Nettop and Mini-ITX Buyer’s Guide
by Zach Throckmorton on April 22, 2011 2:00 PM ESTAMD Upgraded HTPC Nettop
| AMD Upgraded HTPC Nettop | ||
| Component | Product Name | Price |
| CPU + Mobo | ASUS E35M1-I Deluxe (AMD E-350) | $204 |
| Memory | Patriot 4GB (2x2GB) PSD34G1333K | $40 |
| Case + PSU | Lian Li PC-Q09B + 110W PSU | $150 |
| Storage | Samsung SpinPoint MT2 HM100UI 1TB 5400RPM | $94 |
| Optical Drive | Sony Optiarc BC-5500H-01 BR-ROM/DVD-ROM | $90 |
| Operating System | Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit | $100 |
| Extra Software | CyberLink PowerDVD 11 Ultra | $100 |
| Total Price | $778 | |
Our final nettop build is the AMD HTPC setup, which adds quite a few extra features into the mix. We’ve also upgraded the case to a more expensive option, so you can easily skip that if you prefer to keep costs down. Starting with the motherboard and APU, once again we’re using the AMD E-350, but this time we’ve selected the ASUS E35M1-I Deluxe. This is the most feature-rich Zacate mini-ITX board currently available. 
It features USB3 ports, an eSATA port, onboard wireless-N networking, DVI and HDMI ports, and an S/PDIF out jack. It’s also passively cooled by a massive heatsink, so it generates no fan noise. Unfortunately, all those extra features bump the price of the motherboard + APU up to $204, nearly $100 more than the ASRock E-350 board! We’ve used the same 4GB memory kit as the Intel system on the previous page, though E-350 is fast enough that the extra memory might prove more useful.
The case is another area where we’ve spent a large chunk of the budget. Lian Li builds beautiful cases, and the PC-Q09B is no exception. It’s well built and durable, but it’s also quite expensive. This specific case is attractive because it includes an external power brick, excellent ventilation, an anti-vibration kit for the hard drive, and comes with a slim optical drive adapter if you want to include a slim optical drive. We’ll be using a Blu-ray drive, so that’s a nice extra. Unlike the Antec cases, the Lian Li only supports a single 2.5” storage drive.
Since we’re building an HTPC, capacity wins out over performance this time, and we’ve selected the Samsung SpinPoint MT2 1TB drive. You can rip and save hundreds of hours of video to the drive, and this AMD solution has more than sufficient muscle to play all of your HD videos smoothly, so why not? Note that this is a non-standard 2.5” disk that’s 12.5mm thick, so it won’t fit in many laptops, but it works fine in mini-ITX cases. It was on sale at Newegg for just $80 a couple weeks ago, but now the cheapest price we can find is $94. If you’re willing to sacrifice capacity for speed, the largest 7200RPM 2.5” hard drives weigh in at 750GB, and you can currently find the Seagate ST9750420AS on sale for $90. Rounding out the package, we’ve again got the Sony BD-ROM and CyberLink PowerDVD Ultra adding $190 to the total cost.
This is obviously not a nettop designed around keeping costs down, but it’s more a statement of style and added features. At a total price of $778, many of you are probably already laughing, but keep in mind all the features you’re getting. This system provides plenty of storage and near-silent operation, two key elements of a good HTPC. If you want to go with the same case and components as the ION setup, you can get the cost down to $674, or you can skip WiFi and USB3 and just use the ASRock E-350 board. Then you’re looking at $580, or $390 without Blu-ray support—except we’ve already covered that option.
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StardogChampion - Tuesday, May 10, 2011 - link
A link would be helpful: http://outsidethestb.blogspot.com/2011/02/dc-psu-m...Leave a comment with contact info if interested or drop my the HTPC forum on AVSForum.com and find me. I build them to order.
It's a crazy hobby, isn't it?
FullHiSpeed - Friday, April 22, 2011 - link
"the case is 7.5” tall"http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1419&...
