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*Official* Asus E35M1-M Pro AMD Zacate motherboard thread - Page 2

post #31 of 602
2/11/11 at 12:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dj4monie View Post

I kept saying this compared to a standard desktop should be the same experience, its only when you only ask it to do something that would stress the CPU that you might experience some slow down. Anything CPU intensive would run better with a more powerful CPU, duh.

But you seldom do more than two things at any one time with an HTPC, so doubt it would be affected.

Can you try if slideshow of photos with MCE or MediaPortal with pan and zoom effect is smoothly?

Thanks, bye.
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post #32 of 602
2/11/11 at 1:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by almostinsane View Post

So far my impression is this sucks.

I installed win7, TMT 5, Haali Splitter, and Media Browser. Even low bitrate 720P files stutter like crazy. Nothing plays at all smoothly. I even set the video memory to 2GB and have 4GB of RAM installed. I installed the drivers from the CD.

Never, ever install drivers from the CD.... New Cats are out, includes updates for Flash 10.2. By the time these things comes two drivers generations could have passed.
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post #33 of 602
2/11/11 at 1:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by almostinsane View Post

Disc (disk?) performance and flash don't mean anything if it can't playback low bitrate or BD movies.

You have some other issue. Dual Core CPU is all that's needed for HD playback, UVD 3.0 off loads everything anyway.

Quote:
Originally Posted by almostinsane View Post

lol, this was to replace my 785g in my bedroom.

Did you do a clean install of Windows???
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post #34 of 602
2/11/11 at 1:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bruceas View Post

Can you try if slideshow of photos with MCE or MediaPortal with pan and zoom effect is smoothly?

Thanks, bye.

I don't look at Photos (not in slide shows)... I also don't have this board (not this version) yet.

I doubt that would tax a system if does your current system then its something else.
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post #35 of 602
2/11/11 at 5:01am
Hmm. I have no idea what you've run into. I'm not using TMT, but a full format MKV of Star Trek plays without a hitch @ 1080P, full bitstream. (made via MakeMKV) I have no stutters, no audio hiccups, smooth as silk..
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post #36 of 602
2/11/11 at 6:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by almostinsane View Post

yeah, so far this board is garbage.

I'll take it off your hands for $100.

Pretty sure I can make it do anything I need.

BT
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post #37 of 602
2/11/11 at 6:40am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dj4monie View Post

Never, ever install drivers from the CD.... New Cats are out, includes updates for Flash 10.2. By the time these things comes two drivers generations could have passed.

I installed 10.12 off of a download that I had on a flash drive and it said that there was nothing that Catalyst could configure. I installed the VGA drivers off of the CD and then I could get 1920x1080 resolution. Granted, it was late and I just wanted to get the PC going last night. I will try updating the drivers tonight or this weekend.

I did a clean install of Windows 7 Premium (it was the only disk I had) and my license for Windows 7 Pro wouldn't work. (I was thinking I would have to do the phone-call reregistration of Windows) I might bite the bullet and just buy a Premium key, shouldn't be the end of the world, that means I still have a license for my older hardware. Now to just find a Professional ISO...

Other than that things seem to be working fine. Audio worked right out of the box. Had to install ethernet drivers off the CD, but can update those now that I'm connected. Mediabrowser seems to play DVD rips fine. Will install TMT3 and see if my BR rips work with the hardware.
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post #38 of 602
2/11/11 at 7:10am
GIGABYTE GA-E350N-USB3 review by *Guru of 3D*.

Sorry, posted in the wrong thread.
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post #39 of 602
2/11/11 at 7:24am
Thread Starter 
The heatsink on that reminds me of the old Pentium 2 "cartridges"
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post #40 of 602
2/11/11 at 8:06am
Well, I went ahead and bit the bullet. Ordered this MB along with 150W Pico setup, single 2gb G-Skill DDR3 1333 and WD 7200 RPM 160gb notebook drive and a slim DVD. All are going into a case that I built, but have not used.

Cost is $328.77US
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post #41 of 602
2/11/11 at 8:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

GIGABYTE GA-E350N-USB3 review by *Guru of 3D*.

Finally a review that makes some sense. They didn't try any giggle test stuff like "let's put a 256-bit Video Card in it and see what happens, hardy har-har..."

