GIGABYTE GA-E350N AMD E-350D APU AMD A45 FCH Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo $59.99 + Free Ship

What do you guys think about the Raidmax ITX-0907-BP ITX Computer Case? It comes with 300w psu



http://www.frys.com/product/61458...IN_RSLT_PG

This setup would be nice to run security cameras and watch hulu free on tv.

Quote from pdinc : Can you report back if you bite?

I used a Shuttle K45 cube for this and it works perfectly (USB 3.0 version of the board, but it's the same form factor).

Quote from lex2000 : have fun with 10bit x264. lol.

Wrong. My AMD C-50 netbook with the correct codec settings (LAV Filter, PotPlayer, Overlay Mixer) can run 720p Hi10p flawlessly without any frame drops. Seeing how this is the E350, I'm 100% sure it can CPU decode 720p Hi10p up to around 5000kb/s bitrate or so.

Then again, Hi10p is farking useless, and hopefully dumbass encoders would stop using it.

I've been eyeing this APU for an htpc build for a while.

Just saw an AMD Dual Core 3250e 1.5 GHz Dell Zino HD pop up on my local CL...I could get that for $175, but it's only got 3GB DDR2 RAM (which is mad expensive if I wanted to up it). and the GPU is a Radeon 4330 (I believe w/ 512mb discrete mem).

How would this compare? If I got the Zino I wouldn't have to get a case or PSU, though I might have to get more/expensive RAM. I could get 8GB DDR3 for the E-350 for like $40.

My other option was the A4 3400 Llano combo that showed up the other day. That wouldn't be as small, or as silent, or as energy efficient....but cheaper!

Also, does anyone know what the difference is between this 350D CPU and the regular E-350?

Thanks!

Is it common for mini-itx to not include a PCI-E port? It seems like it would be useful to have one. The only thing stopping me from grabbing this deal is knowing that I'd never be able to upgrade the video card.

Quote from jsklar : Also, does anyone know what the difference is between this 350D CPU and the regular E-350?

I got the same question too but I couldn't find any answer from google search. Anyone has answer on this one?

Quote from jsklar : I've been eyeing this APU for an htpc build for a while. Just saw an AMD Dual Core 3250e 1.5 GHz Dell Zino HD pop up on my local CL...I could get that for $175, but it's only got 3GB DDR2 RAM (which is mad expensive if I wanted to up it). and the GPU is a Radeon 4330 (I believe w/ 512mb discrete mem). How would this compare? If I got the Zino I wouldn't have to get a case or PSU, though I might have to get more/expensive RAM. I could get 8GB DDR3 for the E-350 for like $40. My other option was the A4 3400 Llano combo that showed up the other day. That wouldn't be as small, or as silent, or as energy efficient....but cheaper! Also, does anyone know what the difference is between this 350D CPU and the regular E-350? Thanks!

Good question. Per Anandtech [anandtech.com], the AMD Athlon X2 3250e (1.5GHz) slightly outperform the AMD E-350 but both are in the same class as dual-core Intel Atom. Same with Radeon HD 4330 being slightly faster than the HD 6310 (the Radeon HD 6310 in the AMD E-350 APU is actually based on the HD 4330 core but without dedicated memory: source [notebookcheck.net]). The E-350 does have higher efficiency, modern architecture (DDR3, UVD3, etc) and newer drivers.

The Zino HD 400 is over 2 years ago and I considered buying it at $400+ back then (when it was on FP deal quite often). Come to think of it, it seems that AMD designed the E-350 as a cost-reduced replacement for the Zino HD's CPU + dGPU combo (of course it isn't true). With the Zino HD, you get the full package -- case, PSU, WiFi, (2) e-SATA, multi-card reader, ODD (DVD+RW or BR-ROM/DVD+RW combo) and possibly a 3.5" HDD. The 2010q3 Zino HD 410 model refresh brought support for DDR3-1066, optional Radeon HD 5450 1GB (it came with integrated Radeon HD 4250 standard), a variety of CPU from Athlon II/Turion II, Phenom II X3 and even a 25W Phenom II X4 1.7GHz.

