Beer's M350 A6-3500

Case & Power Supply: M350/picoPSU-90/7.5A 90W AC-DC
APU: AMD A6-3500 Llano 2.1GHz
Mobo: ASRock A75M-ITX FM1
Ram: Crucial Ballistix 4GB 1866
CPU Cooler: Akasa Low Profile AK-CC1101EP02 The fan started ticking! Ewww..
SSD: Crucial 128 GB 7MM CT128M4SSD1
Keyboard: MS Arc Keyboard
Mouse: MS Mobile Mouse 4000 Lime Green
Win 7/64 Ultimate
Sick Beard / SABnbzd / CouchPotato

I wanted a SFF desktop pc and this meets my needs for everything that I need.
This will go nicely with a LCD screen that will go on the back with the VESA screws.
Basically the same as the A6-PACK but with a different case.

 



I was a little concerned about my temps and SSD this is why:

I had my POWER in settings set to HIGH PERFORMANCE.... (I tested on high and forgot to set it back)

Witch meant all my hardware is on high voltages all all the time.


I noticed that my SSD was doing a humming sound (so I wen't online to figure out why and it's because of high performance)

Once I set it back to BALANCED (never shut off screen and never go to sleep) now my MHz idle at 798 and go up when
needed and it don't hum anymore even when it goes up.

So I tested once more and the computer idles at 36-49C... (jumps up and down)

Tested a 1080P video for an hour and it's a good 48C with the CPU fan never going up in RPM's...

The case is still a little warm but now I am more confident on it.

CHEERS!

So if you really wan't SFF HTPC this is good! but not really the greatest for being quiet!
Sometimes it can get very hot! and will bring up the cooler fan up in RPM's
and gets noisy it all depends what you are doing.





CHANGED TO AN SSD ... a regular HD get's too HOT and the temps are not so great in this little box... the SSD fixed it....





I had to extend the picoPSU power wires to reach the back circle cut out for the power plug. No big deal with the proper tools. Used the same 18 AWG wire.
If you do this please make sure your PICO works before you cut it.....


The Akasa low profile cooler is actually 28.70MM in height witch gave me a clearance of 3.20MM to the hard drive. This is a great thing!


So now I am very happy with the temperatures and all.... quiet quiet.... only time it got loud was when it passes 2,500 RPM when it was doing the Windows Rate test...

60c/140F
Target fan speed Level 1 in bios for the FAN.... 1470-1500 RPM all of the time...

So yes a regular HD in this box it's a no no.... it builds too much heat you need a SSD.....

And like I said I got the 7mm version of this SSD and it is a little thinner then the HD.....

"SSD1 is the 7mm version, while SSD2 is the 9.5mm. The SSD2BAA is just the 9.5mm one but with an adapter bracket."

Here are the readings when it did the rate test.... the CPUID Hardware Monitor it's at idle but max was 58C for a few seconds...

CLOSER LOOK














MORE PICTURES

Beer,
That motherboard looks badass but damn $174 for a E350 apu+mb?

I understand why your wife complains

I have the E35M1 as my bedroom HTPC. It's a good machine if I can keep it cool enough. Your case looks well vented.

I originally had it in a case very similar to this one with no problems:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/mini-itx-case-wi...psu-348170

I should have left it in that case because I have had nothing but problems since.

I decided I wanted a smaller, quieter case so I got this one:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Black-HTPC-Q6-...138wt_1159

It ran too hot and kept cutting out. I covered the top of the case with holes which made it better but still too hot, especially if I left the XBMC menu on. I then added a fan like this to the top:
http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_25035.html

It has ran fine now for months but this hot weather in the UK at the weekend killed it again. I've set my remote to put it to sleep when not in use and I can't leave it on XBMC menus for more than 5-10 minutes even with algorithmdirtyregions and nofliptimeout enabled.

T800... oh crap..... how hot does it get?

Oh man.... I might have the same problems....?

Man... makes me rethink it now. I read good reviews on it....

Nice to know from someone who owns it. Crazy even with a Fan still gives you problems..

(2012-05-29 08:24)waver123 Wrote:  Beer,
That motherboard looks badass but damn $174 for a E350 apu+mb?

I understand why your wife complains

You are right! thank you.

I guess how pretty it looks got my attention.

I was able to cancel the order before it shipped.

I would like to use the M350 case....

Since T800 says it overheats and bam problems... it's not what I want....

I guess since I know the A6-3500 works great... then might as well do that.

I'm going to give the stock cooler a chance and if I don't like it ..... then will get an aftermarket cooler.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanx guys...

Cheers!

(2012-05-29 08:36)Beer40oz Wrote:  T800... oh crap..... how hot does it get?

Oh man.... I might have the same problems....?

Man... makes me rethink it now. I read good reviews on it....

Nice to know from someone who owns it. Crazy even with a Fan still gives you problems..

I would get 90C on the GPU before it would shutdown. Like I said in the other case it was fine. My brother has the same one in his bedroom HTPC in a bigger case without any problems.

If you want a small case then I think it is a good idea to cancel and get something different.

you'll be limited tho in apu cooler selection.
M350 is tiny.

(2012-05-29 08:25)T800 Wrote:  I decided I wanted a smaller, quieter case so I got this one:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Black-HTPC-Q6-...138wt_1159

It ran too hot and kept cutting out. I covered the top of the case with holes which made it better but still too hot, especially if I left the XBMC menu on. I then added a fan like this to the top:
http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_25035.html

It has ran fine now for months but this hot weather in the UK at the weekend killed it again. I've set my remote to put it to sleep when not in use and I can't leave it on XBMC menus for more than 5-10 minutes even with algorithmdirtyregions and nofliptimeout enabled.

That's a damn shame. Was going to use one of them cases for my next build. The company that supply them are around the corner from me. Ah well back to the drawing board.

So Eskro....

The active low profile coolers then its the smallest it can fit then? oh man....
where is a link for it?

Also I just measured the stock A6-3500 cooler and it is 1 1/2" witch will fit I think.... not sure.

this guy nailed it,
check his M350
http://www.hwupgrade.it/forum/showpost.p...count=8767

saw his 100W TDP COOLER?

FTW!!

this http://goo.gl/EPTQQ
and this http://goo.gl/z2DrA
could work!!