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Asrock E350M1

post #1 of 23
3/23/11 at 11:21pm
Thread Starter 
First let me start by saying thanks for this awesome forum....I have spent many hours just reading post after post, and finally decided to join. I am a proud owner (so far) of the AsRock E350m1 Zacate motherboard and wanted to share my experiences with this board and my mini itx Htpc build. I am running Windows 7 pro 64 bit and using XBMC as my media center, hooked up via HDMI to Vizio 32in 1080p Hdtv for video and Optical out to Yamaha HTR-6230 for audio. So far so good, no problems during installation, after Flash 10.2, flash videos improved no stuttering while watching HD youtube videos with low cpu utilization. 1080p Mkv files play absolutely gorgeous with 7-20% cpu utilization. Only using this build for Htpc purposes (watching media, hulu, netflix, web browsing) honestly can't tell the difference from my other htpc ( 785g, Regor 240) while doing these things. Had trouble with the realtek nic in the first few days, kept dropping connection.....installed driver from asia instead of us from asrock website and the problems went away. Any proud owners of this board out there?.....or thinking about getting this board?

My Mini Itx Htpc
AsRock E350m1
Kingston ddr 3 1066 4gb
Samsung Spinpoint 1tb
Apex MI-008
AVS Gear GP-IR01BK Remote
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post #2 of 23
3/24/11 at 6:58am
I ordered one a couple of weeks ago and it was DOA. I should be receiving my replacement next week and will be doing a review of it on my site.

Bad initial experience, but I'm no stranger to dead components...if it all works as expected, it is a very good deal. Nice to see you are pleased
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post #3 of 23
3/24/11 at 9:46am
Thread Starter 
Sorry to hear that, hope you get your replacement soon. Some people were having issues with the power led light not working properly. The only issue I came across was that on the system fan header #1, I couldn't control the fan speed in the bios. Connected the fan to system fan header #2, and I was able too control the fan speed. Not sure if it just needs a bios update or it's just bad....the option to decrease level of speeds is there but no matter what speed you select fan stays at full speed, changing the fan to header #2 gave me full control and the different types of speed levels works perfect. What media front end will you be using? XBMC WMC other....
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post #4 of 23
3/29/11 at 10:34pm
Appreciate the review, looking at this board also. Or Zacate in general I should say. Seems perfect for low power always on budget htpc.... So many choices for a new rig, lol. Havent decided on Zacate or i3. Will be running same front end as you.

How noisy is the fan ? Seem to keep temps down with reasonable noise ?
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post #5 of 23
3/29/11 at 11:04pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ncognito30 View Post

Appreciate the review, looking at this board also. Or Zacate in general I should say. Seems perfect for low power always on budget htpc.... So many choices for a new rig, lol. Havent decided on Zacate or i3. Will be running same front end as you.

How noisy is the fan ? Seem to keep temps down with reasonable noise ?

It's an awesome low power always on budget htpc, that's what Zacate is all about. As far as all the choices, don't let all the different options intimidate or confuse you....This will be "your" HTPC, and it will be "your" Main component to make your Home Theater Shine. Take your time, decide what you wanna do with your Htpc, as this will affect prices in parts dramatically. Ask your self what you need and what you can do without at this moment, IMO the term future proofing, doesn't hold any meaning as the next best thing is just around the corner. Do some research, read all the user's reviews here, you are in the right forum, to get you started and point you in the right direction. You won't hear the fan, there's options in the bios to lower the level of speed, even at full load you won't hear it. I have mine at level 6 out of 9, just three notches down and I don't hear it. My temps System usually 48-50 Cpu 44-48 Gpu 50-60, plenty of headroom for Zacate.
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post #6 of 23
4/1/11 at 12:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by homewrek View Post

First let me start by saying thanks for this awesome forum....I have spent many hours just reading post after post, and finally decided to join. I am a proud owner (so far) of the AsRock E350m1 Zacate motherboard and wanted to share my experiences with this board and my mini itx Htpc build. I am running Windows 7 pro 64 bit and using XBMC as my media center, hooked up via HDMI to Vizio 32in 1080p Hdtv for video and Optical out to Yamaha HTR-6230 for audio. So far so good, no problems during installation, after Flash 10.2, flash videos improved no stuttering while watching HD youtube videos with low cpu utilization. 1080p Mkv files play absolutely gorgeous with 7-20% cpu utilization. Only using this build for Htpc purposes (watching media, hulu, netflix, web browsing) honestly can't tell the difference from my other htpc ( 785g, Regor 240) while doing these things. Had trouble with the realtek nic in the first few days, kept dropping connection.....installed driver from asia instead of us from asrock website and the problems went away. Any proud owners of this board out there?.....or thinking about getting this board?

My Mini Itx Htpc
AsRock E350m1
Kingston ddr 3 1066 4gb
Samsung Spinpoint 1tb
Apex MI-008
AVS Gear GP-IR01BK Remote

I've just built a Sage client using the Asus mATX Zacate MB and I'm astounded at the low power usage! So far all I've gotten done is software installations, drivers/windows updates and a couple of benches. I've watched some SD DVDs and they're great as usual. I also notice the snappiness of the system when web-browsing for drivers and such. The real shocker was when I turned it on and heard nothing. It was barely 6" from my face (I do my builds on the dining room table, much to the shagrin of my wife). I didn't think it had come on. Suddenly I get post info on the monitor and I realize this thing is dead silent!!!! Looks like I might grad one of these Asrock MBs and re-build another client. Can't wait to see how Llano performs.