One thing I would like to see however it how these things work with a video card installed (beyond Anandtech's attempt). I found this story on Tom's Hardware and it really piqued my interest - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...5750,2804.html

I knew there were some half-height/low profile products out there but didn't know MSI made a HD5750 low profile video card. But even the HD5570 matches my HD4670 and the HD6xxx card should be even better.
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post #42 of 602
2/11/11 at 8:52am
BTW, for those ordering picoPSUs, I want to relate my experience last night with my 120W picoPSU (120-WI-32) and 72W 16V 4.5A laptop adapter.

Without skipping a beat, the 72W AC adapter / 120W DC picoPSU combo is running my i3-540 / GA-H55N-USB3 / 64 GB SSD system and a few USB peripherals. I left the SATA DVD-burner unhooked for now but everything else is hooked up. The AC adapter doesn't even get warm. When my 120W laptop adapter arrives I'll give that a try and hook the ODD back up.

Just some food for thought as you're ordering the 150W version for your build when you could be just getting the 80W version. Of course, YMMV once you add a bunch of HDDs and a Blu-ray player.

Also, compare ordering the "WI" version of the 120W with a laptop adapter (they are often cheaper than the 12V adapters). It can accept a wide range of voltages making it easier to find an adapter. Make sure you get an AC adapter with a 2.5mm ID / 5.5mm OD plug. I happened to have one from an old work Thinkpad T-series laptop. It the common yellow or sometimes white plug tip.

For those who are installing picoPSUs into regular desktop cases that have a ATX-size PSU opening I might have something for you. PM me.
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post #43 of 602
2/11/11 at 9:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by StardogChampion View Post

BTW, for those ordering picoPSUs, I want to relate my experience last night with my 120W picoPSU (120-WI-32) and 72W 16V 4.5A laptop adapter.

Without skipping a beat, the 72W AC adapter / 120W DC picoPSU combo is running my i3-540 / GA-H55N-USB3 / 64 GB SSD system and a few USB peripherals. I left the SATA DVD-burner unhooked for now but everything else is hooked up. The AC adapter doesn't even get warm. When my 120W laptop adapter arrives I'll give that a try and hook the ODD back up.

Just some food for thought as you're ordering the 150W version for your build when you could be just getting the 80W version. Of course, YMMV once you add a bunch of HDDs and a Blu-ray player.

Also, compare ordering the "WI" version of the 120W with a laptop adapter (they are often cheaper than the 12V adapters). It can accept a wide range of voltages making it easier to find an adapter. Make sure you get an AC adapter with a 2.5mm ID / 5.5mm OD plug. I happened to have one from an old work Thinkpad T-series laptop. It the common yellow or sometimes white plug tip.

For those who are installing picoPSUs into regular desktop cases that have a ATX-size PSU opening I might have something for you. PM me.

That's interesting and thanks for sharing (Main Zacate thread?). In the test above it peaked at 46W under load watching a 1080p file. That's less than idle current of my current HTPC! That was running one drive though, so I would believe any of the less feature rich boards would run with a 60W Pico PSU no problem, just don't hang a bunch of USB devices off it. Hardware Heaven load wattage was 61w with Blu Ray drive, a HDD, SSD and a WiFi-N USB dongle...

This all makes sense because in the net-top world, you can't have even flex-ATX PSU in those super thin cases. Some boards have 6 USB ports on the header, even if you loaded those up with devices I doubt you would exceed much more than 80w. It would create a mess however and that's what I want to avoid.
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post #44 of 602
2/11/11 at 10:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by StardogChampion View Post

BTW, for those ordering picoPSUs, I want to relate my experience last night with my 120W picoPSU (120-WI-32) and 72W 16V 4.5A laptop adapter.

Without skipping a beat, the 72W AC adapter / 120W DC picoPSU combo is running my i3-540 / GA-H55N-USB3 / 64 GB SSD system and a few USB peripherals. I left the SATA DVD-burner unhooked for now but everything else is hooked up. The AC adapter doesn't even get warm. When my 120W laptop adapter arrives I'll give that a try and hook the ODD back up.

