ASRock Core 100HT-BD : Bringing HTPCs to the Mainstream Market [UPDATED : Noise Issue]
by Ganesh T S on July 19, 2010 9:34 PM EST- Posted in
- Home Theater
- Arrandale
- ASRock
- Media Streamer
- Core i3
- HTPC
Most users of the Core 100 HT-BD will probably not need to play around with the BIOS. That said, the unit carries the AMI L1.32 BIOS, and does provide a good set of features for the enthusiasts to play around with.
First off, we have the OC Tweaker option, which has more features compared to the overclocking Windows utility that ASRock supplies. There is a Turbo30 option to increase the system performance in a transparent manner. In our testing, we found that overclocking doesn't deliver any improvement for HTPC workloads, so we didn't test this aspect too much. One point of note is that the GPU easily overclocks to 900 MHz from the stock 667 MHz. This improved the Windows Experience Index score sometimes (depending on the Intel graphics driver version).
In the 'Advanced' section of the BIOS, most users would be interested in the Instant Flash utility which enables BIOS updates from a flash driver without booting into Windows. Of more usefulness is the 'Good Night LED' feature which turns off the really bright blue LED in the front when the unit is in 'Standby' mode.
The 'H/W Monitor' section allows one to modify the CPU and chassis fan settings. The default 'Auto' option worked very well, and managed to keep the unit idling around 45C. The BIOS page seemed to always indicate a higher temperature compared to the Windows utility. On booting into the OS and entering into 'Idle' mode, the power saving options kick in, bringing down the temperatures.
The Boot section allows you to choose the boot device and boot order. Booting from USB devices is indeed possible, but the menu entry in the BIOS appears only if the USB device is connected to the unit.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
107 Comments
View All Comments
ganeshts - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link
Decaff,I will do more research on how to perfect the picture quality testing metrics.
For your second point, we do have a HTPC software article coming up (end of August) :)
Third, we just posted a review of the WDTV Live. Reviews of other boxes are coming up :)
BSalita - Saturday, July 31, 2010 - link
I congratulate Anandtech for holding out a comprehensive HTPC suite to quantify the performance of new gear. The industry has been lax in creating a consensus of how to properly test HTPC gear. I hope other review sites will likewise use this kind of test suite. Let the media server wanabees know what their systems must do to find a minimal level of acceptability. Only by holding out such a thorough test will we finally have the means for raising out of the quagmire of incomplete codecs, firmware and lightweight product comparisons.Hrel - Sunday, August 15, 2010 - link
1. No tv tuner2. No gaming
3. 700+ dollars?!
I agree with everyone else. I really see no appeal in this system. Something without a tv tuner and that doesn't function as a gaming system will never be worth more than 200, maybe 300 if the features were really nice.
I don't understand why people can't just use their laptops/desktops? I use my desktop on a 37" HDTV. Gaming, video encoding, internet browsing, torrenting, youtube, hulu, DVR, 2TB of storage internally in RAID!!!! Seriously, it's baffling why anyone would accept less when you simply don't have to.
vanderwijk - Monday, August 23, 2010 - link
I was very surprised to read that because HDMI port on the unit is 1.3a the maximum resolution is only 1920 x 1080. This would mean that my Dell 2408 would not be supported because its resolution is 1920 x 1200 :(A quick check on WikiPedia shows that HDMI 1.3a is capable of at least 1920 x 1200, so what's the deal here? Is this an error in the review or is it really not possible to display more than 1080 vertical pixels?
blacksun1234 - Wednesday, August 25, 2010 - link
Yes, it can support 1920x1200.blacksun1234 - Friday, September 3, 2010 - link
Dear Ganesh,Can it support BD 3D playback with Samsung 3D LED TV?
mega999 - Sunday, January 16, 2011 - link
Can it support BD 3D playback with Samsung 3D LED TV? -or do I need the new asrock visiond 3d one for that because of it's hdmi 1.4?Regards,
mega