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pyrospawn · (This post was last modified: 2011-10-03, 20:41 by pyrospawn.)

Been meaning to build a smaller htpc than my current one, I was excited to stumble across eskro's post about AMD's A4-3400 APU Smile

, and that it was available on new egg. So on impulse mode, I ordered Tongue

spec:
AMD A4-3400 Llano 2.7GHz Socket FM1 65W

ASRock A75M-ITX FM1 AMD A75

Habey EMC-800B Black

Crucial M4 64GB ssd

2 x G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (spare lying around)

pyrospawn · (This post was last modified: 2011-10-03, 18:50 by pyrospawn.)

continue...

(in case anyone was wondering, stock heatsink + fan height is about 48mm, and fan alone is 16-17mm)

(putting ssd on top to leave room below for the slim bluray drive which is on its way on slow boat from china Sad

)

(leaving a gap for the top to help with cooling, since I have no skill/tool/time nor patience to drill hole pattern on top panel Tongue

pyrospawn · (This post was last modified: 2011-10-03, 18:53 by pyrospawn.)

Semi finished build, until getting the slim drive and face plate to cover that ugly white slot on the Habey. Dont know why they can't at least make it black to match the case instead of white. it plays bluray disc/iso/1080p rip, Netflix HD, and Hulu HD just fine, no stutter or skip frame that I can see.

**voip-ninja** · 2011-10-03, 19:25

Thanks for the write-up, I should be joining you this weekend after all of my parts arrive and I do my install into a MI-08 case.

There should not be frame drops or other playback problems with this chipset, it should have more than enough muscle to handle full BD rips without issue.

I am curious as to how good the video is with Aeon NOX and other more demanding skins. I have been evaluating Aeon on my iMac (quad core i7 HT) and it runs buttery smooth... hopefully I get a similar experience on this A4-3400 with the SSD and copious amounts of RAM.

Mallet21 · 2011-10-03, 19:29

pyrospawn Wrote:it plays bluray disc/iso/1080p rip, Netflix HD, and Hulu HD just fine, no stutter or skip frame that I can see.

Props to AMD for launching new tech with solid drivers right from the start.

prongATO · 2011-10-03, 20:16

Nice build! I did one in the smaller version of that case. I had to make some modifications but it worked out very well.

Balinus · (This post was last modified: 2011-10-03, 20:26 by Balinus.)

Nice!, after having considered the E-350, I'm leaning towards the A4-3400, with the same case! I'm just waiting for october 15th, when I have some cash inflow! (And your power consomption measurement! Smile

)

You use Windows 7?

With your lid semi-open, do you fear having dust in your HTPC?

edit - Your thread title has a typo.... A4-4500 ? Or A4-3400 ? Smile

pyrospawn · 2011-10-03, 20:29

Initially, I wanted the wesena ITX7. But after adding cost of case + pico psu + shipping then it's almost $200/ Thus making it easier to get the habey at less than 1/2 the cost of the wesena

pyrospawn · 2011-10-03, 20:35

Balinus Wrote:Nice!, after having considered the E-350, I'm leaning towards the A4-3400, with the same case! I'm just waiting for october 15th, when I have some cash inflow! (And your power consomption measurement! )

You use Windows 7?

With your lid semi-open, do you fear having dust in your HTPC?

edit - Your thread title has a typo.... A4-4500 ? Or A4-3400 ?

Ya I saw the typo but don't know how to fix it. Using windows 7, have it boot to MCE, then select xbmc thru mce. Reason is that I could not get xbmc-flix to set up correctly, and would rather use the netflix app inside MCE, plus bluray playback is easier to accomplish with win 7. As far as dust, nothing a compressed air can every few month wont fix.

Will try to get power measurement tomorrow. Was tired from work and didnt stop by lowe. Did order online, and it should get here tomorrow sometime. Wink

prongATO · 2011-10-03, 20:39

Yeah it's beyond me why they'd use that ugly white plastic piece in a really nice aluminium black case. Give us an update on how everything works out with the temperatures and with the slim drive installed. I had to do some custom cutting on my lid to get some air-flow going. (600 series) Here's the mini-build log.

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=104468

Balinus · 2011-10-03, 20:39

If you click "edit" on your 1st post, you should be able to fix your title.

Indeed, for BD playback, W7 it is!

Thanks for the measurements! I'm not in a hurry, so no need to rush it tomorrow. Smile

pyrospawn · (This post was last modified: 2011-10-03, 21:03 by pyrospawn.)

Current temp is still at 27-28 degree Celcius, even after/still playing movies for the past 2 hours. Love the custom cutting on your build, prongATO.

Balinus · 2011-10-03, 22:46

That is low temp! Nice. Smile

prongATO · 2011-10-07, 21:26

pyrospawn Wrote:Current temp is still at 27-28 degree Celcius, even after/still playing movies for the past 2 hours. Love the custom cutting on your build, prongATO.

Thanks!

Those are great temps for that case. When I originally built mine, I had a solid top and was trying to run the Asus board fanless. The temps were getting WAY too high. That's why I had the holes cut in the top and added the 800 rpm fan sitting on top of the sink. It dropped temperatures substantially. The very slow spinning thin fans are damn near silent. I'd love to use the Habey case for my standard built because of the size and built quality (100% aluminum) but the extensive modifications prohibit that with my selected hardware.

I've been going back and forth on either building custom clients or getting zbox or something. Ultimately I'd like something small, somewhat inexpensive and classy.

pyrospawn · (This post was last modified: 2011-10-07, 22:41 by pyrospawn.)

After putting it in a less ventilated place, along with the rest of the A/V stuffs,temp raised a bit, ranging from 35-49oC. And yes to the more classy part, when i have the chance would like to try out those wesena cases.

still waiting for the kill-a-watt to be delivered Sad