3 replies to this topic

[mitchellross]

Hi all
I've been considering a new setup for 3D Blu-Ray playback for awhile now - and now have wife approval for new TV and media centre.

I was going to go for an Intel i3 based setup, until I read some comments here about 24 fps issues and the fact people have been getting good results out of A8 based systems.

So this is what I've landed on for the moment - but would love feedback and pointers to things I may have missed. Limitations are that it must be a mATX board for my Antec cube case, with 2 PCI for my tuners and be capable of being powered by my Antec AR352 (http://store.antec.c...45-27652-8.aspx)

Mobo - AsRock A75-Pro4-M A75
CPU - AMD x4 A8-3870 3.0Ghz FM1 CPU AD3870WNGXBOX (anyone know if this comes with stock cooler - can't tell from description)
RAM - Kingston HyperX Blue 4GB Kit(2Gx2) DDR3 1600
B/R - Pioneer BDC-207-BDK Blu-Ray Combo

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

[bigdonk]

Hi all
I've been considering a new setup for 3D Blu-Ray playback for awhile now - and now have wife approval for new TV and media centre.

I was going to go for an Intel i3 based setup, until I read some comments here about 24 fps issues and the fact people have been getting good results out of A8 based systems.

So this is what I've landed on for the moment - but would love feedback and pointers to things I may have missed. Limitations are that it must be a mATX board for my Antec cube case, with 2 PCI for my tuners and be capable of being powered by my Antec AR352 (http://store.antec.c...45-27652-8.aspx)

Mobo - AsRock A75-Pro4-M A75
CPU - AMD x4 A8-3870 3.0Ghz FM1 CPU AD3870WNGXBOX (anyone know if this comes with stock cooler - can't tell from description)
RAM - Kingston HyperX Blue 4GB Kit(2Gx2) DDR3 1600
B/R - Pioneer BDC-207-BDK Blu-Ray Combo

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

All looks good, though i've never had any first hand experience with AsRock mobo, you will need to update the AsRock mobo bios to version 1.30 or greater, to support the A8-3870, all other componets look fine for proper 23.976Hz bluray playback.

You will also need Bluray playback software, Cyberlink PowerDVD ultra and Arcsoft TMT player are both popular players.

I recommend ATI CCC 11.12 for HTPC stability, and depending on your panel EDID implemenation, you may need to implement EDID override if you are planning on using ACPI S3 sleep states.

Yes the AMD A8-3870K APU comes with stock heat spreader and fan, and work fine, even barely noticable when all x 4 cores are running at 100% utilisation ( tested with Prime95 and core thermals also not an issue ).

Edited by bigdonk, 23 July 2012 - 08:36 PM.

[mitchellross]

I recommend ATI CCC 11.12 for HTPC stability, and depending on your panel EDID implemenation, you may need to implement EDID override if you are planning on using ACPI S3 sleep states.

Thanks very much for your reply. Have gone ahead and ordered that lot. Can you talk me through the EDID thing? What's that about? My panel will be a Pana 50" ST plasma.

[bigdonk]

Thanks very much for your reply. Have gone ahead and ordered that lot. Can you talk me through the EDID thing? What's that about? My panel will be a Pana 50" ST plasma.

EDID override is ONLY needed if, and only if, you experience video issues such as black screen ( no video signal ), or resolution changes, when resuming from ACPI S3 sleep state. If you do not experience these issues, then EDID override is not needed, and just use the default Generic PnP monitor driver that windows installs by default.

The issue is not limited to AMD, both Intel and nvidia also have issues.

A reasonable EDID override guide here
MS explanation here

Edited by bigdonk, 24 July 2012 - 01:14 AM.