Was all set for A6-3500 until I read this..
#1
Hi all first post and SO glad I found this site..

Been playing with the idea of setting up a HTPC and have been browsing through these forums.
Really good info here.. Really nice sticky eskro..
I was all set to plump for the A6-3500 and then came across this review on AnandTech of the A8 in a HTPC. http://www.anandtech.com/show/4479/amd-a...spective/9

Basically its says that a seperate grfx card is still the way to go.
"Does the AMD 6550D render a discrete HTPC GPU redundant? With the current state of affairs, we have to say that the market for GPUs such as the GT 430 and the AMD 6570 will remain in place for some time to come."

If this is the case then I may use some old hardware I have laying around and get an AMD6570? http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog...d=0CAkQrRI DONT BUY FROM HARDWAREKING ... SCAM APPARANTLY!!!!

System will be mainly 1080i/p, XBMC prob, projector is a ThemeScene 1080i, never used it Blush
Its been sitting in the cupboard a few years as I lost interest in it all..

Mainly be watching stuff on the TV but would like it on the big screen now and then, obviously any artifacts are amplified the bigger I go so would like to get a good picture out of the projector..
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#2
Welcome, I'd be inclined to follow the guides/stickys, real life vs testbench is never going to be the same. I've changed my thinking from 'more is better', to 'adequate, saves power, is cooler and does just as good if not a better job !!' Smile

Cheers.
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#3
You should read the comments this review is just dumb.

Oh Llano isnt 124124 times better than Sandy Bridge = it sucks...
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#4
My a6-3500 will be done in the next few days, I post results in my thread. Like the others said I would test user and real world reviews before any publication.
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#5
a6-3500 rocks!!
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#6
I am running a a4-3400 as an htpc , less powerful then the a6 but i only use it for xbmc & mediaportal , maybe some light browsing . and i do believe that these
Apu are the best solution for an htpc, as long as you don't intend to do some gaming , encoding etc ..
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#7
Do Llano APUs bitstream audio like dedicated AMD cards? I was looking into this as a possible low-profile HTPC build that could also have some horsepower for emulation (no more complicated than PS1).
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#8
oh yeah, AMD APU's do bitstream hd-audio
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#9
Totally satisfied so far with my A6-3500.

Keep in mind that the review was done almost on launch time for Llano platform. Hence, drivers were at an early stage of development. Maybe the picture has changed in that perspective.

What aspect do you need info on? I might provide some results on specific questions.
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#10
I just finished my build of the A6-3500 w/8GB of ram and Intel 120GB 320 series card. All i can say is, this thing is a monster. Even with any SSD this thing chews up the old E350 and spits it back out and laughs at it.

Windows 7 runs amazing with a 6.9 rating which isn't that off compared to my older Q6600 w/8GB of ram and 8800GTX (7.2 rating) and dual 128GB SSD (RAID1)

All i can say is, i wouldn't hesitate to recommend this setup to anybody. Curious on how the A4 and A8 perform. Gladly answer any questions.
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#11
thats exactly why i think that the A6-3500 is the HTPC APU of choice currently.
priced well, and insanely fast!

i really think that going with an A8-3850/A8-3870K setup
for someone who's not an Heavy HardCore GameR is just OverKill...

A6-3500 FTW!
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#12
Based on what I have been reading here I made my purchase for my new HTPC last night from Newegg and decided on the following.

HEC Black Micro ATX Media Center Case
AMD A8-3850 Llano 2.9GHz Quad-Core APU with AMD Radeon HD 6550D
ASUS F1A75-M PRO Micro ATX Motherboard
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 Memory

I already have an 80GB Intel SSD which will be used and likely the only drive in the system. My media is stored on another PC and I am debating dropping in a BluRay drive in this system, but don't use one that often.

I have been reading Anandtech for years, but if you read the comments from the article linked to, you will see a lot of controversy over its conclusions. Love Anandtech, but I don't trust any site completely with their reviews. Based on what others have reported here I almost jumped on the A6-3500, but have always been a sucker for a bit of headroom.

My current HTPC was never intended to be one. I simply wanted a PC in my bedroom for surfing and following sport scores and news. I found XBMC just last month and have been hooked on it since. I am currently running XBMC with the following hardware, and it works very well.

BIOSTAR A880G+ AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600
LITE-ON Black Internal 12X Blu-ray Drive
Intel 320 Series 40GB SATA II MLC Internal (SSD)
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

With NO discreet video card!!! I am using the integrated ATI Radeon HD 4250 built onto the mobo with HDMI out and it plays back pretty smoothly. I notice at times a slight amount of tearing or stutter, but it is extremely rare. I am guessing the dedicated HTPC I am building will completely eliminate any sign of the stutter.

Again, I never intended this low end PC to be a HTPC, but was shocked at how well it did. the XBMC interface isn't silky smooth, but it is fast. I will report back once I get all my hardware in and the system configured. I actually doubt I will see that much improvement since there is really very little room for improvement over what I am currently using. Hoping for complete loss of any stutter and a bit smoother XBMC interface experience, which I am very confident will happen based on others experience posted here. And BTW, thanks to all the user input here on hardware, it helped me greatly in making my decision.

Diggs
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#13
Hi guys,

I want to build new htpc. Which one APU will be better. A6-3500 or A8-3870
I want to play couple games from 2009's

I know that A8 is better but 100Watt for htpc?
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#14
Mr.leXus Wrote:Hi guys,

I want to build new htpc. Which one APU will be better. A6-3500 or A8-3870
I want to play couple games from 2009's

I know that A8 is better but 100Watt for htpc?
If you can find A8-3800, it's better than A6-3500 and A6-3600!
>Alienware X51- do it all HTPC
>Simplify XBMC configurations
>HOW-TO Bitstreaming using XBMC
I refused to watch movie without bitstreaming HD audio!
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#15
bluray Wrote:If you can find A8-3800, it's better than A6-3500 and A6-3600!

I know but I can't find. What about A6 3500 and A8 3870
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Was all set for A6-3500 until I read this..0