- Aug 25, 2001
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Well, I posted in my "Going green" thread that I had made an executive decision, and purchased a pair of Bay Trail-M (Celeron N2830) laptops, for use for my secondary rigs.
I was using one of them for a few days, just as a laptop, and I thought it was alright, performance-wise. Skype takes up 50-55% CPU, which is much better than the 95-97% CPU on the C-70 NanoPCs I had. So there is enough CPU horsepower to Skype, listen to internet radio, and web browse at the same time.
But then, I heard about the A8-7600 (I think that's the model), a 65W / 45W cTDP APU, with GCN shaders (forget how many), and a quad-core at up to 3.8Ghz to boot. Not bad at all.
So then I started to think about using them for DC.
What really got me thinking, was that TigerDirect has some MSI A55M FM2+ mobos for $27.99 FS AC until tomorrow.
I have "Hot Deals Addiction", and have a hard time saying no to a $28 mobo, that would let me drop in a Kaveri.
TBH, I care little about SATA6G or USB3.0. Sure, they're nice, but not totally essential.
Plus, those BayTrail laptops, seem a tad sluggish when connected via HDMI to my 24" HDTV screens.
It's kind of a Kludge, too, to connect my 24" screen, and a wireless KB / Mouse to a laptop. It works fine for web browsing, but if I get a Skype call, since the webcam is on the front center of the lid, and I have the lid down and the laptop screen shut off, I have to open the lid, and use the laptop screen temporarily for the Skype call. That, or get a USB hub, to connect an additional webcam, to a PC that already has one built-in.
So I'm thinking of going back to the traditional tower, and finally finding something that might be able to out-DC my Q9300 @ 3.0 rigs.
Part of the problem with the Q9300 rigs is not so much the CPU power consumption proper, but the fact that those P35 mobos lack an IGP, so I have to use a discrete card. Which, unless that card is an (expensive, relative to performance) 750 / 750ti, then it draws a bit of power.
The fact that an A8-7600 would take care of that issue, and allow me to do DC on a quad-core CPU, plus a GCN-based IGP (great for compute!), makes a very compelling proposition for me.
Alternatives might be a G3258 mobo + CPU combo, if another one pops up. But I wouldn't have the GCN shader cores in that case, to run the juicy (as far as BOINC credits go) GPU WUs. I would be limited to two CPU cores. Not to mention, the lack of advanced CPU features like AVX and whatnot. I'm not even sure that it would be faster than my Q9300 @ 3.0. Certainly not at stock. Maybe at 4.5.
Thoughts?
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=2267&cmp[]=1050
I was using one of them for a few days, just as a laptop, and I thought it was alright, performance-wise. Skype takes up 50-55% CPU, which is much better than the 95-97% CPU on the C-70 NanoPCs I had. So there is enough CPU horsepower to Skype, listen to internet radio, and web browse at the same time.
But then, I heard about the A8-7600 (I think that's the model), a 65W / 45W cTDP APU, with GCN shaders (forget how many), and a quad-core at up to 3.8Ghz to boot. Not bad at all.
So then I started to think about using them for DC.
What really got me thinking, was that TigerDirect has some MSI A55M FM2+ mobos for $27.99 FS AC until tomorrow.
I have "Hot Deals Addiction", and have a hard time saying no to a $28 mobo, that would let me drop in a Kaveri.
TBH, I care little about SATA6G or USB3.0. Sure, they're nice, but not totally essential.
Plus, those BayTrail laptops, seem a tad sluggish when connected via HDMI to my 24" HDTV screens.
It's kind of a Kludge, too, to connect my 24" screen, and a wireless KB / Mouse to a laptop. It works fine for web browsing, but if I get a Skype call, since the webcam is on the front center of the lid, and I have the lid down and the laptop screen shut off, I have to open the lid, and use the laptop screen temporarily for the Skype call. That, or get a USB hub, to connect an additional webcam, to a PC that already has one built-in.
So I'm thinking of going back to the traditional tower, and finally finding something that might be able to out-DC my Q9300 @ 3.0 rigs.
Part of the problem with the Q9300 rigs is not so much the CPU power consumption proper, but the fact that those P35 mobos lack an IGP, so I have to use a discrete card. Which, unless that card is an (expensive, relative to performance) 750 / 750ti, then it draws a bit of power.
The fact that an A8-7600 would take care of that issue, and allow me to do DC on a quad-core CPU, plus a GCN-based IGP (great for compute!), makes a very compelling proposition for me.
Alternatives might be a G3258 mobo + CPU combo, if another one pops up. But I wouldn't have the GCN shader cores in that case, to run the juicy (as far as BOINC credits go) GPU WUs. I would be limited to two CPU cores. Not to mention, the lack of advanced CPU features like AVX and whatnot. I'm not even sure that it would be faster than my Q9300 @ 3.0. Certainly not at stock. Maybe at 4.5.
Thoughts?
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=2267&cmp[]=1050
Last edited:
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