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Old 23rd Feb 2011, 07:33   #1
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Gigabyte GA-E350N-USB3 Review
AMD Fusion is here! We test the new E-350 APU's HTPC features and gaming performance.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/mot...i-itx-review/1
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Old 23rd Feb 2011, 07:49   #2
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That's a pretty interesting review but:

Quote:
The G6950 gives you a much better CPU, a full PCI-E 16x slot, just as many SATA oirts
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Old 23rd Feb 2011, 07:50   #3
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at £125 the Gigabyte board is already expensive (thank Mr Tax Man for the extra fiver), but we doubt it'll be uncompetitive versus other E-350 boards. Others might be tempted by Asus' passively cooled and feature filled-Asus Deluxe E-350 boards, but these are likely to cost even more money.
The passively cooled Asus E35M1-M PRO is in stock at overclockers and scan for around £109 inclusive of VAT.
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Old 23rd Feb 2011, 07:57   #4
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Saw it at Pixmania for 123€ plus shipping... It's a very good price, too bad I have the X4 600e for HTPC/ gaming PC
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Old 23rd Feb 2011, 08:44   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Xen0phobiak
That's a pretty interesting review but:

Quote:
The G6950 gives you a much better CPU, a full PCI-E 16x slot, just as many SATA oirts
Fixed.
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Old 23rd Feb 2011, 09:25   #6
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Nice review, good to see you are not bandwagon jumping and actually investigating it against other alternatives

small note: in the conclusion, you forget the N in E350N-USB3 a few times
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Old 23rd Feb 2011, 09:55   #7
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Where are the power consumption numbers, this is quite a major thing missing from the review, this is what you will likely choose the platform for, it supposedly offers low power and decent performance.

Performance looks good but it'll be no interest to me if the system uses >45w of my current always on HTPC setup.
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Old 23rd Feb 2011, 10:02   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by frontline View Post
The passively cooled Asus E35M1-M PRO is in stock at overclockers and scan for around £109 inclusive of VAT.
Nice spot! But it's not mini-ITX though

sandys - I'm on 110V here so can't do power consumption numbers sorry. Best wait for future reviews done by the UK team
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Old 23rd Feb 2011, 10:10   #9
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Unfortunately there's no AMD-support to be found for Linux, so you can't easily setup Ubuntu+XBMC on these boards.

Nevertheless, AMD managed to release a chip 2 years after intel, with a slight advantage over the Atom+ION platform, but that's just too late too little.
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Old 23rd Feb 2011, 10:20   #10
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"In fact, we feel that AMD skimped on the CPU part of its APU a little too much, as it holds back the Radeon HD 6310."

makes the idea of Llano Fusion seem deeply appealing given the dual Phenom II cores fab'ed at 32nm!
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Old 23rd Feb 2011, 10:34   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jrs77 View Post
Unfortunately there's no AMD-support to be found for Linux, so you can't easily setup Ubuntu+XBMC on these boards.

Nevertheless, AMD managed to release a chip 2 years after intel, with a slight advantage over the Atom+ION platform, but that's just too late too little.
Its in the latest kernel .38 I think and febs catalysts
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Old 23rd Feb 2011, 13:29   #12
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It would be nice if Bit-tech could review the MSI E350IA-E45 as it is available for pre-order from OcUK for £99.98:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...03&subcat=1949

BTW,power consumption of the Zacate mini-ITX motherboards is less than that of the Atom mini-ITX motherboards:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4134/t...-for-miniitx/7

Perhaps it would also be wise to use either a lower wattage standard PSU or a DC-DC one to get a more accurate indication of power consumption too.
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Old 23rd Feb 2011, 14:40   #13
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With all the fapping about Intel's Sandy Bridge over the last few months,
would be closer...
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Old 23rd Feb 2011, 15:27   #14
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In the for what its worth dept.

For those of us who are state side, some e-tailers are now selling E-350 boards for as low as $110. Though I plan on holding off for a little bit to see what the next few months brings.
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Old 23rd Feb 2011, 18:42   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bindibadgi
Quote:
Originally Posted by frontline View Post
The passively cooled Asus E35M1-M PRO is in stock at overclockers and scan for around £109 inclusive of VAT.
Nice spot! But it's not mini-ITX though
True, although it is a feature packed, passively cooled Asus board

I still think the main benefit of Zacate will be in netbooks, although i'm still tempted by a mini-itx/micro-atx build. I'll probably wait until the end of next month and see what boards are out there and how they are priced.

Shame there was no mention of Internet Explorer 9 GPU acceleraton and what (if anything) it brings to systems like this. Plus there are a range of GPU accelerated apps available that hopefully will only grow over the next few months: http://sites.amd.com/us/fusion/apu/P...-demos.aspx#11

Nice review though!
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Old 23rd Feb 2011, 18:46   #16
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Speaking of this platform and XBMC, does anyone know what the current state of hardware video decoding is on AMD for xbmc on linux? (I realise that the support for this board is probably not there yet).
I've had a bit of a google, but I've not been able to find a list of different hardware that does allow HW acceleration on linux xbmc.

