AMD Zacate

How does it handle MKV's that are encoded at very high passes or play very high bit rate files?

The platform is very cheap for a solid HTPC streamer. For less than 300 bucks you can have a HTPC that plays anything??
 
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Same here. I had zero issues with 1080p. Only issues at all were NetFlix. My guess is that with the silverlight update later this year the NetFlix issue will be resolved.

For my personal uses the Zacate is damn near perfect once the silverlight issues are resolved.
 
CPU load streaming Netflix HD is about 60%, but it's a slideshow. Silverlight is the only issue I've run into on my Lenovo.
 
Just a follow up. (gotta keep this thread alive).

How does hulu play in 1080p for you guys?

BTW nice price drop at newegg on the deluxe.
 
I'm curious to know as well, this setup will make an awesome HTPC for the bedroom or any for that matter.
 
bastage said:
Same here. I had zero issues with 1080p. Only issues at all were NetFlix. My guess is that with the silverlight update later this year the NetFlix issue will be resolved.

For my personal uses the Zacate is damn near perfect once the silverlight issues are resolved.
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I don't have much time to go into detail, but I think I might have a solution for the Netflix streaming issue.

Try manually assigning your DNS servers using OpenDNS. You can go to their webpage (www.opendns.com) and at the bottom right of the homepage are their free DNS servers to use (208.67.222.222 & 208.67.220.220).

Here's what I did:

-Manually assigned the DNS servers in my network properties.
-Flushed the DNS by going to the cmd prompt and running "ipconfig /flushdns"
-Immediately shut down the computer and left it off.
-Turned off my modem and router for a full minute.
-Powered modem and router back on and waited for the router's pretty green internet light.
-Turned computer back on.
-Profit?
 
I'm not sure what you are saying. Are you trying to say the Zacate has specific DNS or bandwidth issues regardless of internet connection? That fixed your HD Netflix problem?

I'm on the fence myself, but I will end up getting one for the bedroom when this issue is fixed. More than likely, it seems like it'll have to be a Silverlight update sometime down the road, hopefully sooner than later too.
 
I was wondering the same thing. Does this fix apply to the Netflix HD problem (stuttering/slideshow) or does this apply to the recent problems that have been experienced by Windows Vista (and possibly others) users that are no longer able to connect to Netflix through WMC?
 
FrostBite said:
I'm not sure what you are saying. Are you trying to say the Zacate has specific DNS or bandwidth issues regardless of internet connection? That fixed your HD Netflix problem?

I'm on the fence myself, but I will end up getting one for the bedroom when this issue is fixed. More than likely, it seems like it'll have to be a Silverlight update sometime down the road, hopefully sooner than later too.
Click to expand...

It's only for connecting to Netflix, the HD playback issue is due to a silverlight update.
 
FrostBite said:
I'm not sure what you are saying. Are you trying to say the Zacate has specific DNS or bandwidth issues regardless of internet connection? That fixed your HD Netflix problem?

I'm on the fence myself, but I will end up getting one for the bedroom when this issue is fixed. More than likely, it seems like it'll have to be a Silverlight update sometime down the road, hopefully sooner than later too.
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I'm not saying anything for sure, but since it would take less than a min to try it out, I don't see how it would hurt.

I was reinstalling Win7 on another PC and I noticed that media center was missing the Internet TV and Netflix tiles. After some quick searching, I found that this is somewhat of a common problem that has been popping up since December, caused by corrupt/incorrect DNS info.

Microsoft's article about it:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/977116

Some troubleshooting steps I found on the Green Button forums:
http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/p/85234/427335.aspx#427335


Unfortunatly, re-setting the Region and Language settings didn't do the trick for me, so I gave these troubleshooting steps a try that I found linked in the thread:

http://thegreenbutton.com/blogs/bar...x-missing-netflix-and-internet-tv-on-wmc.aspx

I manually assigned my DNS servers (Using OpenDNS) and then used the cmd prompt to flush the DNS cache and force an MCE update. I opened up MCE and voila! Internet TV and Netflix were back!


Later that night, it dawned on me that this could also be the solution to the stuttering and poor quality we were seeing in Netflix. If the DNS info is bad, the packets may be getting bounced around unnecessary hops on it's way to your playback device. Zacate may have a silverlight issue compounding things, but I don't think it's a coincidence that they are not the only computers doing this. In that Netflix thread where everyone was using LOTR to test playback, there were a number of people that couldn't get smooth playback with adequate equipment (Myself included). I've always found Netflix's "HD" quality to be questionable. Yeah, my xbox looked a little better than my HTPC since it's only doing 720P and I get less macroblocking, but in general, the quality has always been somewhere in between SD and crappy 720P.

After I finished setting up the new computer I was working on, I decided I should test the Netflix quality again on my main HTPC.

