Via C3 2000+ w/ mobo - $69 shipped (Acortech)

[cmv]

Acortech has the Matsonic VIA CLE266 + Built in VIA C3 2000+ CPU Combo on sale for $69 w/ free shipping. This is hot if you are interested in building a car computer or need a low power system for that solar powered home (wouldn't a laptop be better?).

I can't use it but it's at least $10 less than the competition and it has free shipping so it seems like a decent deal if you're in the market.

 

[ncage]

good for media pc

 

[pxc]

The VIA C3 "2000+" is an 800MHz CPU with a 133MHz FSB and 128KB L1 + 64KB L2 cache. Someone was smoking something to come up with the 2000+ rating for a CPU that lags a 66MHz FSB Celeron at 1/2 the clock rate.

I only mention this because the 2000+ name is so misleading it should be criminal. It's still a good deal for a lower power motherboard (CPU is 14W). The next closest thing is an Intel 1GHz ITX board for around $91 shipped, but of course the Intel ITX board runs circles around the C3 800MHz at the same power or less.

 

[mscdex0]

Too bad it isn't Mini-ITX

We need cheaper prices on the Epia boards!

 

[slackwarelinux]

There is a simmilar product on newegg for $54, it says $3 shipping.
Here
Its FlexATX with a C3 Samual 2 2000+ (800mHz).
The only downside is that it is PCChips, but it got good reviews.

 

[Praxis]

CPU cycles are generally redundant these days, but the VIA C3 is an exception, I gather. If you are going to use this as a Media PC you better have a hardware encoding TV card, because this sucker simply won't have the moxie to run a software encoder.

Also, Matsonic is one of the hardware "manufacturers" like Eurone and Amptron that sells a lot of relabeled PCCHIPS produce (which I gather has improved over the years, but I still have an involuntary flinch when I see the name because of earlier experiences.

Finally, if you want a 800 MHz C3 chip you might consider going to Newegg and looking at the Asus Terminator for $115 plus $6 shipping:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a...30&ATT=Barebone+Systems&CMP=KNC-goog13
It comes with a snappy little case, complete with power supply, plus a CD-ROM drive. Pop in a hard drive and a stick of DDR and you have a nice little low powered system for about $200. I use one running SME Server 6.5 (Linux) and it works fine.

 

[cmv]

Originally posted by: slackwarelinux
There is a simmilar product on newegg for $54, it says $3 shipping.
Here
Its FlexATX with a C3 Samual 2 2000+ (800mHz).
The only downside is that it is PCChips, but it got good reviews.

Looks like this isn't too hot a deal.

I'd much rather have mITX and an Intel CPU. My 3rd CPU was a Cyrix 6x86 at 150 Mhz (I think -- it's been a while). It was fun but the FPU was terrible.

 

[DaiShan]

Originally posted by: pxc
The VIA C3 "2000+" is an 800MHz CPU with a 133MHz FSB and 128KB L1 + 64KB L2 cache. Someone was smoking something to come up with the 2000+ rating for a CPU that lags a 66MHz FSB Celeron at 1/2 the clock rate.

I only mention this because the 2000+ name is so misleading it should be criminal. It's still a good deal for a lower power motherboard (CPU is 14W). The next closest thing is an Intel 1GHz ITX board for around $91 shipped, but of course the Intel ITX board runs circles around the C3 800MHz at the same power or less.

Yeah I did a lot of research on these a while back for a project car. In the end we just decided that the chips were too under powered and over priced for what they are. We ended up going with a mobile chip solution.

 

[Gibzilla]

THis stuff ain't even yesterday's technology. It's yester years!

 

[slackwarelinux]

Originally posted by: cmv

Originally posted by: slackwarelinux
There is a simmilar product on newegg for $54, it says $3 shipping.
Here
Its FlexATX with a C3 Samual 2 2000+ (800mHz).
The only downside is that it is PCChips, but it got good reviews.

Looks like this isn't too hot a deal.

I'd much rather have mITX and an Intel CPU. My 3rd CPU was a Cyrix 6x86 at 150 Mhz (I think -- it's been a while). It was fun but the FPU was terrible.

The OP linked to a FlexATX with a C3 also, I was just pointing one simmilar to the one the OP posted, but cheaper.

 

[p0lar]

Originally posted by: pxc
The VIA C3 "2000+" is an 800MHz CPU with a 133MHz FSB and 128KB L1 + 64KB L2 cache. Someone was smoking something to come up with the 2000+ rating for a CPU that lags a 66MHz FSB Celeron at 1/2 the clock rate.

I only mention this because the 2000+ name is so misleading it should be criminal. It's still a good deal for a lower power motherboard (CPU is 14W). The next closest thing is an Intel 1GHz ITX board for around $91 shipped, but of course the Intel ITX board runs circles around the C3 800MHz at the same power or less.

The Via C3 will lay waste to any commodity-grade processor Intel or AMD offers when it comes to certain crypto functions -- can't say much for media processing or how hot this particular deal is, but I certainly wouldn't dismiss this as being 'criminal'.

 

[pxc]

Originally posted by: p0lar
The Via C3 will lay waste to any commodity-grade processor Intel or AMD offers when it comes to certain crypto functions -- can't say much for media processing or how hot this particular deal is, but I certainly wouldn't dismiss this as being 'criminal'.

It's criminal to give a slug slow C3 800MHz (Samuel 2) a 2000+ rating.

The Nehemiah core C3 (C5P) has the hardware encryption engine, not this Samuel 2 core C3 (C5B). Read a little more before posting "corrections". :roll:

 

[ncage]

Originally posted by: Praxis
CPU cycles are generally redundant these days, but the VIA C3 is an exception, I gather. If you are going to use this as a Media PC you better have a hardware encoding TV card, because this sucker simply won't have the moxie to run a software encoder.

Also, Matsonic is one of the hardware "manufacturers" like Eurone and Amptron that sells a lot of relabeled PCCHIPS produce (which I gather has improved over the years, but I still have an involuntary flinch when I see the name because of earlier experiences.

Finally, if you want a 800 MHz C3 chip you might consider going to Newegg and looking at the Asus Terminator for $115 plus $6 shipping:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a...30&ATT=Barebone+Systems&CMP=KNC-goog13
It comes with a snappy little case, complete with power supply, plus a CD-ROM drive. Pop in a hard drive and a stick of DDR and you have a nice little low powered system for about $200. I use one running SME Server 6.5 (Linux) and it works fine.

I Wouldn't build a media pc without hardware encoding. I have a nforce3 board, amd64 2800+ and 1 gig of ram for my media pc and i still bought a hauppage pvr150 as my tv card.