Personally I'd like to see mobile Llano A4/A6 based HTPC. The E-350 CPU is just slow for general use and non-DXVA (e.g., Silverlight) video decode. The A4 is probably better for everyday (single to dual core) use due to lower cost and higher base speed but the faster GPU in the A6 is nice to have.

~~~

The AMD E-350D appears to be a 22W TDP desktop version of the 18W TDP E-350: http://xtreview.com/addcomment-id...istic.html and http://www.inpai.com.cn/doc/hard/156211.htm.

Quote from ph7 : I have an old Shuttle SN78 combo with a dead motherboard. Anyone know if this mini-TX board will fit? Shuttles fit some mini-itx, and not others...

Take a look at the rear - does it have a detachable motherboard plate? If yes, probably. I have a really old Pentium based Shuttle system and I got it to work. The front USB and audio plugs were different wiring, so those were not worth modifying, but the motherboard mount holes matched, and I only had to use the dermal tool to fit the back plate.

I would also warn those who want to bite: Do this only if you have all the other components (ram, HD, case, power supply), and want a "project". Most people want a HTPC. The truth is that it is barely fast enough for HD youtube. I had to do a lot of tweaking with codec and Win7 settings to get all the difficult MKV/AVI/video files to play, and I needed to have a very clean/sparse installation and held my breath while I was playing the files.... After a while, with wallpapers, screen savers, toolbars, cookies, etc., I'm sure things will get worst. But in the mean time, it was a fun build, and I now have a nearly silent PC (The only fan running is a 12" fan I stuck to the front of the case. I am running off a 60W picoPSU driving a 60gb OCZ SSD and 8gb of ram.

Quote from FatFaluz : Good question. Per Anandtech [anandtech.com], the AMD Athlon X2 3250e (1.5GHz) slightly outperform the AMD E-350 but both are in the same class as dual-core Intel Atom. Same with Radeon HD 4330 being slightly faster than the HD 6310 (the Radeon HD 6310 in the AMD E-350 APU is actually based on the HD 4330 core but without dedicated memory: source [notebookcheck.net]). The E-350 does have higher efficiency, modern architecture (DDR3, UVD3, etc) and newer drivers. The Zino HD 400 is over 2 years ago and I considered buying it at $400+ back then (when it was on FP deal quite often). Come to think of it, it seems that AMD designed the E-350 as a cost-reduced replacement for the Zino HD's CPU + dGPU combo (of course it isn't true). With the Zino HD, you get the full package -- case, PSU, WiFi, (2) e-SATA, multi-card reader, ODD (DVD+RW or BR-ROM/DVD+RW combo) and possibly a 3.5" HDD. The 2010q3 Zino HD 410 model refresh brought support for DDR3-1066, optional Radeon HD 5450 1GB (it came with integrated Radeon HD 4250 standard), a variety of CPU from Athlon II/Turion II, Phenom II X3 and even a 25W Phenom II X4 1.7GHz. Personally I'd like to see mobile Llano A4/A6 based HTPC. The E-350 CPU is just slow for general use and non-DXVA (e.g., Silverlight) video decode. The A4 is probably better for everyday (single to dual core) use due to lower cost and higher base speed but the faster GPU in the A6 is nice to have. ~~~ The AMD E-350D appears to be a 22W TDP desktop version of the 18W TDP E-350: http://xtreview.com/addcomment-id...istic.html and http://www.inpai.com.cn/doc/hard/156211.htm.

Ah, thanks for the info ... I had a feeling the D was for Desktop and therefore meant more consumption. Anyway, I found a better deal on Craigslist yesterday that I jumped on....a Toshiba A665-S1000x [toshiba.com] that had a broken screen for $180. It's got an Intel Core i7-2630QM (quad core Sandy Bridge, 2ghz w/ 2.9ghz turbo boost and 6mb cache), 6GB DDR3 RAM, a 640gb hdd (might swap for ssd), a bluray reader/dvd burner. I took it apart and detached the boken LCD so I just have it running via HDMI to my TV now. I think the HD3000 will be plenty fine for my HTPC use, and the i7 quad core should help with decoding silverlight content.

Using my Kill-a-watt, I measured around 14-15 watts idle...will have to check what it's drawing while decoding x264...

Quote from eibgrad : COM x 1 LPT x 1 Who in the world is still using serial/parallel ports? With the limited the space available, this is what they decide is vital?

A lot of companies use them, which was originally where most ITX sales were. There are also a lot of hackers/tinkerers that use them.

Hope this goes on sale again. Missed this one =(

Well, I received my board, and I paired it with a 4gb stick of DDR3-1600 memory (board will only run it at 1066) and a 64GB Crucial M4 SSD. Overall, I think the board is just ok... Running Windows 7 Media Center it seems to playback all HD recordings fine. I get audio thru the HDMI without problems.

I've tried to playback several different downloaded movie files, from 480P/720P/1080P encodes in both MP4 and AVI formats. There was only one 1080P mkv file I couldn't get to playback - all others did fine (including a few other 1080P mkv files - strange).

The system runs ok, a little pokey, but ok. Things that run almost instantly on my other dual-core or quad-core machines (65W-95W chips) can take a few seconds with the AMD E-350 chip. Here are the WEI scores for this machine:

Processor: 3.7
Memory (RAM): 5.6
Graphics: 4.0
Gaming graphics: 5.6
Primary hard disk: 7.4

Overall, for $60 you can't complain much... I'm planning to put this as a secondary HTPC in our exercise room. However, if this we're intended to be my main HTPC rig I think I would opt to spend a little more and get more horsepower - you'll get frustrated with the lag if you were to interface with this rig all the time.

For about $115 I found the following combo:

Foxconn H67S LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s Mini ITX Intel Motherboard [newegg.com]

Intel Celeron G540 Sandy Bridge 2.5GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80623G540 [newegg.com]

For another $55 this would be a much more satisfying rig to live with with more than enough ooomph to do whatever you throw at it.

Hope this info might help others make a future decision.