ITX AMD mobos for HTPC or NAS use?

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richms

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Topic # 111995 22-Nov-2012 10:19
Couple of cheapies appeared on DX http://dx.com/p/colorful-i-ae50-v14-bga-amd-apu-e350d-ddr3-motherboard-167409 http://dx.com/p/gigabyte-ga-e350n-rev-1-0-bga-amd-e350d-ddr3-motherboard-167386 Seems like a bargain but how does the AMD gear perform? I have largly ignored it after the hassles with my last AMD based PC, but as this will be standalone without adding PCIe etc to it I am guessing there may not be the same degree of driver hell that the athlon 64's provided. So before I pull the trigger and order one to replace the hopeless VIA ITX board in my last attempt at a HTPC, any possible issues? Richard rich.ms

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Reply # 721210 22-Nov-2012 11:02
I use an Asus M1 Pro board for my PVR now. After years of grief AMD finally sorted out their H.264 issues earlier this year and it now works fine. *Need help configuring your Linksys ATA or IP Phones for New Zealand? Check my blog post

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Reply # 730066 11-Dec-2012 02:47
sbiddle: I use an Asus M1 Pro board for my PVR now. After years of grief AMD finally sorted out their H.264 issues earlier this year and it now works fine. I set up a PVR with a passive HD4600 in 2009 and never had any real problems with any channels (I got the green square problem once or twice but resolved it fairly easily). Actually it was the same with the 780G/3200 IGP on the mobo before I installed the card (added the card for the improved deinterlacing etc options and GPGPU advantage since the PVR was also intended to do some home computing functions). I did have a HT3.0 processor (7750) which likely helped with the IGP performance. And yes I was using DXVA (originally with the Windows codec, later with the AMD codec which suddenly appeared), made sure of it.

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Reply # 730168 11-Dec-2012 09:20
I recently got a ASRock A55M-HVS + A6-3500 (I went for a new mobo and used apu as I wanted the A6 which didn't seem to be readily available in stores here) for 110NZD for my HTPC and it's working a treat. You can get the mobo with new A4-3300 for under $140NZD here which works out about the same as that deal above. Might be worth considering.

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Reply # 730525 11-Dec-2012 15:22
sidefx: I recently got a ASRock A55M-HVS + A6-3500 (I went for a new mobo and used apu as I wanted the A6 which didn't seem to be readily available in stores here) for 110NZD for my HTPC and it's working a treat. You can get the mobo with new A4-3300 for under $140NZD here which works out about the same as that deal above. Might be worth considering. That's an M-ATX board. The original poster was after an M-ITX board. Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat New Zealand as a Solution Architect for all things Linux, Virtual and of course Cloud. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

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Reply # 730557 11-Dec-2012 15:52
Sorry yes of course I should have mentioned that is M-ATX. If the OP has a case or something that will only take ITX then yes, this won't work. But if M-ATX will fit... I have to ask is the lower power\"quieter" (though I see the ones linked above have fans anyway, so not completely passive) boards above really worth the performance tradeoff?

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Reply # 730665 11-Dec-2012 17:19
For a NAS that will be on all the time yes it is worth it. I have tried a couple of SOHO nas boxes and they have both being a total let down compared to my old crappy computer running server2003 so am not interested in pursuing that anymore. I need to move off 2003 since its EOL and I might be able to get some 2008 licenses for near nothing off someone so its a no brainer really. Richard rich.ms