Dimension (H*W*D) ... 5.12 x 8.66 x 13 inch
JarredWalton - Saturday, April 23, 2011 - link
Fixed... Amazon appears to have the wrong dimensions (or they used the box dimensions). Anyway, 5.12" is still about 1" taller than the other cases.kenyee - Friday, April 22, 2011 - link
I'm looking for something that would work w/ MythTV w/o using a separate audio cable...Bummer that none of these can do 3D Bluray yet...that means you still have to have an external Bluray player :-P
hnzw rui - Saturday, April 23, 2011 - link
The Core i3-2100T does 3D. Just not sure about Linux support.shamans33 - Friday, April 22, 2011 - link
There's a lack of direct comparisons between different cases and PSUs.I build quite a few mini-itx systems and this "guide" doesn't cover AMD high end offerings, common pitfalls in building mini-itx systems, noise, actual temperatures, heatsink clearance, actual power usage, alternative PSU choices, many mini-itx case choices, etc.
Furthermore, accessories are not even discussed and there isn't an emphasis for including wireless capabilities in the system.
This guide reads like an advertisement and doesn't have the really essential information people need to decide what parts to get.
Gigantopithecus - Friday, April 22, 2011 - link
I'm sorry you feel that way, shamans33. The primary goal of the guide was to describe the components available for building a nettop, i.e. systems that take up little physical space and use low-power components.Having built many mini-ITX systems, I'm not exactly sure what you're referring to? The Atom and Zacate boards all include heatsinks that will fit in any of the mentioned cases, which should be obvious from pictures of the products. The extremely low-profile stock i3-2100T heatsink fits in the Thermaltake case recommended in that specific system. Temperatures have never been an issue for me in these cases and configurations, so I didn't think that warranted elaboration. As for alternative PSUs - again, these all come with integrated PSUs or external power bricks, and we recommended alternatives to the stock Thermaltake case's PSU. Others commented on inconsistent case choices - we presented five mini-ITX cases that we've used many times and have been more than satisfied with. This article was not supposed to be an exhaustive list of mini-ITX cases... As for actual power usage, narrow ranges are given, and we pointed to more in-depth articles on Anandtech that give exact figures.
As for accessories, including wireless, a nettop is just like any other desktop PC. You get the accessories to go with it that you want, and I didn't think those were within the scope of this article. Wireless is a good example - it's not like USB WiFi adapters are new and exciting technology...
I tried to describe what these systems can do, what they can't do, and pointed out where to go if you want to find out more about exact capabilities. I honestly have to wonder if you read the entire article. :P
shamans33 - Saturday, April 23, 2011 - link
I'll give you some examples...In-win BP and BQ series cases
880g and 890gx amd mini-itx motherboards
High end AMD CPUs
M350 case with PicoPSU
Low profile, high performance CPU heatsinks
Single slot low-profile pciex cards (because of space restrictions usually).
Mini-itx systems often have functional roles that are different from typical desktops and would have a different set of recommended accessories: wireless keyboards, esata/usb3 docks, etc.
Here's one system spec I recently built:
BP655 - $40
Zotac 880G - $115
2x2GB DDR3 - $40
AMD X3 450 - $80
500 GB HDD - $40
OS - $100
Total: $415
12.20" x 3.90" x 10.40" (Far smaller in every dimension than your final option)
200W PSU
1x 80mm fan.
Wireless-b/g/n
Gigabit ethernet
USB3
Sata3
You can even pair a 5.25" optical drive with a 2.5" SSD and a 3.5" 2 or 3 TB HDD.
You could call it a nettop buyers guide. But I wouldn't call it a mini-itx buyers guide.
shamans33 - Saturday, April 23, 2011 - link
Another build I've done in the past:M350
SILVERSTONE NT07-775 90mm CPU Cooler
Intel E5400
Zotac 9300G
PicoPSU-80
2x2GB DDR2
750GB HDD
DVD-RW slot drive
At-wall power usage: 27W Min. 35W Average. 45W Peak.
192 x 210 x 62mm , 2.5L
ET - Saturday, April 23, 2011 - link
I agree. I would have preferred an article about mini-ITX cases that doesn't have all the other fluff, and can provide comparison of heat performance and other details.