BT
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post #7 of 23
4/1/11 at 4:35pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bjterry62 View Post

I've just built a Sage client using the Asus mATX Zacate MB and I'm astounded at the low power usage! So far all I've gotten done is software installations, drivers/windows updates and a couple of benches. I've watched some SD DVDs and they're great as usual. I also notice the snappiness of the system when web-browsing for drivers and such. The real shocker was when I turned it on and heard nothing. It was barely 6" from my face (I do my builds on the dining room table, much to the shagrin of my wife). I didn't think it had come on. Suddenly I get post info on the monitor and I realize this thing is dead silent!!!! Looks like I might grad one of these Asrock MBs and re-build another client. Can't wait to see how Llano performs.

BT

Lol....my asrock has a little tiny fan, and I can't even hear that. The only thing I was hearing was the hard drive, but after installing the rubber feets that came with my case.....Silence. I tried ordering another asrock today but it's out of stock in newegg again. If Amd doesn't screw up LLano in it's price point.....there wouldn't be a reason to consider the more expensive i3 build, Llano will also do 3D.
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post #8 of 23
4/2/11 at 12:58am
I found disabling "support for legacy USB" decreased the time to complete POST. Only issue is that the time from loading windows to desktop takes about 30 seconds. This is with a 64 GB SATA3 SSD. Go figure. Other than that I'm happy with performance and efficiency (never broke 27 watts yet). It's what the netbook should of been.
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post #9 of 23
4/3/11 at 1:03pm
Anyone know if this board has an option for AHCI or whatever for SSD's?
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post #10 of 23
4/3/11 at 1:25pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bighick View Post
Anyone know if this board has an option for AHCI or whatever for SSD's?
Yes it does.
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post #11 of 23
4/3/11 at 4:02pm
Unfortunately AHCI enabled did not help with the slow windows loading time.
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post #12 of 23
4/3/11 at 4:19pm
One thing to note: a whole lot of these boards have shown up with the CMOS clear jumper in the wrong position (in CLEAR mode) so if you get -nothing- you might try resetting the CMOS clear jumper
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post #13 of 23
4/3/11 at 5:22pm
I just wanted to know about the ahci b/c I have this board, did not see it in bios and am looking into getting some SSD's. Thanks.
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post #14 of 23
4/17/11 at 5:36pm
Has anyone tried updating the video drivers for the E350M1? I downloaded the new ATI CCC package from AMD and after following their instructions got the BSOD. Had to do a system restore and reload drivers from the MB installation disk.

Also, had anyone been able to resolve the Power LED problem? Mine, like most others, doesn't work.
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post #15 of 23
4/17/11 at 8:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by homewrek View Post

It's an awesome low power always on budget htpc, that's what Zacate is all about. As far as all the choices, don't let all the different options intimidate or confuse you....This will be "your" HTPC, and it will be "your" Main component to make your Home Theater Shine. Take your time, decide what you wanna do with your Htpc, as this will affect prices in parts dramatically. Ask your self what you need and what you can do without at this moment, IMO the term future proofing, doesn't hold any meaning as the next best thing is just around the corner. Do some research, read all the user's reviews here, you are in the right forum, to get you started and point you in the right direction. You won't hear the fan, there's options in the bios to lower the level of speed, even at full load you won't hear it. I have mine at level 6 out of 9, just three notches down and I don't hear it. My temps System usually 48-50 Cpu 44-48 Gpu 50-60, plenty of headroom for Zacate.

Future proof it has to handle 4k video and 3D audio, oops nothing on the market does that.
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post #16 of 23
5/27/11 at 8:14am
I just installed this board and for the most part I love it. However, I'm having an issue with HDMI sound I hope someone can help me solve. After installing the Realtek SPDIF/analog and HDMI drivers from Asrock's website, under windows configuration and properties for HDMI specifically, I only see two channels and sample rates of 32, 44.1, and 48khz. For supported surround formats I only see Dolby Digital. For SPDIF I see all the sample rates, speaker channels, and surround formats expected.

As I plan to use HDMI exclusively, how do I get 7.1 speakers, 96khz, and at least DTS for the HDMI connection?

Thanks in advance for your help.
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post #17 of 23
5/27/11 at 7:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by elockett View Post

I just installed this board and for the most part I love it. However, I'm having an issue with HDMI sound I hope someone can help me solve. After installing the Realtek SPDIF/analog and HDMI drivers from Asrock's website, under windows configuration and properties for HDMI specifically, I only see two channels and sample rates of 32, 44.1, and 48khz. For supported surround formats I only see Dolby Digital. For SPDIF I see all the sample rates, speaker channels, and surround formats expected.

