AMD AM1 Sempron 2650 1.5GHz dual-core or 3850 1.3GHz quad-core for single-thread?

[Blue_Max]

Would an Intel 1037U be a serious contender in this race? About the same price, but way more speed overall...?

 

[cbn]

Would an Intel 1037U be a serious contender in this race? About the same price, but way more speed overall...?

1037U has better multithreading than the Sempron 3850 even though it has half the cores.

A E8400 (typically $9 shipped) would be faster still, but at higher load and idle power consumption.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Yea, at this kind of budget I would say used hardware should be a real consideration.

 

[soccerballtux]

I loaded up Windows 8.1 and Catalyst on the ECS Kabini E1-2100 tonight. It does play 1080p Youtube video smoothly on Firefox. However, web navigating and webpage scrolling on a 1080p monitor with Firefox can be slow at times. Example: On a content heavy webpage like the Verge homepage, there can be some hanging when using just the mouse wheel for scrolling. When using Chrome for that same webpage I thought the scrolling was much smother.

I turn smooth scroll off even on main rig. Much faster.

I would also recommend installing Opera. Nothing runs better on slow processor computers in my experience.

 

[cbn]

Did some additional testing of the E1-2100 using Linux Mint 17.1:

With both the open source and proprietary drivers I could not get smooth youtube playback at 1080p or 720p using Firefox (This, in contrast, to the smooth 1080p Youtube I reported with Windows 8.1 earlier in the thread)

 

[cbn]

I turn smooth scroll off even on main rig. Much faster.

I would also recommend installing Opera. Nothing runs better on slow processor computers in my experience.

Disabling smooth scrolling on Firefox (using Linux Mint 17.1) I didn't notice any change.

Installed Opera (on Linux Mint 17.1), but Chromium feels faster.

 

[waltchan]

Interestingly, E1-2100 is almost identical to Sempron 2650 but is rated 500 MHz less. So the Sempron 2650 1.5GHz is rated 1.5 times faster than E1-2100 1.0GHz. E1-2100 replaced the C-50 and C-60 from 2011/2012. Currently, E1-6010 for 2014 replaced E1-2100 from 2013

While I'm still undecided, my mind tells me I should go for the Sempron 2650 assuming better single-thread speed than Sempron 3850, plus it's $15 less than 3850.

 

[Shivansps]

This to me is a much better option, its at the same price of a 2650 + very very very crappy AM1 mb.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135350

And its faster than both, it also have a full pci-e slot, hdmi and 4 satas.


Seriously, 2650 and 3850 are not better than J1800 and J1900 that you complain so much about.

 

[monstercameron]

Interestingly, E1-2100 is almost identical to Sempron 2650 but is rated 500 MHz less. So the Sempron 2650 1.5GHz is rated 1.5 times faster than E1-2100 1.0GHz. E1-2100 replaced the C-50 and C-60 from 2011/2012. Currently, E1-6010 for 2014 replaced E1-2100 from 2013

While I'm still undecided, my mind tells me I should go for the Sempron 2650 assuming better single-thread speed than Sempron 3850, plus it's $15 less than 3850.

go for the quad core and get the asus motherboard so you can oc the cpu...

 

[soccerballtux]

Disabling smooth scrolling on Firefox (using Linux Mint 17.1) I didn't notice any change.

Installed Opera (on Linux Mint 17.1), but Chromium feels faster.

oh, you're on Linux. Yeah, firefox is a dog on linux. Running it under Wine is much, much faster than running it natively

 

[sm625]

If your budget is limited then go on ebay and type in "E8600". You will get far far more machine for your money than any of this junk.

 

[cbn]

If your budget is limited then go on ebay and type in "E8600". You will get far far more machine for your money than any of this junk.

Those are running as low as $20 shipped now. The E8400 last time I checked was $9 shipped. The E6550 is $4 shipped.

It looks like the prices on the E8600 are dropping the fastest, I remember that chip being $30+ not less than six months ago.

P.S. Even E6550 will play 1080p youtube with the GMA 3100 iGPU. So the higher end core 2 duos are quite capable even with Intel integrated graphics.

 

[Denly]

You can buy a HP elite 8200 2nd gen i3 @ $150 on ebay.
or
HP 6005 P II or A II for under $100, add a $20 video card?

Just saying.