My first thought on seeing this review is that it would be just perfect for my brother who wants me to help him build a media center/NAS. XBMC is (imo) the perfect software for a media center (and the underlying Ubuntu system will be fine for a NAS), but it needs HW acceleration to be viable on low CPU boards like this.
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Old 23rd Feb 2011, 19:17   #17
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Originally Posted by phuzz
Speaking of this platform and XBMC, does anyone know what the current state of hardware video decoding is on AMD for xbmc on linux? (I realise that the support for this board is probably not there yet).
I've had a bit of a google, but I've not been able to find a list of different hardware that does allow HW acceleration on linux xbmc.
AFAIK Its still in the situation where only Nvidia CUDA capable video cards/chipsets can do the hardware acceleration under linux.
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Old 23rd Feb 2011, 21:29   #18
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Nice article, although having read it I'm really tempted to build myself a basic new work machine based around this:

Quote:
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The passively cooled Asus E35M1-M PRO is in stock at overclockers and scan for around £109 inclusive of VAT.
Which has shed a few pounds since this morning and is now looking mighty tempting for a web browsing / email / simple spreadsheet machine:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-...board-graphics

(I'd tell everyone what I'm still using for work, but you'd all either laugh or weep. Or possibly both).

Sure the mini-sized fans like on this Gigabyte GA-E350N-USB3 may start off reasonably quiet, but you know that after about 6-9 months or so it's going to start sounding like a little hairdrier...
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Old 27th Feb 2011, 07:29   #19
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I liked this review of the brazos concept better than many of the more resourced big boys efforts - eg branch to hudsonSB & export controls to china etc.

Astute comment about over powered? GPU & under powered cpu. A similar thought hit me when viewing the die snapshot. Its like a GPU w/ some CPUs tacked on. The die is ~30% CPUs/60% gpu/ & 10% misc.

Still, I think that would be my priority too. Functional graphics and snappy response to inputs. A slow cpu u can live with, a slow video clip or movie, you cant.

Plus, AMD would naturally utilise existing less space inhibited discrete gpu designs & just cut a paste it onto the fusion chip, & the new cpu just has to fit on whats left of the desired die size and power footprint.

Still, I suspect perceived cpu limitations are more a gamer & PC reviewer problem, than for the average user.

Lets not forget the APU concept. Using the GPU as a co-processor is young software. The potential for the same hardware to improve with improved software is certainly there. Maybe the bias to GPU space in the die is a reflection of AMDs confidence this will happen.

Off the cuff, re the ASUS passive cooled atx, I go with function over form - no fan (good comment re they get worse over time (plus slower airflow is less of a dust magnet - dust is like putting a blanket on your heatsink as you know)) and more ports in a bigger case for me, (all things being equal).

Mobos always seem the worst thing to nickel and dime about. A mobo with all you can eat is only slightly dearer than one with compromises. The cost & hassle of a discrete card for a need you didnt anticipate, makes the premium for the mobo pale by comparison.

Brazos is the closest we have come to a cheap & potentially very cheap, all in one, low power, pc on a chip - and it is only the opening salvo.

Intel have married crap video (dx10.1) and a powerful expensive cpu on their fusion offering, directed at a market that doesnt want IGP anyway (OK, maybe the spreadsheat market)? Go figure.

I reckon a 28nm version of brazos would really kick ass, either as a mobile or desktop. Use some of the new space on the die for mature/thirsty SB/discrete chipset functions like lan, usb, sata,wi-fi, and still get 9w tdp

Am skeptical of cores. 2 x = 50% ^, 3x = 30%^ 4X=25% ^, IN THEORY. Intuitively, 2X using less power sounds good to me.


This whole price thing is a phurphy in the big picture. Early adopters of attractive (as seems the case, their order books have gone ballistic, as has theirs to TMC) new technology pay a premium based on supply and demand. The price isnt set in stone - big news.


It may be, early adopters get the premium back in power savings in a year, so why wait if it solves a need.

Have you seen the size of these things? They are tiny. If Intel & Nvidea want to play hardball on price, AMD can match them at every turn and unlike them, still make money & have a leaner and better (dx11?) product.

Sad to say guys, the action now isnt the replacement market in the west, it is the first pc purchase in developing markets. Power interruptions are big considerations. They often go straight to a laptop for this reason rather than portability. Next come price. I reckon AMD has a much better sweetspot now, and thats just for starters.
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Old 2nd Apr 2011, 22:43   #20
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I have been waiting for my ASUS E35M1-I Deluxe for over a month now, that has to say something about how attractive these chips are.
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