I've been using XBMC ever since the original xbox days. Best software EVER.
Anyways, lately I've been running it on a revo. I think it's got hardware issues, crashes constantly. Working on a new build. Wanted to get some tips from the experts!
I've decided on the Asrock a75m series of motherboards because they seem to be the most highly recommended as far as XBMC.
Question 1: Micro-atx or Mini-itx. I don't care about the size. I like the micro-atx because I'd like to have the room for expansion in the future. But will I be sacrificing power consumption? I don't want a power hog. Will I see a big difference in power consumption between a mini-itx sized power supply and a micro-atx size?
Question 2: Processor. I'm really liking what I've read about the AMD APU. I'm debating between these two:
AMD A8-3850 Llano 2.9GHz Socket FM1 100W Quad-Core Desktop APU
AMD A6-3500 Llano 2.1GHz (2.4GHz Max Turbo) Socket FM1 65W Triple-Core Desktop APU
I noticed a substantial wattage difference between these two, but I'm not certain how that translates to actual power usage in the real world. Any tips? And assuming I'm using this only for XBMC (no gaming or anything), will I notice any difference between these two?
Thank you guys for any help you can offer. This thing will probably be on just about 24/7, which is why I liked the Revo...tiny power usage. I'd like to get as low as I can on this build as well.
Anyways, lately I've been running it on a revo. I think it's got hardware issues, crashes constantly. Working on a new build. Wanted to get some tips from the experts!
I've decided on the Asrock a75m series of motherboards because they seem to be the most highly recommended as far as XBMC.
Question 1: Micro-atx or Mini-itx. I don't care about the size. I like the micro-atx because I'd like to have the room for expansion in the future. But will I be sacrificing power consumption? I don't want a power hog. Will I see a big difference in power consumption between a mini-itx sized power supply and a micro-atx size?
Question 2: Processor. I'm really liking what I've read about the AMD APU. I'm debating between these two:
AMD A8-3850 Llano 2.9GHz Socket FM1 100W Quad-Core Desktop APU
AMD A6-3500 Llano 2.1GHz (2.4GHz Max Turbo) Socket FM1 65W Triple-Core Desktop APU
I noticed a substantial wattage difference between these two, but I'm not certain how that translates to actual power usage in the real world. Any tips? And assuming I'm using this only for XBMC (no gaming or anything), will I notice any difference between these two?
Thank you guys for any help you can offer. This thing will probably be on just about 24/7, which is why I liked the Revo...tiny power usage. I'd like to get as low as I can on this build as well.