Win PLZ check my **Build** Mini ITX A6-3500
#1
OK. I'm really tired of reading, and just want to buy something already!!! Thanks so much to guys like Poofy, eskro, and Bluray for taking the time to put together all this info. Big Grin I just have a few questions before I pull the trigger. I originally posted this in eskro's A6-3500 thread, but I can already imagine him telling me to start a new thread; so I did. Sorry for the double post!

Will the A6-3500 be able to do SABnzbd extractions without affecting playback? Right now, this is the only thing I don't like about my Acer Revo 3610. I have to schedule SAB to only run while we are sleeping, so we don't have to put up with buffering/stuttering every time SAB does it's UNRAR stuff, and while Sickbeard and Couch Potato do post-processing. I use XBMC Eden under W7 Home Premium installed on a OCZ SSD. (I know, OCZ sucks, right!?) Aeon Nox is the skin I use, and most menu transitions are pretty smooth right now, except one thing. When I am in my music library, navigating through any artists' albums, and I exit out to view all the artists again, it takes almost 5 seconds before the artists appear. It's a fairly large music collection, but so is my movie collection, which doesn't have this problem. Maybe this won't happen with a beefier CPU, and I can use the coveted Aeon MQ3 skin?? Nod We do occasionally surf the web, which is pretty painful on the Revo. I imagine this won't be the case with the 3500.

I plan on using Windows 7 home premium 64 bit, and running XBMC Eden, Couch Potato, Sick Beard, and SAB under the Windows install. Besides YouTube as a video add-on in XBMC, we don't really stream any online content at all. The Movies, TV Shows, and Music all sit in a Unraid box (which used to be my office desktop Dell Vostro 220). Everything is connected via cat5e and 100MB switches. I would like to eventually figure out game emulation to play some old school Atari and Nintendo games. Your build (which I've tweaked just a bit) will cost me $281, including $28 for Kingston 4GB DDR3 1600 RAM, and $25 for iPazzPort KP-810 wireless keyboard/mouse. Will the RAM work well with the motherboard you linked to in the first post? I also swapped out the MI-008 for the MI-100 case. This case will still hold everything, right? I am going to put the stock HDD back into the Revo before I sell it, and use the OCZ SSD in this new build. I already have a remote and IR receiver that I like.

Here is a link to my public Amazon wish list. Did I forget anything?

I have a client that will pay me $250 for the Revo, so I think I'm finally ready to take the plunge and build my own HTPC. I just hate to fork out $100 for a W7 license!! Wink

Just a couple more questions:

If I don't care about WiFi, and I have a HD Homerun, so I won't need a internal TV tuner--is there any reason to go for the micro ATX build vs this mini ITX? Also, the look or size difference between mini-ITX & micro-ATX don't matter much, as all my A/V components are tucked out of sight in a coat closet. Cool

Thanks in advance for any help!! Big Grin

Matt
My Living Room Theater XBMC Mini-ITX Build
CASE: MI-100 - MOBO: ASRock A75M-ITX - APU: A6-3500
Kingston 4GB 1600MHz - SanDisk 128GB SSD -- DVDRW
W7 HP - Kodi 15 - Confluence | ATV1 w/BCM970015 & Crystalbuntu in the BR
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#2
wish list looks good to me.

micro vs mini is a matter of preferences.
usually, you go micro when planning to add 3rd party addon cards
like WiFi or TV Tuner of course.
since its not your case, mini ITX will suit your needs.

the A6-3500 is a fantastic APU,
it'll suit your needs and AEON MQ3 wont be sluggish.
you can always check a video made by a user named Balinus
where he shows the boot times and performance of the A6-3500 APU on his HTPC
HTPC Boot Up --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlfsCYPAX...e=youtu.be
XBMC Performance --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhWKbk1oE...er&list=UL
and note that he's not using an SSD as we speak,
his currently using a Salvaged mechanical 2.5" HDD....
here's his original htpc thread --> http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?pid...3pid948103

anything else?
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#3
Thanks for the quick reply eskro!!

