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2012-09-28, 19:14
(This post was last modified: 2012-09-28, 19:14 by Dougie Fresh.)
The Llano integrated GPU supports 3D. I would be surprised if the Trinity integrated GPU does not. The A85 chipset supposedly has HDMI 1.4a. Where do you read Trinity, or at least the A4-3500, does not have 3D support?
As far as the memory goes, for HTPC duties you'll see no difference between DDR3-1866 and DDR3-1600. You're better off with DDR3-1600 with low latency but even then for HTPC you'll see no difference. DDR3-1600, at least for Llano, is considered the "sweet spot". I linked an article in one of these threads the other day comparing different memory speeds and Llano GPU performance.
For storage, a 5400RPM drive would be quieter, more efficient and maybe cost less. There's no need for a 7200RPM HDD for media storage.
Overall, if Trinity trends the way Llano did, the A8-5600 will probably be the sweet spot like the A6-3500 was. These days the difference is like $10-15 so it's worth it. If you're buying AMD you're likely buying it for the integrated GPU so why get the lowest powered one. If the A4-3500 is all you can afford, you might as well get a Celeron/Pentium and save yourself some money, heat and power.
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This is the unofficial pricing scheme for Trinity.
Processor Cores Speed (GHz) TDP (W) Graphics Price
A4-5300 2 3.4/3.7 turbo 65 HD 7480D $59.60
A6-5400K 2 3.6/3.8 turbo 65 HD 7540D $73.59
A8-5500 4 3.2/3.7 turbo 65 HD 7560D $109.38
A8-5600K 4 3.6/3.9 turbo 100 HD 7560D $109.38
A10-5700 4 3.4/4.0 turbo 65 HD 7660D $131.45
A10-5800K 4 3.8/4.2 turbo 100 HD 7660D $131.45
The difference in price between the next step up that I could consider is $50. The would give me a better graphics processor and a quad core. I cannot find it, but I saw a slide from AMD(?) that said that the A4(and possibly the A6, memory is not too good) would not have HD3D support. I wish I could find it. I will look again.
I already have the ram, so I guess I could run it at the slower 1600 if the processor can't run it at 1866. And I could tighten up the timings at the lower speed I am sure. And in regards to the 7200RPM vs 5400RPM, The 7200RPM one I linked is the best $ per TB I could find. I would like to buy a 2TB but I could only find one for $99 which is a 5400RPM HDD but $30 more.
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That's quite a jump in price. It feels like there's something missing in the middle. I wonder if they'll drop a triple-core later with the better graphics core like the A6-3500.
Can you link where you found those prices?
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Sweet. I've always loved that case. You have to post pictures of your build!
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AMD A4-5300 Trinity 3.4GHz is out and looks good. $59.99 . altough I am got the fm1 a4 version and its running xbmc without any issues or lag, for the prices I am looking at , I would wait for the a8 or a10 (not k version )
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2012-10-02, 20:52
(This post was last modified: 2012-10-02, 21:11 by will25u.)
It went up in price a bit I believe, to $64.99, but It is looking pretty nice. But I think I will go with the A6-5400K to be able to use my 1866 memory to its fullest. Also most of the Motherboard/APU's you can get as a combo for $10 less. I just gotta wait a few weeks to get the money to purchase it. Then I can start finally building my HTPC. Pretty excited to get it all put together. My wife is not so sure it can replace cable, but I am. I just now need to figure out which theme she likes for XBMC. I am pretty fond of Aeon Nox, but I have downloaded all the different themes, just need to go through them with her.
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So I am still waiting to save up the money for the MB and CPU. I have a question to ask though. I "acquired" 2 160GB Seagate Momentus 7200.4 HDD from work. I have noticed that when you are downloading and extracting files using SabNZB that it really beats down the HDD. Would it be beneficial to put all the Sab downloaded files on the 160GB HDD's to do their processing so it does not slow down XBMC and my storage drive doing that? I might just do it anyway since it does seem like to me that it would speed things up. Just seeing if anyone has any input. Thanks.
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So I ended up getting an A8-5600k on TigerDirect on a black Friday deal for 89.99. Also bought a 16GB flash drive to install Windows from. Free shipping on both. Pretty decent deal. I am waiting until tomorrow to see if the MB will go on Cyber Monday deal. Should get this build going soon!
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Well I finally finished the build. Won't do me too much good, since I found out that I will be deploying in Feb. So my newly built HTPC will prob get shelved till I get back. Sucks. Ahh well, life goes on.
The final build out of the computer was pretty straight forward. Got the hardware installed, got Windows installed, and then XBMC, etc. I started to get all my automation going with SAB, SB, CP, and Headphones, but ran into a HUGE show stopper with SAB. Every time I try downloading something with SAB, it completely knocks out my network connection to the HTPC. I have posted over at the SAB forums, but no one has made any headway. I may have to reinstall or something, but it is really frustrating.
..... The trinity processors sound sexy... I would love to get my hands on a A10-5800K and play some games to see what it can do by itself.... 
