AMD Fusion E350 Plattform

(2012-06-27 19:42)Dougie Fresh Wrote:  

(2012-06-27 19:27)Golayitdown Wrote:  

(2012-06-27 18:35)assassin Wrote:  Again, there are options out there for the same money (or at most $20 more) that simply perform better. They also use about the same amount of energy.

Could you provide/link some? Not doubting you at all, but I'm in the market for new box (a 350 box as of right now). Would prefer a super small bare bones box but would be willing to build if I can get the same size and much better performance..

A6-3500 mini-ITX barebones
7.87"W x 2.96"H (75mm) x 9.29"D
http://www.ecosmartpc.com/ei5a63500.html
$329.99 + free shipping

Just needs 2.5" HDD/SSD and OS.

The G530/H61/4GB/84W version (not listed) can be had for $299 + free shipping

These guys do custom barebones and fully configured HTPCs:
http://www.assassinhtpc.com

Nano-businesses can do what the big brands/big stores cannot -- tailor to our hobby.

But an e350 based htpc can be built for around $200

David

Well, two things:

First, building your own is going to be cheaper than buying a barebones because you're not paying someone else to put it together and test it for you -- it's not even comparable. All these posts have been about barebones not DIY.

Second, if you swap an E-350 into those barebones configurations above, let's say the ASRock which tends to be the cheapest of the lot (which i would not use), the difference in price over the G530/H61 would be $30.

Apples-to-apples for DIY (though I would consider the ASRock not the same quality in my experience as Gigabyte/Intel)

ASRock E-350
http://www.amazon.com/ASRock-E350M1-Dual...004KABOZG/
$94.00
Total: $94

Intel G530
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-G530-CACHE-P...005LTU54Q/
$47.18

H61 motherboard
http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GA-H61N-U...005SCYHV8/
$79.99
Total: 127.17

Difference $33.17

No matter the case, PSU, memory, whatever the difference is $33.17.

.......

Someone can accuse me of being a fanboy all you they want. I simply want to point out what the real difference is in price so people can make an informed decision based on real data. Someone might decide for $33 they want the more powerful/flexible system. Someone else might decide $33 is a big deal so they want the E-350. At the end of the day, I have no personal stake in what someone decides, i5, i7, i3, Pentium, Celeron, Llano, AllWinner A10, AMD, Nvidia, or otherwise.

(2012-06-27 21:44)Dougie Fresh Wrote:  Someone can accuse me of being a fanboy all you they want. I simply want to point out what the real difference is in price so people can make an informed decision based on real data. Someone might decide for $33 they want the more powerful/flexible system. Someone else might decide $33 is a big deal so they want the E-350. At the end of the day, I have no personal stake in what someone decides, i5, i7, i3, Pentium, Celeron, Llano, AllWinner A10, AMD, Nvidia, or otherwise.

To me it makes sense to go with the G530 for just a small increase in cost. Despite my defence of the e350 I am looking to upgrade so that the Aeon skins run smoother.

I personally don't have experience with the A4-3400. I don't see people here recommending it but I don't know why. Hopefully someone can answer that.

The G530 and A6-3500 CPUs are in the same benchmark ballpark. Both the Intel and AMD do HTPC things well even though the AMD GPU benchmarks better than the Intel GPU. The better benchmark doesn't get you better PQ or sound so it doesn't matter. After that it comes down to drivers and software compatibility between the two. You'll get a lot of differing experiences there, each having its pluses and minuses with neither being perfect.

(2012-06-27 21:14)Dougie Fresh Wrote:  Well, two things:

First, building your own is going to be cheaper than buying a barebones because you're not paying someone else to put it together and test it for you -- it's not even comparable. All these posts have been about barebones not DIY.

Second, if you swap an E-350 into those barebones configurations above, let's say the ASRock which tends to be the cheapest of the lot (which i would not use), the difference in price over the G530/H61 would be $30.

Apples-to-apples for DIY (though I would consider the ASRock not the same quality in my experience as Gigabyte/Intel)

ASRock E-350
http://www.amazon.com/ASRock-E350M1-Dual...004KABOZG/
$94.00
Total: $94

Intel G530
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-G530-CACHE-P...005LTU54Q/
$47.18

H61 motherboard
http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GA-H61N-U...005SCYHV8/
$79.99
Total: 127.17

Difference $33.17

No matter the case, PSU, memory, whatever the difference is $33.17.

I was going to post something similar. If you have a Microcenter then you can get the G530 for $35 so your difference is $21.17 which is where I came up with the ~$20 difference.

To be able to have a system with x3 horsepower that can run Netflix HD, Plex Server transcoding to my mobile devices, Smoother interface, XBMC version 2013, a more upgradeable and future proof system, etc is $20 I would spend every single time.

But that's just me.

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(2012-06-27 22:08)Dougie Fresh Wrote:  I personally don't have experience with the A4-3400. I don't see people here recommending it but I don't know why. Hopefully someone can answer that.

The G530 and A6-3500 CPUs are in the same benchmark ballpark. Both the Intel and AMD do HTPC things well even though the AMD GPU benchmarks better than the Intel GPU. The better benchmark doesn't get you better PQ or sound so it doesn't matter. After that it comes down to drivers and software compatibility between the two. You'll get a lot of differing experiences there, each having its pluses and minuses with neither being perfect.

A4 is pretty weak for some tasks compared to the A6. For an extra $5-$15 you get 50% more CPU.