Emachines EL1200 Slimline build

S

SILVR 6

Gawd
Joined
Nov 13, 2003
Messages
559
Was at futureshop today and picked up an open box Emachines slimline system for $150, quite the steal:

Athlon 64 2650e
Some MCP61-P AM2 M/B:rolleyes:
1GB DDR2-800
160GB Seagate 7200rpm
Geforce 6150se Integrated video
Windows XP Home Edition for Nettops
220W PSU:D 14A on the 12V Rail

So as you can see not much of a config and i've got a few questions.

For the motherboard is says "boxer 61 DA061" Its an AM2 mobo and has 1x pci-e 1x slot, there are traces where a pci-e 16x slot would have been.

At first I thought the M/B was matx however looking at it further its either dtx or mini dtx, meaning the only motherboards suitable for replacement would be mini itx

According to emachines website it supports Athlon 64 X2's (45W) and semprons, now heres my first question:

i've seen in various oem systems built with the geforce 6150se motherboards and have had various phenom cpu X4 and X3 (b2 b3 steppings) so i'm curious to see whether or not those particular cpu's would be supported. Ideally i'd like to throw a 905E X4 of a 705E X3 in there if possible (doubtfull) but I could also settle for a 9350e if it doesn't support PII (Newegg has 9350's for $105)


As for the use of this system, not to sure yet, will prolly end up as a HTPC or a small mini workstation. I know some people will says go with a dualcore of some sort but i'm used to multicores now so there is no turning back.

If using the motherboard isn't an option i'm thinking of going with the Zotac AM2 board along with a PII of my choice. I mention the AM2 itx because I don't really do much in the form of gaming but I suppose I could go all out and get the 775 itx zotac board with a Q8200 or something, as long as they aren't too power hungry, I guess I should mention I want this to be as silent as possible.

Any thoughts
 
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Well before anyone chimes in I've learned a few things that makes this system very tough to upgrade in an easy fashion.

First off I should have got the 1210 model (GF 8200) HDMI SPDIF 16X pcie slot, oh well it was cheap.

So motherboard swap is possible but there is no I/O shield with the computer, its integrated into the rear of the case, If I was to cut with a dremel then problem solved.

Cpu support wise, i'm on the fence, I have a spare X2 3600 but at 1.9ghz it doesn't really have enough juice for what I need, 45W 5050e should work but i'm also curious as to if the 9150/9350 works.

Videocard wise, if I stick with this mobo I'll need a 1x card, which is hard to find and not cheap (found a HD4350) but the problem becomes the 5.25" cage is in the way and the card itself would have to be very short in depth.

So I guess in closing for a HTPC this won't work without some real modding and the price isn't really worth it to get a vid card, i'll let everyone know what I decide to do with it.
 
Where does it say that the PC supports 45W Athlon X2 CPUs?

Whether or not your mobo supports those Phenom II CPU depends on what BIOs revision they were shipped with. It may have been an old revision before the Phenom II or afterwards.

However are you sure you've seen Phenom II CPUs with 6150se motherboards? Any examples?
 
I should have stated i've only seen the Phenom I's in the flavor of 9100/9150e 9350e with the 6150se

http://dealspl.us/hp_pavilion_media_center_m8417c_phenom_8400_2_1_ghz_geforce_6150se_nforce_430_4_gb_640_gb_16x_dvd_r_rw_12x_ram_97925

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4375458&SRCCODE=SHOPPINGDF&cm_mmc_o=2mHCjCmtB55bETCjCVqHCjCdwwp



I didn't look real hard but it does show some the phenom's do work with this chipset.

Looking around at some of the motherboard manufacture websites, the 6150se is listed as supporting Phenom 1 cpu's.


http://support.gateway.com/emachines/emac/EL1200/EL1200sp2.shtml

Specs from eMachines
 
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Even if it did support Phenom 2's the recommendation for 45w X2's comes for the thermal characteristics of the case and CPU cooler. They're saying that specific case's cooling isn't going to support anything beyond a 45w CPU very well.

If you do upgrade the CPU then you need to upgrade the PSU as well, eMachines (last I heard at least) still uses a "proprietary" PSU with it wired weirdly. It's not going to work with another mobo.

Also, I love my 9300 ITX, fantastic little mobo. :)
 
The PSU is a liteon 220w with 14A on the 12V Rail, If I was to throw a 65W phenom in, i'm sure the psu would be fine, its running 1 3.5" drive and a dvd-rw, nothing else. The cooler would be good for a 65W cpu i'm guessing, I guess i'll state that a phenom II is not that important i'm just curious as to whether the 9150 or 9350 would work. I might just bite the bullet and buy one from newegg and see what happens.

Air flow in the system isn't too bad as there are alot of holes right above the hsf area. Cooler looks similar to a stock 775 intel one.
 
Dude. That's only if your mobo can support a 65w CPU (as in, if it's power circuitry will given enough juice for it without toasting your mobo) and that's not even including the BIOS supporting it too.

You got a good deal on a system that has very limited expandability, you won't be able to do much with it without modding it and totally upgrading it's hardware.
 
I understand what your saying about the power design of the motherboard, I put in a Brisbane X2 3600+ rated for 65W and it works just fine, no adjustments in the bios it just defaults to whatever the cpu's stock settings are.

I think i'm ready to bite the bullet and buy a 9350e to see if it works and if it doesn't i'll grab the Zotac AM2 itx board and put the 9350e in that.
 
Picked up a 5050e today and put it in with no problems, i'm undervolting via rm-clock, this board might be more promising than I initially thought.
 
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