Just some food for thought as you're ordering the 150W version for your build when you could be just getting the 80W version. Of course, YMMV once you add a bunch of HDDs and a Blu-ray player.

Also, compare ordering the "WI" version of the 120W with a laptop adapter (they are often cheaper than the 12V adapters). It can accept a wide range of voltages making it easier to find an adapter. Make sure you get an AC adapter with a 2.5mm ID / 5.5mm OD plug. I happened to have one from an old work Thinkpad T-series laptop. It the common yellow or sometimes white plug tip.

For those who are installing picoPSUs into regular desktop cases that have a ATX-size PSU opening I might have something for you. PM me.

I like to stay with the 150W to keep my options open. Very little difference in price and usage. I also may change my mind and go with a Llano MB down the road.

For those who keep finding the AC adapters back-ordered, I got mine from short-circuit.com, they seem to have them in stock more than any of the others.

Also, for the ATX opening, the best thing is to cut a plate to fit the opening from thin steel or aluminum, drill and tap holes and drill one more larger hole to mount the plug. Works great!

BT
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post #45 of 602
2/11/11 at 12:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dj4monie View Post
Finally a review that makes some sense. They didn't try any giggle test stuff like "let's put a 256-bit Video Card in it and see what happens, hardy har-har..."

One thing I would like to see however it how these things work with a video card installed (beyond Anandtech's attempt). I found this story on Tom's Hardware and it really piqued my interest - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...5750,2804.html

I knew there were some half-height/low profile products out there but didn't know MSI made a HD5750 low profile video card. But even the HD5570 matches my HD4670 and the HD6xxx card should be even better.
If you want to make an Mini-ITX AMD gaming rig, the only case to use is the Lian Li PC-Q08. Full size graphics card and full size PSU.... and it comes in RED!!!!

BT
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post #46 of 602
2/11/11 at 3:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bjterry62 View Post

If you want to make an Mini-ITX AMD gaming rig, the only case to use is the Lian Li PC-Q08. Full size graphics card and full size PSU.... and it comes in RED!!!!

BT

It makes an awesome home server case too. Lian-Li PC-Qxx FTW.
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post #47 of 602
2/11/11 at 5:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bjterry62 View Post

If you want to make an Mini-ITX AMD gaming rig, the only case to use is the Lian Li PC-Q08. Full size graphics card and full size PSU.... and it comes in RED!!!!

BT

But I don't like the look of "cube" style cases. Any boob with a desire to have 500w power supply and 256-bit, 11" card can use those cases. It doesn't look right in a TV rack and those cost too much considering they don't include a PSU.

I want something that either can be mistaken for a AV component or a stylish PC that couldn't be more powerful than a Mini MAC but crushes it.

The test above with a HD5570 hit 144w under load, works with a 160w PSU. With a HD5750 draw went up to a whopping 214w!

They also used 65w TDP CPU's. I like the fact that these boards are low powered. Though I would get 45w x3 just to make sure I have enough CPU bandwidth for some games is $106 and the cheapest 880G mITX board that I would get is $125, for that I'm already over what I would spend on a Zacate powered system.

I guess what I'm trying to stress here is efficiency. Not so much doing more with less but doing it all while using less power. I'd like to keep under a 100w light bulb (under load) if possible.

Not impossible but takes careful selection of parts. A Gigabyte board has already been OC'ed to 2.3Ghz and stayed around 60c which is what the passive boards heat up too under load.
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post #48 of 602
2/11/11 at 6:18pm
The more I have played with this board, the more impressed I am. What impresses me is that it is incredibly stable in such a small package and for so new of a product. I've had no problem working with streams from my SiliconDust or having it playback recordings made by my main media center's CETON card (as they stay on the WHS). Even running a 1080P video, the heatsink stays cool.

Whoever said it reminds them of the PentiumII/P3 type Slot Cartridge fans.. damn, I hadn't thought of that in a while. Actually though these are an absolute dead ringer for the AMD K7 SlotA Heatsink Fan combos..
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post #49 of 602
2/11/11 at 7:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tmservo View Post

The more I have played with this board, the more impressed I am. What impresses me is that it is incredibly stable in such a small package and for so new of a product. I've had no problem working with streams from my SiliconDust or having it playback recordings made by my main media center's CETON card (as they stay on the WHS). Even running a 1080P video, the heatsink stays cool.

