[marsbt]

Hello to all.

I installed XBMC recently on my Debian box and have been enjoying it for about two weeks. There were some small hiccups but have been able to fix them mostly. Now I want to get a slim box e.g Zotac or Foxconn setup on my TV. I have been searching and reading this an other forums about Atom and AMD options available. Below are the ones that I'm considering at the moment.

Zotac ZBOX-AD04-U http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6856173035
Zotac ZBOX-ID80-PLUS-U http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6856173033
Foxconn nt-A3700-0H0WBANA http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6856119070

I have read that the AMD GPU graphics perform much better than the Intel HD for decoding (won't be encoding on this machine or gaming). How goes the Nvidia G520 GPU perform as compared with E450 graphics?

Has anyone compared the D2700 based box with an E450 based one running XBMC (from internal HDD and network e.g. SMB)? What is their real life heating performance?

Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks.

[Dougie Fresh]

If you're planning to run OpenELEC know that the D2700 with GMA3650 GPU is listed as not supported on the OpenELEC website.

[marsbt]

The D2700 on the Zotax ID80 Plus has Nvidia G520 GPU. The other boxes are AMD fusion boxes. So none has GMA3650 GPU.

OpenElec - might be an option to check it out, but I will eventually settle on Debian based setup.

[marsbt]

Oh, and the ZBOX-AD04-U has a display port along with HDMI. That too is a plus point over their Intel version having DVI along with HDMI.

However, I haven't seen anyone test (yet) these together and report if the AMD option is still better at HD video than Intel with Nvidia.

[marsbt]

Unfortunately, other priorities came up and I couldn't buy the Zbox earlier. Now it is discontinued on Newegg, where the only version available is the plus (at other retailers too).

I already have my SSD for the box so the Plus is not an option. Also, reading the reviews at http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6856173034 indicated heating issues which will not be helped with a HDD running in that constricted space.

Since I haven't been able to find a barebone G520 based mini box (for XBMC use), I'm back to square one again. Below is what I'm thinking about and any help would be appreciated if you have experience in using any of these:

Jetway Jetway HBJC700C9J-H61-B Intel Socket LGA1155 Intel H61 Black Mini http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6856107106
(+) can choose CPU
(-) no Nvidia (but mini PCI Express available)?
(-) price goes beyond $350 even without storage (HDD/SDD)

ASUS EB1033-B0100 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6856110105
(+) Nvidia 610 ( G520 is better but is this better than Intel Integrated option?)
(-) main con from feedsback: opening case is difficult
(*) no front USB 3.0 - but it doesn't matter if the box is behind the TV!

Foxconn nt-A3700-0H0WBANA http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6856107106
(-) no Nvidia; AMD drivers not as easy to install/configure/upgrade as Nvidia is on Linux
(*) AMD E450 (is this a + or - as compared to Intel Atom 2550?

Are there any other options in the range of $200-$230 which have Nvidia G520?

[Dougie Fresh]

[...]
(+) Nvidia 610 ( G520 is better but is this better than Intel Integrated option?)
[...]

GT610 is just a rebadge/remarketing of the GT520. They are the same.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5845/nvidi...nto-retail

"At the bottom of the 600 series retail stack is the GeForce GT 610, which is a rebadge of the GT 520. This means it’s either a GF119 GPU or cut-down GF108 GPU featuring a meager 48 CUDA Cores and a 64bit memory bus, albeit with a low 29W TDP as a result. This is truly a rock bottom card meant to be a cheap as possible upgrade for older computers, as even an Ivy Bridge HD4000 iGPU should be able to handily surpass it."

[marsbt]

Thanks.

So that basically means anything handled by GT520 will be handled equally well by GT610 too.

The comment "This is truly a rock bottom card meant to be a cheap as possible upgrade for older computers, as even an Ivy Bridge HD4000 iGPU should be able to handily surpass it." - started me thinking. Should I rather go in for a Radeon 6320 based box or wait for some HD4000 based GPU on a slim box?

[Dougie Fresh]

People seem to love the Atom + GT520/GT610 and Zacate (E-350/450) for OpenELEC. It's not so great for Windows. I haven't tried OpenELEC with these myself but that's what I've read many times here.

[marsbt]

My plan is to have Debian and install XBMC on it, and then configure it to boot up automatically in XBMC. Windows has no space in my boxes!

[aptalca]

Thanks.

So that basically means anything handled by GT520 will be handled equally well by GT610 too.

The comment "This is truly a rock bottom card meant to be a cheap as possible upgrade for older computers, as even an Ivy Bridge HD4000 iGPU should be able to handily surpass it." - started me thinking. Should I rather go in for a Radeon 6320 based box or wait for some HD4000 based GPU on a slim box?

Well, in gaming performance, maybe hd4000 might surpass it, however, as far as htpcs are concerned, GT520 has hardware acceleration in linux/openelec, whereas intel gpu's have problems with it (macroblocking, etc.). GT520 will play whatever you throw at it even if the cpu is really weak. However the HD4000 needs a fast cpu to play high bitrate material because you'll have to turn hardware acceleration off.

It comes down to drivers available and therefore even the weakest nvidia gpu is preferable to intel gpu in openelec.

[PANiCnz]

If you're planning on Linux/Debian I would avoid anything AMD, Nvidia always has been and still is easy/better.

[marsbt]

So I finally bit the bullet and got myself an ASUS Eee Box 1033 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.asp...6856110105

I have XBMCBuntu on it for now. Temperatures of the two cores on the D2550 are at around 32C/90F (just after suspend mode) and after watching a movie around 46C/115F. GPU temperature was around 47C/116.5F.

For the movies I have played with it, there have been no noticable jerks. The movies are served by a NAS via smb:// share.

One thing that I had to do manually in Linux was to setup wake from use when in suspend mode. Now it wakes up from the MCE remote power button

[kapperz]

So many choices. I have been looking to replace my Revo 3610 because the fan is going and I cannot find a replacement.

The Foxconn machines are a plus for me since they don't have a fan, but reviews/hard ware support/cpu power are a concern. I dual boot my Revo (Atom Dual 1.6) into XP to plan MAME sometimes and I'd like to have the processor to handle at lease that.

Does the ASUS Eee Box 1033 look to have a replaceable fan?

[pmcgarr]

You don't know how happy I am that I see some success with the ASUS EB1033. I bought the same one, but not bare bone. I have not received it yet. Did you have any issues installing XBMCBuntu? I plan to go the Ubuntu/XBMC route.

I just had a bad experience trying to get Ubuntu onto an Acer Revo RL80-UR318 and because it was my first Ubuntu adventure, I am now paranoid that the conversion from Windows Media Center to XBMC is going to be a battle.

Thanks for giving me some hope!

Paul

[Juan234]

One thing that I had to do manually in Linux was to setup wake from use when in suspend mode. Now it wakes up from the MCE remote power button

Just ordered this box. Help a fellow forum member out and share how you got it to wake? =) Did it come with a IR adapter or did you have to buy one separately?