As I plan to use HDMI exclusively, how do I get 7.1 speakers, 96khz, and at least DTS for the HDMI connection?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Download the r2.60 driver from the realtek website.
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post #18 of 23
5/28/11 at 8:58pm
I love this little setup, except for one tiny tiny problem I can't get the HDMI Video working with my Panasonic TH-L32X10A LCD TV. I have no problems using the HDMI on my TV with other devices, just this one.
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post #19 of 23
5/29/11 at 2:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jnolck View Post

Download the r2.60 driver from the realtek website.

Good advice, and I did install it since it is newer than Asrock's version but this driver only relates to the coax and analog outputs (possibly inputs as well but I won't be using them so didn't check). The current HDMI driver on Realtek's website is the same version as Asrock's (R2.55) so I'm back where I started in terms of sound properties and configuration (2 speaker limit, no sample rate above 48khz).

I've done some research on the 2 channel output limitation of HD Radeon via HDMI and apparently I'm not the only one who has experienced this issue. However, it also turns out that there may not be an issue for two reasons. One, I temporarily have my PC connected directly to a TV, so EDID reports a two speaker target and thus only supports two speakers. Two, because I have Windows sound set to allow external apps to control the HDMI device, others have stated when source apps feed HDMI multiple channels and/or high sampling rates, they do get passed to the target so long as it supports them (which my AV receiver does). I'll test this early next week after I complete some rewiring of my receiver.

I browse the HTPC thread regularly and haven't read about HD Radeon HDMI not supporting multi-channel sound or high sampling rates so I think I'll be fine.
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post #20 of 23
5/29/11 at 3:12pm
I have the Asus E35M1-M microATX Zacate motherboard, and it took a while to get proper HDMI audio to work in 7MC and Power DVD 11 to get bitstreamed Dolby Digital from TV in 7MC and bitstreamed True HD and DTS HD MA in PDVD.

There is a bug in 7MC that means if you configure your HDMI audio device as 5.1 or 7.1 speakers, and not 2.0, you get errors when bitstreaming Dolby in 7MC (particularly if you hit the volume control). I get looped audio, frozen video and then a "Video Error" message. Configureing the speakers as 2.0 solves this (though it stops me getting PCM 5.1 decoded AAC multichannel from our UK OTA HD service) - as all bitstreamed audio works fine (and isn't altered by the Windows speaker setting as the bitstream is decoded elsewhere)

** EDIT - it may just be 5.1 speaker config that causes the problem **
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post #21 of 23
5/29/11 at 5:05pm
Good information, plus I now know who to call on if I get stuck. . In fact, I did not originally build my zacate to use for HTPC duty at all. I have another box for this (though it is admittedly getting slightly long in the tooth). The plan was to use the zacate as a lightweight productivity machine in the living room. However, due to an unexpected faux pas with my HTPC (long story), I'm going to have the zacate serve double duty as a music source in the near-term. The good news is as a practical matter I won't need more than 16 bit/44.1khz playback for most of my music collection. However, I can envision higher resolution sources in the future so it is good to know zacate will be able to handle it via HDMI.

Quote:
Originally Posted by sneals2000 View Post

I have the Asus E35M1-M microATX Zacate motherboard, and it took a while to get proper HDMI audio to work in 7MC and Power DVD 11 to get bitstreamed Dolby Digital from TV in 7MC and bitstreamed True HD and DTS HD MA in PDVD.

There is a bug in 7MC that means if you configure your HDMI audio device as 5.1 or 7.1 speakers, and not 2.0, you get errors when bitstreaming Dolby in 7MC (particularly if you hit the volume control). I get looped audio, frozen video and then a "Video Error" message. Configureing the speakers as 2.0 solves this (though it stops me getting PCM 5.1 decoded AAC multichannel from our UK OTA HD service) - as all bitstreamed audio works fine (and isn't altered by the Windows speaker setting as the bitstream is decoded elsewhere)
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post #22 of 23
6/17/11 at 1:24pm
Mine works well except for slow post, takes about 20 seconds to see the HDD and post. tried another hard drive and same thing. maybe a future bios update..

was really hard to find the "southbridge" drivers (chipset). these are 32 bit:

http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloa...win7-32.aspx#3

http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloa...d_win7-32.aspx
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post #23 of 23
12/29/12 at 5:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sneals2000 View Post

I have the Asus E35M1-M microATX Zacate motherboard, and it took a while to get proper HDMI audio to work in 7MC and Power DVD 11 to get bitstreamed Dolby Digital from TV in 7MC and bitstreamed True HD and DTS HD MA in PDVD.


There is a bug in 7MC that means if you configure your HDMI audio device as 5.1 or 7.1 speakers, and not 2.0, you get errors when bitstreaming Dolby in 7MC (particularly if you hit the volume control). I get looped audio, frozen video and then a "Video Error" message. Configureing the speakers as 2.0 solves this (though it stops me getting PCM 5.1 decoded AAC multichannel from our UK OTA HD service) - as all bitstreamed audio works fine (and isn't altered by the Windows speaker setting as the bitstream is decoded elsewhere)


** EDIT - it may just be 5.1 speaker config that causes the problem **

I know this is an old post, but was this resolved?

I am experiencing the same issue with my HTPC connected directly to my Denon receiver.
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