Whoever said it reminds them of the PentiumII/P3 type Slot Cartridge fans.. damn, I hadn't thought of that in a while. Actually though these are an absolute dead ringer for the AMD K7 SlotA Heatsink Fan combos..

What are you using the extra slots for?
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post #50 of 602
2/11/11 at 7:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bjterry62 View Post

I like to stay with the 150W to keep my options open. Very little difference in price and usage. I also may change my mind and go with a Llano MB down the road.

When I ordered my 120W "wide" picoPSU I was looking to get the 80W "wide" model but the 120W was cheaper so that's how I got the brilliant idea to use it for my i3 / H55 setup in my Lian-Li PC-Q07 case. It's funny how the higher powered models are sometimes cheaper.

Quote:
Originally Posted by bjterry62 View Post

Also, for the ATX opening, the best thing is to cut a plate to fit the opening from thin steel or aluminum, drill and tap holes and drill one more larger hole to mount the plug. Works great!

Not sure if this is considered "advertising" but I've got stuff on order to fabricate a dozen or so of these with some special "add-ons" that I've come up with. I made a little prototype for in my PC-Q07 case and it works great. I should have them ready in a couple of weeks. I think they'll be perfect for putting these new low-power systems into traditional HTPC cases but with a nice finished look. They'll work with both kinds of picoPSU jacks - the barrel plug and the 4-pin plug.

I'll post more when they are ready.
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post #51 of 602
2/11/11 at 8:01pm
Thread Starter 
What video drivers are you guys using? I installed off of the CD so that I could get 1080P resolution, but I don't see anything on the amd/ati site to update the drivers. I didn't dig around too much, but I couldn't find a driver at all for this board, at least on the AMD side. The ASUS website seems to be having it's period.
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post #52 of 602
2/11/11 at 8:09pm
Any try playing OTA 1080i60 yet, I'm pretty anxious to get opinions.
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post #53 of 602
2/11/11 at 8:55pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffkro View Post

Any try playing OTA 1080i60 yet, I'm pretty anxious to get opinions.

Live? Recorded? Watching Letterman right now which I think they broadcast in 1080i here. Looks awesome from what I can tell. Leno looks good too. Well, the broadcast does, Leno looks like a trainwreck.
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post #54 of 602
2/11/11 at 9:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by perpetual98 View Post

Live? Recorded? Watching Letterman right now which I think they broadcast in 1080i here. Looks awesome from what I can tell. Leno looks good too. Well, the broadcast does, Leno looks like a trainwreck.

I was going to say, if you think Leno looks good it must be a crappy pic. Supposedly a lot of TV personalities weren't thrilled with appearing in HD. Well that was my main hold back so it looks like I will be getting one of these. I think I will probably wait for more variety in mobo choices though. I should be able to get one for $100 that suits me. Thanks for the feedback.
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post #55 of 602
2/12/11 at 8:36am
I too am interested in the results of 1080i OTA playback from recording, while a network transfer is taking place at the same time.

On my Gigabyte H55/i530 PVR/file server, OTA playback stutters/pauses badly when another system is copying files from the H55 server over a gigabit network; this really surprises/annoys me. In contrast, my 3 year old AMD2/Nvidia 8200 had no problem handling the same type of workload. I'm hoping the Zacate platform won't this issue as the H55.
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post #56 of 602
2/12/11 at 8:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

GIGABYTE GA-E350N-USB3 review by *Guru of 3D*.

From the guru3d review:
Quote:


I know that the Gigabyte board consumes a little more than the MSI and ASUS ones though.

What's with power consumption of Gigabyte boards? I owned two other Gigabyte boards (780G and H55) and both them consumed more power than the competitors'. There seems to be a pattern there...

