Will this work? A8 in M350
#1
I received an AMD A8 3870K as a gift. I just built a new system for my main desktop but have been wanting to make an HTPC. I'm looking at a Group #6 build.

Will this work?
CPU: AMD A8 3870K
MOBO: ASUS F1A75-I DELUXE
Memory: Samsung low voltage low profile 8GB
SSD: Undecided, but probably something between 60gb and 120gb. Would prefer to mount two 2.5" SSDs and run them in RAID.
Case: M350 with 150W PicoPSU and adapter

I'd like to mount the case to the back of my TV, which is why I have chosen the M350. If there are other suggestion for a case that will allow me to VESA mount it, I'm open to other suggestions

Questions:
1) Will this even fit in the case?
2) Will the stock cooler be enough? I noticed there is a new cooler from Gelid that is rated for 95W but I haven't seen this for sale yet
3) I am planning to undervolt the CPU since it seems like a pretty easy thing to do and a lot of people report success.

Inspiration for this build comes from the M350 RaceMachine
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#2
It will run super hot! I would not do it.... get a different case. My A6 runs hot in there.... so the a8 forget about it.
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#3
(2012-07-29, 08:28)gomiflo Wrote: Inspiration for this build comes from the M350 RaceMachine

He had to undervolt/underclock his processor to avoid to boil it...
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#4
Thank you for all the feedback. I was also planning to under volt the processor. I don't leave my machines on, so I think that it would typically be on for 2 hours at a time, playing 1080p movies.

My other choice after the M350 is the Habey EMC-800BL. Downsides for me on the Habey are:
- Can't mount on the back of my TV
- Included 120W power supply-is it enough?
- Is there any way to get two 2.5" drives in the Habey 800BL?

On the upside
- Should be much easier to cool
- I imagine I could run the stock cooler in there and if it turns out it is not good enough, there seems to be enough room for a Scythe Kozuti
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#5
This case, also by the same manufacturer as Habey, can fit 2 x 2.5" drives: http://www.ecosmartpc.com/ei5.html. You can find a few threads on here about using this case. The 120W power supply will be enough with the 120W AC adapter for normal usage. If you're planning to run at maximum load all the time it could be an issue but would probably overheat first Smile.
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#6
The Habey comes with a 12V 5A adapter. Does this mean it will only be supplying 60W even though the board is 120W? With a 100W Llano in there it looks like I would have to upgrade the adapter/

What is the situation for the E-I7? Would I also have to upgrade the included PSU and would it be just the power adapter? Or both the PSU and the adapter?

Thanks so much for your help.
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#7
(2012-07-30, 20:19)gomiflo Wrote: The Habey comes with a 12V 5A adapter. Does this mean it will only be supplying 60W even though the board is 120W? With a 100W Llano in there it looks like I would have to upgrade the adapter/

What is the situation for the E-I7? Would I also have to upgrade the included PSU and would it be just the power adapter? Or both the PSU and the adapter?

Thanks so much for your help.

Correct. It maxes out at 60W. For the E-i7 it's 84W. If you're going through my site, you can upgrade to the 120W AC adapter for either model.

What I am not so sure about is what the A8-3870K would use at max load -- if it would exceed 120W -- and if you care to run it that hard. It depends on your usage. The A6-3500 maxes out at ~80W at full load with the 120W DC/120W AC power supply per my testing with a kill-a-watt meter.
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#8
If I have to get an adapter anyway, I might just get a 150W picopsu kit and remove the board that comes with the case (both the Habey and the E-i7). I will likely undervolt the CPU, although if everything runs at stock ok, I won't bother.

Initial use of this is as a HTPC. The most taxing thing it will do is play 1080p video for up to 2.5 hours at a time. Everything is powered off when not in use. I am hoping to eventually re-use this as a 2-bay NAS when it no longer serves as an HTPC. So the idea is to run it now with a single 2.5" drive, and an ODD. And then when it comes time to turn it into a NAS, remove the ODD and mount two 2.5" drives and put them in mirroring RAID.

Under these conditions, I am assuming that a 120W power supply is borderline sufficient, and a 150W supply would definitely be OK. Does that sound reasonable?
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#9
Just beware that you'll need to mod the EMC-800 (or for the E-i7 let it hang out the slot or fashion a slot cover) to take the 4-pin mini-DIN connector of the picoPSU-150.

FYI, the E-i7 is available w/o the power supply as a special order via email.

Sometime in the future, there'll be a 180W PSU for the E-i7.

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#10
Thanks for the info regarding the requirement to mod. I had no idea. What would be involved in the case of the EMC-800?

As an alternative what is your opinion on the S197-H80 ?
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#11
Gomiflo what about the lian li PC-Q09FA http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/pro...dex=63&g=f
it shouldn't have any problem to manage your cpu. It comes with a 150w psu and can be vesa mounted

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#12
Hi Zenith. The Q09 is a bit big for what I want and supports just one 2.5" drive. I'm currently looking at the Antec ISK110 VESA as another alternative that is small, vesa mountable, and will allow me to use two 2.5 inch drives. It looks like it will have enough room for a Scythe Kozuti if the stock HSF on the AMD A8 is too loud. The only downside is that I'd have to replace the PSU with a more powerful PicoPSU, and there won't be space for an ODD.
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#13
Kozuti has maximum tpd of 95w for quiet operation 65w. It's difficult to cool and keep silent an high tpd cpu in such small cases mainly for limits in cpu cooler height.
If antec designed the ISK110 using a 90watt maybe is because is the maximum wattage that is possible to be dissipated in that case.
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#14
(2012-07-30, 20:31)Dougie Fresh Wrote: What I am not so sure about is what the A8-3870K would use at max load -- if it would exceed 120W -- and if you care to run it that hard. It depends on your usage. The A6-3500 maxes out at ~80W at full load with the 120W DC/120W AC power supply per my testing with a kill-a-watt meter.

I have the A8-3870K with a SSD, and 2 HDD's. With Prime95 my Kill-A-Watt showed 143W at 10 minutes of Prime95 kicking my poor little HTPC's ass (Selected the option that said "Maximum heat, CPU, and Power")

73W-76W Watching 1080 mkv from one of the hard drives (Saves a few Watts if I stream over the network)

32.8W at idle (with these forums open in Chrome)



HTPC 1 - AMD A8-3870K, ASRock A75M, Silverstone ML03B, Kingston HyperX 4GB DDR3 1866, Crucial M4 64GB SSD
HTPC 2 - HP Stream Mini, 6GB Ram
unRAID 6 Server - Intel Celeron G1610, 20TB Storage

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#15
Have you looked at the Akasa Crypto mini ITX case, they do a VESA mount version.

http://www.akasa.com.tw/update.php?tpl=p...AK-ITX03BK

David
HTPC1: Intel Pentium G620, 4GB RAM, AMD HD6570, Samsung 830 SSD, Silverstone GD05 case.
HTPC2: AMD Athlon II X2 255, 4GB RAM, AMD HD5450, Western Digital HDD, Silverstone ML03 case.
HTPC3: AMD E350, 4GB RAM, AMD HD6310, OCZ Agility 3 SSD, Akasa Crypto case.
Media Server: i3-3220, 8gb RAM, WHS 2011, 8tb capacity, Fractal Design ARC Midi R2 case.
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Will this work? A8 in M3500