I was floored at the quality difference - I didn't know Netflix coud look that good. Playing LOTR again looked like the quality was somehwere in the 1080i range. There was some slight macroblockig in fast moving scenes, but overall the picture was crips, clean and smooth.

Like I said, it's a quick and easy fix, wouldn't hurt to try...
 
I bit on a Zacate build due to the $25 off code for Newegg. It's going to be a XBMC and old school emulator box. I got the following:

AVS Gear HA-IR01SV Infrared Certified MCE VISTA Remote Control
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16880121001

ASRock E350M1 AMD Zacate E350 (1.6GHz, Dual-Core) AMD A50M Hudson M1 Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157228

Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134718

APEX MI-100 Black / Mirror finish Steel Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 250W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154084

For $205 shipped. I'm going to use my 500GB and 2TB hard drive I already have for it. I also already have a wireless keyboard and mouse. I'll later get a 3TB in with the 2TB and move the other 500GB back to my main rig.
 
I have an Asrock e350 on the way as well, with 4gb ddr3 1600 and a 30gb Vertex boot drive I pulled from another rig. My tv only does 720p so demands are lower.

Does anyone think this thing will handle a Ceton?

How are the DACs in it?
 
With streaming sites that support Video card acceleration the Asrock E350M1 that I have handles 1080p video without issue. I was playing with IE 8 and 10.3 flash beta and that was having major issues with stutter. The CPU only gets a 3.8 in windows experience and it shows. I get a 3.8 with my Dell D430 with an Intel Core2 U7400 @ 1.2Ghz. As others have said, Media center (playback) or Light load general purpose is about all you should expect.
 
I've got the ASRock E350 board, it's small, nice, quiet even with the fan (however it does get to 50C inside of the Habey 800B case. But I love the combination. Except I want a case for the main HTPC downstairs to have some expansion card slots since I'd like the PVR feature.
 
Ruiner said:
Does anyone think this thing will handle a Ceton?
Click to expand...


I'd guess it wouldn't have any issues with a ceton doing multiple recordings since theres not too much computationally intensive stuff going on. As long as it can write to disk its fine. I can take a peek at my system usage doing 4 HD recordings and see what its like.. those numbers should give at least an empirical insight into how demanding the task is.
 
Is anyone else having trouble with standby on the Asrock or other brazos boards?
The drives and fans spin up on wake but there's no signal to the TV. Handshake issue perhaps?

I've turned off the green/sleep options for the Realtek NIC, common trouble spots.
Rig has a Vertex 1 boot drive, AHCI (AMD drivers).

edit: hybrid sleep and hibernation also off.
 
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Ruiner said:
Is anyone else having trouble with standby on the Asrock or other brazos boards?
The drives and fans spin up on wake but there's no signal to the TV. Handshake issue perhaps?
Click to expand...

I have my ASRock Zacate board set for sleep/standby. It will randomly wake up for a bit and shut itself down. Once in a while I can't get it to wake back up without unplugging the power cord and plugging it back in then pressing power. Weird shit.
 
|Tch0rT| said:
Once in a while I can't get it to wake back up without unplugging the power cord and plugging it back in then pressing power. .
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That's what it takes for mine as well, but I toggle the switch on the PSU rather than pulling the plug.
 
Supposedly Ontario's next chip is getting turbo boost... I wonder if Zacate is getting it too? That'd be sweet
 
Thinking of getting the asus e35 deluxe mb, 4gb of ram, 40gb ssd and an antec isk 300-65.. It should breeze through 1080p movies and be able to stream sports through sopcast as well right?
Looks to me atm to be the best thing out there from a price/performance perspective.
 
JimmyN said:
Thinking of getting the asus e35 deluxe mb, 4gb of ram, 40gb ssd and an antec isk 300-65.. It should breeze through 1080p movies and be able to stream sports through sopcast as well right?
Looks to me atm to be the best thing out there from a price/performance perspective.
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By stream sports are you referring to espn3?


I would like to hear the results of your zacate doing so, i try to stream it to my ps3 via orb and it runs like complete poop. This on a better processor than zacate.
 
No, just streaming through the sofware Sopcast.. Shouldn't have a problem I think, it's not a particularly CPU intensive software..
 
FWIW, this Asrock 350 runs Lego SW (4xAA no less) and Race07 at 720p no problem.
Netflix HD still a problem of course.

Has anyone tried the Silverlight 5 beta?
 
Ruiner said:
FWIW, this Asrock 350 runs Lego SW (4xAA no less) and Race07 at 720p no problem.
Netflix HD still a problem of course.

Has anyone tried the Silverlight 5 beta?
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I'll try and check it at work tomorrow - Received the frame I want to use for the NAS so that may be done this weekend.
 
Thinking of getting one of this board. Has anyone tried to put a SAS/SATA controller card on this board yet ? Specifically Intel SASUC8I. I know that the ASUS board does not work ATM. Has anyone tried it on either MSI or Asrock board ?