Do you know of anyone who runs the Usenet apps that I plan on running, and what experiences they've had?

If not, I don't mind being the guinea pig. I'll report back with my results!

Thanks again for all the time and energy you've chosen to donate to the cause. It has definitely helped with my decision making process.

Matt
My Living Room Theater XBMC Mini-ITX Build
CASE: MI-100 - MOBO: ASRock A75M-ITX - APU: A6-3500
Kingston 4GB 1600MHz - SanDisk 128GB SSD -- DVDRW
W7 HP - Kodi 15 - Confluence | ATV1 w/BCM970015 & Crystalbuntu in the BR
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#4
well, if your that afraid,
try to get your hands on the A6-3600 65W TDP APU.
you'll get an extra core to handle any jobs you want.
http://shop.amd.com/us/All/Detail/Proces...parePrices
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#5
How well does this board perform with linux?
In a world without walls and fences who needs windows and gates, open source, opens minds, so open yours today.

Image
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#6
well, if your talking about the ASROCK FM1 board,
im not super sure how stable it is under linux...

all i know is that the E350 platform from AMD is now super stable on OpenELEC.

but as usual, for Linux, just stick to INTEL.
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#7
(2012-04-02, 21:25)eskro Wrote: well, if your that afraid,
try to get your hands on the A6-3600 65W TDP APU.
you'll get an extra core to handle any jobs you want.
http://shop.amd.com/us/A:Pll/Detail/Proc...parePrices

No, not afraid enough to spend that much money on a APU. Rofl

Just wondering if you've heard of anyone doing what I plan on doing. I'll take your response as a "no" to my question. Tongue

Ha ha. Thanks eskro!! Big Grin
My Living Room Theater XBMC Mini-ITX Build
CASE: MI-100 - MOBO: ASRock A75M-ITX - APU: A6-3500
Kingston 4GB 1600MHz - SanDisk 128GB SSD -- DVDRW
W7 HP - Kodi 15 - Confluence | ATV1 w/BCM970015 & Crystalbuntu in the BR
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#8
im positive you'll be very happy with your HTPC
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#9
Is $90 a decent deal for W7 Home Premium, 64 bit? Newegg is throwing in a wired multimedia keyboard, and I have a 10% off coupon as well. I spent $120 on a family pack upgrade a couple years ago, but have never bought a normal OEM license before.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6832116986

If this isn't a good deal, where can I find a better one?

Matt
My Living Room Theater XBMC Mini-ITX Build
CASE: MI-100 - MOBO: ASRock A75M-ITX - APU: A6-3500
Kingston 4GB 1600MHz - SanDisk 128GB SSD -- DVDRW
W7 HP - Kodi 15 - Confluence | ATV1 w/BCM970015 & Crystalbuntu in the BR
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#10
http://snaggstuff.com/microsoft-windows-...9-brd.html
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#11
I'm a total Windows noob and about to install it on my a6-3500 build tomorrow. I'm just running XBMC. Are there any advantages/disadvantages of 64 bit vs 32 bit?

Thanks.
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#12
just go 64bit... move forward, not backward...
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#13
(2012-04-03, 05:37)eskro Wrote: just go 64bit... move forward, not backward...

+1 ... it will be able to use 4 gigs+ correctly.
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#14
64 bit FTW!!

Thanks for the link, Eskro!!

You're the man!
My Living Room Theater XBMC Mini-ITX Build
CASE: MI-100 - MOBO: ASRock A75M-ITX - APU: A6-3500
Kingston 4GB 1600MHz - SanDisk 128GB SSD -- DVDRW
W7 HP - Kodi 15 - Confluence | ATV1 w/BCM970015 & Crystalbuntu in the BR
Reply
#15
FTW maddog808!!
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PLZ check my **Build** Mini ITX A6-35002