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AMD Zacate - the next great HTPC chip? - Page 32

post #931 of 940
3/6/12 at 3:48pm
These are links to the builds I made. Most people won't need the extra storage drive, but my NAS drive died right before I made this build.... hence the HTPC/NAS I use this for now.

Mini ITX i3 Build
This build will cost around $725 from newegg today.

Mini ITX Zotac E-350 Build
This one cost around $575 for the complete build off today's prices of newegg.

I was aiming at a $400 build... but like always it cost way more then I wanted, but I am extremely happy about it. I built the Zotac build off Newegg TV: Mini ITX HTPC Build Series. Great video on two basic builds and along with assassins guild helped me build my first HTPC (but not my first computer). Moving on for extenders and such I think I will keep it to a $300-$400 G620 intel build. I was not too impressed by AMD.

A few custom mods I added to the case:
Panel Mount USB Cable
Vantec Thermoflow TF8025 80x80x25mm Double Ball Bearing Temperature Controlled Case Fan
StarTech USB A to USB Motherboard 4-Pin Header
IO Crest Dual 3.5-Inch HDD/SSD Mounting Bracket

Just screwed the fan into the vent holes where the vertical drive would go and moved the drive to the bottom front of the case where there is empty space.
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post #932 of 940
3/6/12 at 5:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by perpetual98 View Post

What was the price difference between the Zacate rig and the i3 rig? I'd be curious about the energy difference too. I haven't put my Kill-a-watt on my HTPC in since I moved.

Here's mine no optical and 2 gigs ram
LL
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post #933 of 940
3/6/12 at 5:15pm
I built my Zacate rig with an older AMD HTPC, so I had the case/PSU/ODD already, so upgrading to the Zacate was actually very cheap. So cheap in fact that I put a 60gb SSD in it.

I do like the Zacate rig as it's done just about everything that I've thrown at it as far as HTPC goes, including BD rips. I've got I think 7TB of storage in it and use JRiver's Media Center. The only thing that chokes it is Netflix. If that's my only limitation, I'm fine with it. I've also got an Xbox 360 hooked up to it if I really want to stream Netflix, and I have a WDTV Live if the Xbox is in the basement being used.

Would I like to have a more powerful PC? Sure! What self-respecting geek wouldn't!
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post #934 of 940
3/6/12 at 5:18pm
Here's mine while playing 1080p.

i3 2100, two 2TB green hard drives, SATAIII SSD, no optical

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post #935 of 940
3/6/12 at 7:36pm
Curses! Now I feel compelled to take my kill-a-watt off of my aquarium too see what mine is pulling.
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post #936 of 940
3/7/12 at 1:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by gaidin43 View Post

These are links to the builds I made. Most people won't need the extra storage drive, but my NAS drive died right before I made this build.... hence the HTPC/NAS I use this for now.

Mini ITX i3 Build
This build will cost around $725 from newegg today.

Mini ITX Zotac E-350 Build
This one cost around $575 for the complete build off today's prices of newegg.

I was aiming at a $400 build... but like always it cost way more then I wanted, but I am extremely happy about it. I built the Zotac build off Newegg TV: Mini ITX HTPC Build Series. Great video on two basic builds and along with assassins guild helped me build my first HTPC (but not my first computer). Moving on for extenders and such I think I will keep it to a $300-$400 G620 intel build. I was not too impressed by AMD.

A few custom mods I added to the case:
Panel Mount USB Cable
Vantec Thermoflow TF8025 80x80x25mm Double Ball Bearing Temperature Controlled Case Fan
StarTech USB A to USB Motherboard 4-Pin Header
IO Crest Dual 3.5-Inch HDD/SSD Mounting Bracket

Just screwed the fan into the vent holes where the vertical drive would go and moved the drive to the bottom front of the case where there is empty space.

Then why post in this thread if your not impressed????????
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post #937 of 940
3/7/12 at 2:10pm
This site is all about spreading information and experience. That was my experience with the zacate and just sharing that experience. Don't get me wrong it's a decent chip but not nearly as good as other options out there for similar prices.

This isn't a one side discussion.
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post #938 of 940
3/7/12 at 6:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by perpetual98 View Post

Curses! Now I feel compelled to take my kill-a-watt off of my aquarium too see what mine is pulling.

Ah your aquarium is killing way more watts than your computer
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post #939 of 940
3/7/12 at 9:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffkro View Post

Ah your aquarium is killing way more watts than your computer

You got that right, especially being saltwater with enough lighting to probably make the police wonder what I'm doing and enough pumps to keep a small creek flowing.

With my electric rates though, my K-a-W says that the tank is only about $12 a month, which is a lot less than I thought it might be when I plugged it in.
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post #940 of 940
3/8/12 at 4:39pm
Switched the Kill-a-Watt to the HTPC and at first blush, it's running around 60 watts with nothing going on and around 68 watts playing a BD rip.

Hardware-wise, it's the Zacate mobo, a 60GB SSD, Optical drive and 1TB hard drive inside, 120mm case fan, CPU fan and 80mm case fan.

External hard drives are two 2TB drives in a USB toaster-dock and a 1TB drive via USB. It looks like my externals alone are consuming around 15 or so watts.

Curious to see if I could get my idle down much lower, but the K-a-W is telling me it's $3 per month, although that gets more accurate the longer you let it run obviously.
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