Proposed X-mas Holiday E-350 HTPC or FM1-based system

[lordvic]

So, with X-mas coming around the corner, I decided to build a new PC to replace the aging eMachines system with and LGA 478 P4 3.0GHz, 2GB RAM DDR400, Radeon 9250 PCI (yes, the Mobo only has PCI slots) that my parents use for web browsing and watching HD movies hooked up to my 46" Sony...

As you can see from the specs, it doesn't do 1080p very well; in fact, it struggles at even 720p (lower too I think).

Anyway, to the point. I'm planning to make a small HTPC for them for their use. I was planning to do:

1)

- mini-ITX boards that uses the AMD E-350 processor
- 4GB or 8GB of low profile DDR3 RAM (DDR3 is so cheap now)
- Small HTPC case (like the ones SilverStone has)
- A small 350W - 430W/450W PSU
- Basic DVD Drive (maybe a DVD+RW)

Option of:
- Low profile GPU like a HD 5450 in the PCI-E X16 @ X4 slot if the GPU on APU isn't up to it

2)

Give my parent my old Athlon 64 X2 system (that my lil bro is using)

- Athlon 64 X2 6000+ AM2 Windsor
- 4GB (2X2GB) Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800MHz
- 500GB SATA 7200RPM Drive 3Gb/s (replaced last year)
- ATi Xpress X1250 IGP
- Antec TruePower Trio 430W PSU

...and replace with:

- AMD A6 or A8 APU
- FM1-based motherboard (duh) using the A55 chipset
- 8GB of DDR3 RAM (so cheap these days)
- new PSU
- new 500GB HDD (will change a bit due to the prices of HDD's currently)
- small ATX case (Cooler Master HAF 921, Elite 430, Antec 200/300, etc)

Don't worry, I'll be installing a 64-bit of W7 on the new system, so all 8GB of RAM will be usable. I thought of getting the A55 over the A75 because I don't plan to running multiple GPUs or a whole lot of HDDs. I might do some overclocking, but I'm not going to go all out...

Options:

- I will need to put a GPU into the Athlon 64 system as the IGP does not support HDMI. I can give them the Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 and leave the FM1 system using the APU graphics, but I think my bro won't be happy as he plays games like MW3, Crysis, Starcraft 2...like me.

- use the HD 4850 in the FM1 build and get a lower-end GPU for the Athlon 64 system (like a HD 5450, 6450, 4650, GeForce G210 or G220, etc etc).

I don't know...I could give them the 4850 and buy a new mid-range GPU (as the 4850 is show it's age in new games)..

Suggestions?

Cheers,
Victor

[vbironchef]

I bought my mom this instead. Sony Bravia KDL-55NX720. http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/ ... =mncol;lst She's 80+ years old so I thought I would buy her something in HD. She doesn't do much except for watch tv. Good thing my sister and brothers are watching her 24/7. All I know is you need to keep it simple.

[Velo:Sity]

Since it's for web and video, I'd go for a low-end APU. I think that's what they're perfect for.

[bubba]

If Hi-Def is in the mix DON'T get the E-350.

Go with one of the non-embed APU's

[Major_A]

I recently built an A8-3850 machine for a friend. Truth be told it wasn't a bad little setup. Having an onboard GPU that isn't a total joke was refreshing too. Out of the two definitely go with a FM1 build.

[pwcmed]

I built an E-350 setup for everyday browsing. It can be painful sometimes when doing mild multi tasking, I'd would go with the FM1 setup.

[lordvic]

Alrighty! Thanks for everyone's opinions, and the FM1-based build seems to be suggested by many.
I liked the E-350 because of it's size...but it may struggle with some 1080p content.

Oh yeah, what chipset would you guys suggest for the FM1 system? A55 or A75?

I was thinking of getting either an A6-3650, A6-3500, or an A8-3850 because of the 1MB of L2 cache for each core instead of 512KB found in the A4's.
The A6-3500 seems to be just an A6-3650 with one core disabled; having the 4th might come in handy, but the price difference is $30.

The A6-3500 has a lower TDP, but clocked 500MHz slower than the A6-3650. It could be overclocked a bit, but the stock cooler will most likely be used, so I''m a little eerie on that.