I am retiring a 6005 A II, send me a PM if interested.

 

[Blue_Max]

Hey, OP... does it have to be ITX like most of the embedded solutions are?

Big, ugly boxes are cheap.

 

[cbn]

Hey, OP... does it have to be ITX like most of the embedded solutions are?

Big, ugly boxes are cheap.

The HP 8200 Elite Denly mentioned can be had in a very small form factor called USDT:

Anandtech actually reviewed that model too:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4867/hp-compaq-8200-elite-ultraslim-the-littlest-desktop/3

Idle power consumption with Core i5-2500s was 20 watts.

 

[cbn]

LGA 775 Core 2 duo and quads are also available in that same small form factor.

 

[Shivansps]

Im fully against a 775 solution unless he can get a cheap GF9300/9400 MB... in 2015 going around with a GMA3150 and no video decoding support? its unacceptable.


This is also a good option. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856173102&cm_re=zotac-_-56-173-102-_-Product

 

[Denly]

Im fully against a 775 solution unless he can get a cheap GF9300/9400 MB... in 2015 going around with a GMA3150 and no video decoding support? its unacceptable.


This is also a good option. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856173102&cm_re=zotac-_-56-173-102-_-Product

For the price you can pickup a HP 6005 x2 sff w/ a video card, reliable, turn key and reasonable powerful.

 

[Blue_Max]

The HP 8200 Elite Denly mentioned can be had in a very small form factor called USDT:

Anandtech actually reviewed that model too:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4867/hp-compaq-8200-elite-ultraslim-the-littlest-desktop/3

Idle power consumption with Core i5-2500s was 20 watts.

I owned two of those very units... got 'em real cheap and raided the parts. Pity the only way to upgrade graphics is via passive MXM. Of course, modern Intel IGP is plenty for his needs!

 

[Emulex]

The 8200 elite with the platinum power supplies had problems with non-square-wave UPS, they would destabilize or reject cheap non-sine-wave ups'. I've had to deal with this on a large scale not fun!

 

[waltchan]

If your budget is limited then go on ebay and type in "E8600". You will get far far more machine for your money than any of this junk.

E8500 is the better buy and winner for $12, and 65% off from E8600 at $27.

 

[waltchan]

This to me is a much better option, its at the same price of a 2650 + very very very crappy AM1 mb.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135350

And its faster than both, it also have a full pci-e slot, hdmi and 4 satas.


Seriously, 2650 and 3850 are not better than J1800 and J1900 that you complain so much about.

I bought the ECS AM1 ITX board for $14.99 after rebate when it was on-sale before (it'll be back again):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135388

Plus $19.99 Sempron 2650 APU from TigerDirect (it comes occasionally). So $34.99 combo total. I'm still better off.

I like AM1 better because it's considered to be a desktop processor and a little expensive to produce, despite how slow, while Bay-Trail is a cheaply-made tablet processor that OEM makers are making most of their money right now.

 

[Shivansps]

I bought the ECS AM1 ITX board for $14.99 after rebate when it was on-sale before (it'll be back again):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135388

Plus $19.99 Sempron 2650 APU from TigerDirect (it comes occasionally). So $34.99 combo total. I'm still better off.

I like AM1 better because it's considered to be a desktop processor and a little expensive to produce, despite how slow, while Bay-Trail is a cheaply-made tablet processor that OEM makers are making most of their money right now.

AM1 is the exact same thing, or what do you think kabini is? You are buying something that is slower than a J1800 for a desktop, i dont want to hear you again complaing about BT now.

 

[Abwx]

AM1 is the exact same thing, or what do you think kabini is? You are buying something that is slower than a J1800 for a desktop, i dont want to hear you again complaing about BT now.

Well, a Sempron 2650 is still about a 1.8 BT on Integer and 1.9-2.0 in FP, although this latter feature wont be used in such PCs.

Here people pick preferably the Sempron 3850 when wanting the cheapest APU, curiously it sell more than the Athlon 5150 but less than the Athlon 5350 that take roughly 50% of the AM1 sales.

 

[waltchan]

AM1 is the exact same thing, or what do you think kabini is? You are buying something that is slower than a J1800 for a desktop, i dont want to hear you again complaing about BT now.

But AM1s cost more to produce with more steel material, so better value for the money I think. AMD makes less profit on AM1 than Intel on Bay Trail.