Thanks.
 
I bit on that MSI board that was on newegg the other day for $95 after MIR w/ free ship. Added a Lian-Li PC-Q09 and 4gb of ddr3. Can't wait to get this thing set up. planning on replacing the HTPC rig in my sig with it.
 
Has anyone looked into replacing the HSF's on these things? I haven't even fired my board up, but I understand that the fan noise may be an issue. Will northbridge coolers work, or are the mounting holes completely different?
 
I took a brief look, as I have a few OEM cpu HSF's that would fit after some sawing and drilling.

That said, despite the tiny fan on the Asrock, I can't hear it in it's case. I suppose my case's cooling is enough to keep the fan from ramping up.

The easiest and probably cheapest solution if it's still too loud for you would be to remove the stock fan and mount an 80 or 92mm fan over the sinks. The custom NB sinks that come with flexible mounting would probably work but at greater expense.

I'd pursue better cooling if my bios had overclocking options, which it doesn't. An extra 200Mhz on the cpu and a light GPU overclock would probably be noticeable on this board.
 
Activate: AMD said:
I bit on that MSI board that was on newegg the other day for $95 after MIR w/ free ship. Added a Lian-Li PC-Q09 and 4gb of ddr3. Can't wait to get this thing set up. planning on replacing the HTPC rig in my sig with it.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry I missed that deal. I paid 116 shipped for the asrock.
 
Ruiner said:
I took a brief look, as I have a few OEM cpu HSF's that would fit after some sawing and drilling.

That said, despite the tiny fan on the Asrock, I can't hear it in it's case. I suppose my case's cooling is enough to keep the fan from ramping up.

The easiest and probably cheapest solution if it's still too loud for you would be to remove the stock fan and mount an 80 or 92mm fan over the sinks. The custom NB sinks that come with flexible mounting would probably work but at greater expense.
Click to expand...

I'll have to see exactly how it sounds in the case, since I'm not there yet. I do have a few NB heatsinks sitting around that are much more substantial than this stock solution that I may be able to use passively provided the case air flow is good. I guess I can take the measurements myself for the mounting holes. The thermalright-built DFI X38 HS is one I have that comes to mind. I also have this Enzotech copper NB cooler on my current E7AUM motherboard that works just fine. With its integrated geforce 9400 gpu I'd imagine it comes fairly close to the TDP of the Zacate APU.. its just a matter of if the mounting holes line up.

Ruiner said:
I'd pursue better cooling if my bios had overclocking options, which it doesn't. An extra 200Mhz on the cpu and a light GPU overclock would probably be noticeable on this board.
Click to expand...
Yea, I'd love to be able to do a little bit of OC'ing on there to make it perform a little bit better, but that would only really be for the fun of it. Low power consumption is definitely an important part since I'd like to move to an "always on" usage model. Waking up from sleep introduces a bunch of problems I'd like to avoid.
Ruiner said:
I'm sorry I missed that deal. I paid 116 shipped for the asrock.
Click to expand...

Seeing that deal come up made me glad I didn't give in a pull the trigger earlier. I came close quite a few times, but couldn't make up my mind about USB3. The price on the MSI made the decision for me.. $10-20 might have been worth it, $40-50 wasn't.
 
I see a lot of talk about the Zacate with regard to media performance and cost, but I would like to know how well it runs MediaBrowser. The Atom can do most of what you guys described, albeit load a little bit slower, but it performs badly where MediaBrowser browsing is concerned. How does the Zacate do? Better yet, can anyone make a home video and put it on YouTube so we can see how well a Zacate media center performs similar to this Zotac/Atom video?
 
Machupo said:
Anyone tried a Zacate board with a Ceton Infini TV4? I'm interested in swapping my i3-530 out for this badboy if it can handle 4 1080p recording streams at once + 1080p playback without issue :)

Another big benefit would be for a switch to a pico psu as well :D
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Has anyone been able to test this setup out yet?
I've found a couple posts on various forums posing the question but no responses yet.
Very curious as I'd like swap out my mATX LGA 775/9400GT setup for a mini-ITX Zacate for the energy savings, space savings, more elegant design myself.

Currently considering:
E-350 (haven't decided on specific board yet)
8GB 1.25v RAM w/ RAM Disk setup for Temp files, channel listings, etc.
Ceton InfiniTV4 Quad MediaCard reader. Yes, aparently they are now selling them on Amazon with free shipping. :/
2-3TB HDD. I've got a few laying around right now or I could just run a 6GB/s SSD and map storage to a certain separate media server that I've been procrastinating about building.
Another option would be to pickup one of the Mini PCIe equipped boards and swap out whatevers there for a Mini PCIe SSD for the OS so I don't have to sacrifice speed, storage, or small footprint.

I figure it should make for a speedy little eco friendly HTPC.
 
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