Anyone care to guess if you used a picoPSU on an Asus board how much of the 37W idle (what a joke!) you can shave?
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post #57 of 602
2/13/11 at 11:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by perpetual98 View Post

* Form Factor mATX
* AMD E350 1.60GHz Dual Core Processor
* Overclocking Support Yes
* Memory 2 x DIMM, Max. 32 GB 1333/1066 DDR3
* 1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4 bandwidth)
* 1 x PCIe 2.0 x1
* 2 x PCI
* Onboard Video CPU Embedded HD 6310
* 5 x SATA 6.0Gb/s
* 1 x eSATA 6.0Gb/s
* LAN Gigabit LAN
* Audio Realtek ALC892 7.1
* USB 12 x USB 2.0 (4 x Back, 8 x Internal)
* 2 x USB 3.0 REAR
* Firewire 2 x 1394 (1 x back, 1 x internal)
* Video I/O DVI, HDMI, VGA

I guess the Max memory is 8GB and DDR3 1066 according to ASUS spec.

Anyone got the PDF manual? I can't find it on ASUS website. I would like to read the manual before jumping in.
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post #58 of 602
2/14/11 at 6:06am
Silent PC Review posted this yesterday:
[World Wide Web - soz new member, long time reader].silentpcreview.com/article1167-page1.html

Power consumption 18W idle. Here's their rig:

OCZ Platinum Extreme Low Voltage memory - 2x2GB, DDR3-1333
Western Digital Scorpio Blue notebook hard drive - 500GB, 5400RPM, 8MB cache
Asus BC-1205PT Blu-ray drive - SATA
picoPSU-120 120W DC-to-DC converter with 60W AC adapter
Microsoft Windows 7 operating system - Ultimate, 64-bit

Much better than the guys who tested with a 1200W PSU.. go figure!

Looks like in the UEFI you can play with overclocking, and dare I say potentially underclocking?

Can this be coupled with a BGT3620 (DVB-T2) and a BGT3595 (DVB-S2).. where are all the linux drivers for these! Yeah I'd want MythTv and the entire lot to run under 35W at idle.

I've only been waiting 5 years to build a HTPC that means I could get rid of the Sky Box and not have a power bill to require me to go out and get a second job. Thought the i3 could be the answer, then heard about Sandy Bridge and Fusion.. Will only have one HTPC, and no streaming, no gaming, well maybe the odd emulator. Am I too greedy to get too much into one box?
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post #59 of 602
2/14/11 at 8:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by FozzieKev View Post

Silent PC Review posted this yesterday:
[World Wide Web - soz new member, long time reader].silentpcreview.com/article1167-page1.html

Power consumption 18W idle. Here's their rig:

•OCZ Platinum Extreme Low Voltage memory - 2x2GB, DDR3-1333
•Western Digital Scorpio Blue notebook hard drive - 500GB, 5400RPM, 8MB cache
•Asus BC-1205PT Blu-ray drive - SATA
•picoPSU-120 120W DC-to-DC converter with 60W AC adapter
•Microsoft Windows 7 operating system - Ultimate, 64-bit

Much better than the guys who tested with a 1200W PSU.. go figure!

Looks like in the UEFI you can play with overclocking, and dare I say potentially underclocking?

Can this be coupled with a BGT3620 (DVB-T2) and a BGT3595 (DVB-S2).. where are all the linux drivers for these! Yeah I'd want MythTv and the entire lot to run under 35W at idle.

I've only been waiting 5 years to build a HTPC that means I could get rid of the Sky Box and not have a power bill to require me to go out and get a second job. Thought the i3 could be the answer, then heard about Sandy Bridge and Fusion.. Will only have one HTPC, and no streaming, no gaming, well maybe the odd emulator. Am I too greedy to get too much into one box?

Well since you waited 5 years, you could always wait another. Intel ivy bridge looks to be the perfect chip with integrated graphics for HTPC. Since its on a 22nm process it should have excellent power consumption numbers. Personally I don't think I can wait that long.
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post #60 of 602
2/14/11 at 10:55am
I can't do another 5 years... when the 780G came out, I thought this was the big one, then the Atom (to under powered), I almost went for the H55\\i3 combo (25 watt undervolted.. nice).. then heard about Sandy Bridge coming up to Xmas, then AMD Fusion...

Of course then theirs Llano...

Yeah I know, there's always the next big thing.

But I don't want 3D, just want to record and playback HD. I don't want to be able to play the latest games on it, I've a console for that. Is this year not the year? Sky HD came out at least three years ago.. isn't it time a HTPC can match and better it?
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