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First AMD Fusion HTPC Builds for CES

post #1 of 17
1/8/11 at 9:48am
Thread Starter 
Full disclosure - I work for AMD and designed the first and last All in Wonders at ATI. So I kinda like the HTPC space , and I'll keep this non commercial and stay out of any ensuing spam wars...

I got hold of some early Fusion boards and built some CES demos in my basement. There's a touch screen car computer with a nano ITX Fusion, and an HTPC with a mini ITX Fusion in a Silverstone nano ITX case. Yes that fits, but your Dremel will get a workout.

And for fun, the HTPC drives a pico projector from Syndiant that I put inside a Labbit for strange update on a Kenner Easy Show Projector.

Video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4-dx...=youtube_gdata
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post #2 of 17
1/8/11 at 10:37am
very cool!
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post #3 of 17
1/8/11 at 10:40am
Very cool stuff. Do you know if we'll see any Zacate based nanoITX motherboards?

Do you have any pictures of the inside of the SilverStone case, and what you did there?
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post #4 of 17
1/8/11 at 11:24am
Thread Starter 
Can't ever comment on when what might be shipped by who for how much, sorry. Google for CES announcements such as: http://www.gigabyte.com/press-center...e.aspx?nid=963

But the build was fun. The LC-08 Silverstone case is designed for a nano board, so:
1. Cut out the fixed back panel with a Dremel to hold a standard backplate
2. Remove nano mounting studs, drill new mini spaced holes
3. Move the supply to where the hard drive was supposed to be
4. Replace the light & switch bracket with a thin custom board and even cut the catch off the power connector- a mini board is a VERY tight fit in that case! If the board has a different layout this may not be required.
5. Cut out more baseplate metal to make things fit and then repaint it.

The motherboard is an internal reference design, the Bluray drive is from HLDS - it's a slimline BD drive that includes a 32GB SSD - all runs off one SATA cable - saves a lot of space and heat.
http://hlds.co.kr/press/e_list.php?table=e_product
I had an earlier build that stacked a 2.5" SSD between a regular BD slimline and the supply using an extra bracket - I expect the HLDS drive might be hard to find.
LL
LL
LL
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post #5 of 17
1/8/11 at 11:28am
Very cool stuff Ed! Looking forward to seeing what companies will be bringing out soon based on the Fusion line.

The rabbit was funny.
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post #6 of 17
1/8/11 at 1:12pm
Thread Starter 
And more Fusion board announcements, this one from Sapphire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqA2I...eature=related
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post #7 of 17
1/8/11 at 3:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by edcal View Post

Can't ever comment on when what might be shipped by who for how much, sorry. Google for CES announcements such as: http://www.gigabyte.com/press-center...e.aspx?nid=963

But the build was fun. The LC-08 Silverstone case is designed for a nano board, so:
1. Cut out the fixed back panel with a Dremel to hold a standard backplate
2. Remove nano mounting studs, drill new mini spaced holes
3. Move the supply to where the hard drive was supposed to be
4. Replace the light & switch bracket with a thin custom board and even cut the catch off the power connector- a mini board is a VERY tight fit in that case! If the board has a different layout this may not be required.
5. Cut out more baseplate metal to make things fit and then repaint it.

The motherboard is an internal reference design, the Bluray drive is from HLDS - it's a slimline BD drive that includes a 32GB SSD - all runs off one SATA cable - saves a lot of space and heat.
http://hlds.co.kr/press/e_list.php?table=e_product
I had an earlier build that stacked a 2.5" SSD between a regular BD slimline and the supply using an extra bracket - I expect the HLDS drive might be hard to find.

Thanks for the guide. Might end up doing something like that myself.
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post #8 of 17
1/8/11 at 10:22pm
this is all nice. Any solid ETA when people can actually buy this stuff? Its vaporware in my book until people can actually buy it.
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post #9 of 17
1/9/11 at 9:13am
This is all I need:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/07/a...-ad03-blu-ray/
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post #10 of 17
1/9/11 at 9:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bimmerfreak0 View Post

This is all I need:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/07/a...-ad03-blu-ray/

hubba hubba, could be some sticker shock
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post #11 of 17
1/11/11 at 12:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bimmerfreak0 View Post

This is all I need:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/07/a...-ad03-blu-ray/

Nice form factor, although a little high. But it has no built in IR-reciever, and from what I hear Zotac is not know for their quality products. Personally I'm hoping for a E-350 based tablet with a HDMI-dock that has an IR-reciever. Now that would be an amazing HTPC.
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post #12 of 17
1/11/11 at 1:00pm
The idea of a nano-ITX Fusion board has me drooling over the size nettop I could build with something like that. It probably would hardly use the power of 2 CFLs and you could surf the 'net, check emails and play all your media on it. Nice. The hard part will be getting decent cases for these things.
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post #13 of 17
1/11/11 at 1:31pm
Hey Ed,

I did not see those in our meeting rooms. Though admittedly, I was wrapped up in tons of meetings and did not get much chance to see all our demos.

Where were these?

Java
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post #14 of 17
1/11/11 at 6:35pm
Thread Starter 
Was in Meeting Room 4. Labbit and HTPC at the Ontario Science Centre on Thursday 13th.
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post #15 of 17
1/19/11 at 5:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by edcal View Post

Full disclosure - I work for AMD and designed the first and last All in Wonders at ATI. So I kinda like the HTPC space , and I'll keep this non commercial and stay out of any ensuing spam wars...

I got hold of some early Fusion boards and built some CES demos in my basement. There's a touch screen car computer with a nano ITX Fusion, and an HTPC with a mini ITX Fusion in a Silverstone nano ITX case. Yes that fits, but your Dremel will get a workout.

And for fun, the HTPC drives a pico projector from Syndiant that I put inside a Labbit for strange update on a Kenner Easy Show Projector.

Video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4-dx...=youtube_gdata

Hello Edcal,

Thanks for the input. I saw also couple of post from you also on MP3car! Looks like you want to spread the word for the Fusion with good reasons.

I'm in the process of building a car PC with Nano or Pico itx form factor. So far the big problem with the current manufacturer is that they only provide 2 channel analog audio out, were I would need 5 (Front L+R, Rear L+R, Sub) plug into an amp. All these boards are mostly made for Point of Sale and i understand they don't require more than 2 channels.

I was looking at Atom based platform but I'll wait for the Fusion.

The question is do you know manufacturer we should watch that will manufacture Fusion Pico or Nano itx platforms that will be geared towards multimedia?

Thanks,

Charles
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post #16 of 17
1/19/11 at 12:08pm
Cool AMD Fusion stuff! Lots of stuff I can use... If Fusion do 32-bit console emulation and even some mild gaming (HD46xx and below) then this could be the base for a tiny media pc build I've kinda wanted to build.

Thanks for the info!
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post #17 of 17
1/19/11 at 2:52pm
Thread Starter 
Nano/pico boards don't usually have the jack space for 5.1 analog outputs, but it might happen, dunno.
On those smaller boards easiest way to get surround on small backplane is HDMI or SPDIF.
Most consumer mini ITX boards have 5.1 analog out
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