AMD Llano HTPC Builders Guide
by Ganesh T S on June 5, 2012 8:02 AM ESTUnless your HTPC is going to double up as a full-blown gaming rig, it is not necessary to go in for more than a 450W power supply, and you can certainly go for less. Users concerned with noise might want to buy a fanless model, although, with 65W and 100W processors that may simply result in your CPU fan being noisier CPU fan.
- SeaSonic X series SS-400FL 400W 80PLUS GOLD PSU: Coming in at $130, the PSU is a bit costly but that is the price you'll have to pay for silence. It also comes with fully modular cables, which can be helpful when you're building in a smaller mini-ITX or micro-ATX chassis.
- Antec VP-450 450W PSU: At $38, this is a no-frills PSU with only moderate (up to 75%) efficiency, but for budget users with low-power rigs it represents a decent value. At this price, one can't expect modular cables and other such niceties. The goal here is decent reliability, low noise, and low cost.
The choice of the chassis depends on the form factor of the chosen motherboard, as well as the usage scenario.
- mini-ITX: SilverStone's FT03 Mini is currently on Newegg for $132.99 and also on Amazon for $129.50 (but temporarily out of stock at the time of this article going live). Dustin liked the case a lot and even considered it worthy of an award. The design also makes it stand out (hopefully in a good way, though opinions vary) in a home theater setup.
- micro-ATX and ATX: I am going to take this opportunity to suggest nMEDIAPC's wooden case currently available on Newegg for $90. This unique case is bound to steal the show even in the most fancy of home theater setups, thanks to its unique construction and industrial design. If you are in search of something mainstream that also includes a MCE remote, the Antec Fusion VERIS Remote Max is an excellent choice I can recommend from personal experience. It is currently on Amazon at $214.
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JAK620 - Tuesday, June 5, 2012 - link
"AMD's Llano can't run Netflix HD well "Is your Llano system built upon any slower-clocked 2 or 3 core Llano or Zacat?
I disagree. I have an HTPC w/ A8-3850 w/o a discrete graphic card. I do not have any problem running Netflix full screen w/ 1080P.
ganeshts - Tuesday, June 5, 2012 - link
Agree.. No problems with Netflix HD except on Zacate platforms.. In the Llanos (quad core versions with the higher end iGPU), it works smoothly:http://www.anandtech.com/show/4479/amd-a83850-an-h...
JAK620 - Tuesday, June 5, 2012 - link
Adding the point that without a discrete graphic card ( I do not play many games on the PC but on gaming consoles), the overall fan noise is a lot lower than a regular PC (CPU + discrete graphic).I agree that the stock fan is kinda loud but luckily my case has really good airflow so constantly the CPU is <45 celcius and around 52~54 celcius under moderate load (playing NSF Unleashed in 1080P w/ some effects tuned down or Skpye 720P HD).
With good case air flow, it helps moderate the CPU fan speed and noise
jeffkro - Tuesday, June 5, 2012 - link
yup, its zacate(e350) that can't do netflix HD. People are giving misleading information.jeffkro - Tuesday, June 5, 2012 - link
you're insane, llano has plenty of cpu grunt to handle netflix HD even without offloading it to the gpu. What you are saying is definitely true of the much lower end zacate setup.plonk420 - Tuesday, June 5, 2012 - link
it SHOULD be able to do netflix... my saddeningly undercapable E-350 was ALMOST able to do HD netflix, but not quite.UrQuan3 - Wednesday, June 6, 2012 - link
It is odd that Netflix HD still doesn't work on Zacate. My E-350 runs 1080p h264 and VC-1 fine. Of course, that's 30fps, I still haven't seen a 60fps video in the wild. It also handles crunchyroll 1080p streaming without a problem. It must just be a Silverlight problem like other people are saying.Peroxyde - Tuesday, June 5, 2012 - link
Heat sink of the G.Skill Snipper RAM module: Is there any functional purpose to the two metal pieces that protrude on the top on both left and right sides? May be that's just me, I find that impractical as this hurts the fingers when installing the modules.TheTechSmith - Tuesday, June 5, 2012 - link
I researched building an HTPC to play video files off of a NAS a year and a half ago, and wound up buying a Boxee box instead. At $190 it's a lot more expensive than its most popular competitors (Apple TV, Roku, etc), but it is a lot cheaper than building an HTPC, and has played every type of file I have thrown at it off of my NAS, which is something the cheaper competitors cannot do. You get access premium pay services as well including Netflix and Voodoo in the US. There are other products (e.g. WD TV Live) that will do this as well, reviewed on this site. A word of warning however, Adobe has not made version 11 of flash available for Boxee and similar devices yet which breaks streaming of a lot of free web content from TV station web sites, and this is completely out of Boxee's control. I know many would prefer to build their own solution so they can customize their hardware and software, but each to their own.lurker22 - Tuesday, June 5, 2012 - link
Problem is Boxee is a dead platform. Also, does it support Netflix HD?Oh, and Plex is so much more versatile and stable!