an AMD mobo with chipset IGP (forgot which chipset, whether it's 760G or 880G), and a 45W (?) AM2 CPU?

What is he going to do with it? If its just browsing web?

And you bought that FM1 mobo, might as well use it right?

Another option is selling it but I think llano would be the better route. Maybe look on ft/fs for a cheap llano chip. I've seen them around

VirtualLarry · 10-29-2012, 09:35 PM

Pretty much just web browsing and online video watching.

Currently they are using a Celeron 440, a 2.0Ghz single-core Core2Duo celeron, in a Gigabyte 865G mobo, with 1GB DDR RAM.

The proposed (older) upgrade, was to a dual-core AM2 low-wattage CPU, with an AMD chipset IGP, and 4GB of DDR2. (and moving from XP to Win7)

Since the relative has thus far refused the upgrade, I thought I would take the opportunity to move them to something even newer, like a quad-core.

But the TDP issues concern me. Not just the temps, but the wear&tear on the PSU.

So perhaps I should just do a separate build for me with the FM1 board.

mfenn · 10-30-2012, 06:37 PM

I don't really see a need for the tri-core in what they're doing. Stick with the cheap, low power dual-core like the A4-3300 or 3400.

VirtualLarry · 10-30-2012, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mfenn

I don't really see a need for the tri-core in what they're doing. Stick with the cheap, low power dual-core like the A4-3300 or 3400.

My line of thinking behind the tri-core, was more along the lines of having the more powerful IGP than the dual-cores, while being the same TDP. (But with slightly slower single-core performance due to lower clocks.)

mfenn · 10-30-2012, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VirtualLarry

My line of thinking behind the tri-core, was more along the lines of having the more powerful IGP than the dual-cores, while being the same TDP. (But with slightly slower single-core performance due to lower clocks.)

The speed of the IGP doesn't matter at all for the types of things that they'll be doing. About the only things that I can think of the IGP doing at all are rendering Aero (which anything can do) and video decode acceleration. Video decode acceleration is largely handled by fixed-function blocks that are the same between all versions of the IGP with only a few advanced post-processing features being handled by shaders.

Insert_Nickname · 10-31-2012, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mfenn

I don't really see a need for the tri-core in what they're doing. Stick with the cheap, low power dual-core like the A4-3300 or 3400.

That would be my recommendation as well. No need for a tri- or quadcore in a web browsing machine. Especially with such a weak PSU...

Isn't there a 3420 out there or is that OEM only...?

mfenn · 10-31-2012, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Insert_Nickname

That would be my recommendation as well. No need for a tri- or quadcore in a web browsing machine. Especially with such a weak PSU...

Isn't there a 3420 out there or is that OEM only...?

Must be OEM only, I don't see it on Newegg on in Wikipedia's list of A series processors.

VirtualLarry · 11-02-2012, 04:56 AM

I ended up purchasing an A6-3670K from Newegg, they had a $15 off promo code.

lehtv · 11-02-2012, 05:13 AM

Not bad. $75 for an unlocked quad core with 6530D.

mfenn · 11-03-2012, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VirtualLarry

I ended up purchasing an A6-3670K from Newegg, they had a $15 off promo code.

Runs at a 100W, so you should probably underclock and undervolt it for that case (or get a different case).

VirtualLarry · 11-03-2012, 02:51 PM

Yes, it's not going into that GlobalWin slimline case. I'm going to leave the 45W X2 AM2 CPU in there.

VirtualLarry · 11-06-2012, 07:40 PM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811208051

I ordered this microATX/miniITX case today for ~$40 shipped.

I kind of liked how it went with the decorum of the motherboard, even though you can't see the motherboard through the case.

It's a new product, with only one review (four eggs). That review mentions using a LLano A8-3870K I believe, and a four-heatpipe AMD cooler, with max temps using Prime95 of 50C. I do have another heatpipe cooler like that stashed away, so if that works better than the stock cooler, I might use it. But from that review, it seems like a 100W quad-core is no problem for that case???

I don't really plan on doing DC with this rig, so it would likely rarely see maximum load.

I am hopeful that idle power consumption will actually be lower than my current 45W AM2 CPU, because of power-gating support in LLano.

It of course also supports UVD (UVD 3?) for Blu-Ray decoding, should I ever get a Blu-Ray reader for that machine.

mfenn · 11-06-2012, 08:26 PM

Looks like the case has a single 80mm fan. While you probably won't have any heat problem with the 100W CPU, it will be LOUD under full load. Of course, that doesn't matter if you never or rarely hit full load.