ASRock Vision HT: Ivy Bridge Carries the SFF HTPC Forward
by Ganesh T S on November 12, 2012 3:30 PM EST- Posted in
- Home Theater
- ASRock
- HTPC
- Ivy Bridge
Before proceeding to the business end of the review, let us take a look at some power consumption numbers. We measured power drawn at the wall when the unit was idle (with the display still being driven over HDMI and without), one hour after subjecting the unit to Prime95 and Furmark simultaneously and when playing back a 1080p24 Blu-ray movie from the optical drive with HD audio bistreaming. In all cases, the Wi-Fi was active (no wired Ethernet). A wireless keyboard and mouse was also connected to the unit.
| ASRock Vision HT 321B Power Consumption | |
| Idle (Display off) | 12.66 W |
| Idle (Display on) | 14.3 W |
| Prime95 + Furmark (Full loading) | 58.68 W |
| 1080p24 Blu-ray Playback using CyberLink PowerDVD 12 | 28.04 W |
The thermal solution used in the Vision HT 321B is very similar to the one used in the CoreHT 252B. We have already covered the thermal performance in detail in the previous reviews of ASRock HTPCs, and I found no discernible difference in the actual performance of the units. Full loading produces less than 35 dB of noise, and this is as good as what one can get with an actively cooled system.
The Vision HT 321B is definitely a good upgrade over the CoreHT 252B. By increasing the hard disk capacity, moving to DDR3-1600 for the DRAM and including dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support, ASRock has put in some thinking before doing an upgrade to the CoreHT lineup. Intel's advancements with Ivy Bridge (particularly, increased GPU capabilities and lower power consumption) also serve ASRock well in the upgrade.
It is almost impossible to avoid a comparison with the Mac mini which comes in with comparable specs for $599 (although it doesn't have a Blu-ray drive and has only a 500 GB HDD). At $680, there is a $80 premium for the ASRock unit, and all said, the PC ecosystem is preferred by more users for HTPC duties compared to the Mac mini. For readers looking to purchase the unit, I would advise a look at the Newegg reviews where there have been reports of internal components getting burnt when power is supplied. Our review unit has had no such issues in the last four months that it has been continuously on. However, such an issue is definitely possible and ASRock indicated that they are looking into it. Quality control and thermal design are aspects that ASRock need to pay more attention to in the future product lines.
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duploxxx - Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - link
very easy just use a low end Liano based or trinity based platform.enough performance , power consumption controllable and low cost
GotThumbs - Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - link
If you haven't already, Take a look at Zotecs (Zotac ZBOX ZBOXNANO-AD12-U AMD A68M ) using the AMD E2-1800 APU 1.7GHz Dual-Core. $229.00 Bare-bone or 299. with 2 Gigs and 320 HD (5400).http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
Zotac has had these form factors out for around 2 years, so Intels NUC is nothing new and yet is still over priced IMO.
Knowledge is power.
It would be nice if Anandtech did an in-depth review/comparison of the NUC and Zotacs offerings.
ssj3gohan - Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - link
It's very simple: Intel forbids them to use anything but mobile platforms. And mobile=really expensive (even though it's the same silicon). There are perfectly fine desktop processors that will fit inside those enclosures, well within the thermal limits. Intel's newest i3-3225 only uses about 30W full blast in actual use, scratching 45W under the most demanding synthetic load. The rest of the desktop platform is already super-efficient and doesn't contribute particularly much. And even though it outperforms any mobile processor, it costs only $130 vs $370ish for the cheapest hd 4000-outfitted mobile processor.So it's perfectly easy to make a much cheaper, better performing SFF PC, but Intel forbids it. Because that's good for the world.
nathanddrews - Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - link
Just buy an Ivy Bridge notebook on Black Friday for $300. Plenty of power for HTPC --> 1080p everything. HD4000 can play some games. Close the lid, connect and HDMI cable and you're done.Aikouka - Monday, November 12, 2012 - link
I considered purchasing this unit before, but I'm very picky about noise. It's not only noise when the unit is being used, but also how noisy is it when the room is quiet? I poked through this article, and unless I missed it, I don't see anything on noise characteristics for this unit.I ended up building a HTPC using the Streacom fan-less chassis instead of buying one of these. Let me tell you, if you want a build that's a bit of a PITA, go with that case. =P
ganeshts - Monday, November 12, 2012 - link
The thermal design / noise factor is covered in the final section. The solution is very similar to what we had in the previous generation HTPCs, and ASRock had tests with video proof to show less than 35 dB noise under full loading conditions.I have been keeping my eyes open for information / samples of Streacom's recently introduced FC10 chassis. We might see a piece on that if Streacom is able to get it into production anytime soon :)
capeconsultant - Monday, November 12, 2012 - link
A machine such as this should always include noise info. Not a reference to another machine's noise. It is a CRITICAL issue for a machine of this size whether used for HTPC or not. I will still be getting the mac mini. Keep trying.mikael.skytter - Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - link
I bought the unit this August and I am also picky about noise.As far as I am concerned this unit is really good. I have disabled the Blue Ray player and installed an SSD instead of the HDD.
The unit is completely silent unless you put your ear less then 10cm from it in a quiet room. My tv accually sounds more (Samsung Series 8 with fans).
When playing standard MKV 1080p files over the network, the unit does not increase the fanspeed but instead stays quitet.
I hope this help and I know it´s not numbers. But I am really picky about my units. It needs to be quiet and the Asrock does just that
cjs150 - Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - link
Ganeshts: for an HTPC review you must cover noise. You have to cover the noise in 3 situations, idle, full workload and (critically) playing a movie from the included Bluray player - if the machine is quiet but the bluray player noisy (vibration usually) then as an HTPC this would be an epic fail. This is one of my complaints about HTPC cases, they never include any vibration dampening for the optical driveI do not regard 35db as quiet, what it means is that in quiet sections of the movie I am hearing the computer which is not good enough.
There are some odd design choices here, although some may be forced on ASRock due to motherboard limitations. MSata or an SSD would be better than mechanical disk. Personally I would prefer better quality memory and more of it.
Then there is the issue of frame rates. This is not ASRock's fault but Intel's and is completely unforgiveable. I would really like you to get an interview with Intel and ask them to explain why, given that the frame rate standards has remained fixed for years, can they still not get it right.
Finally I would really like to see a review by you using Windows 8 as the OS for an HTPC. I am trying it on my HTPC and hate it (when Linux gets blu ray playback I am switching) but would love a second opinion to confirm whether I am just old fashioned or not!
Kevin G - Monday, November 12, 2012 - link
I see a little bit of comparison at the end to the Mac Mini but it'd be nice to have it represented in the performance charts for full comparison. Then again with just updating the line up, there could have been a bit of a time crunch.