staple for home entertainment,
vendors look for new ways to add
PC capabilities around the house. For some
users, Internet TV with simple Web widgets
offers an acceptable level of convergence,
but for others, basic Web integration into
home appliances doesn’t cut it. With the first
iteration of Fusion, AMD delivers a chipset
that fits onto a Mini-ITX motherboard and
provides you with the ability to enjoy HD
movies and access productivity applications
on small form factor systems.
The entry-level motherboards are packed
with AMD’s APU (accelerated processing
unit) that combines the northbridge, a dualcore
CPU, and a DirectX 11-capable GPU
onto a single chip that runs at a low power
level (up to 18 watts) to reduce the need for
large heatsinks and loud fans. You’ll see the
Mini-ITX motherboard built into all-in-one
desktops, netbooks, and HTPCs. Of course,
you can also build your own system, and
here we check out a few of the first available
Fusion setups.
Meet Brazos
Initially, there will be two flavors ofAMD Fusion: Zacate and Ontario, which
are both under the Brazos platform. The
Zacate APU is an 18-watt chip with either
an E-350 (1.6GHz) or E-240 (1.5GHz)
processor and a Radeon HD 6310 GPU
that runs around 500MHz. The Ontario
APU is available with a C-30 (1.2GHz) or
C-50 (1.0GHz) processor with a Radeon
HD 6250 GPU clocked around 280MHz.
The competition for Fusion will be
systems with Intel’s Atom processor. AMD
indicates that Fusion is designed to provide
you with a chipset that offers the lowest
thermal power per watt, which delivers a
motherboard that requires a minimum
amount of cooling to deliver HD media
playback and run more demanding apps.
Both APUs offer an integrated 8-lane
PCI-E interface. There are four lanes available
for those who wish to install a discrete video
card, while the other four are dedicated for
AMD’s UMI (Universal Media Interface).
The UMI is a link between the APU and
the Hudson FCH (Fusion Controller Hub),
which is the portion of the chipset that
includes the audio controller, Ethernet, USB
ports, and SATA ports. Depending on the
vendor, the motherboard could include items
such as 802.11n, wireless 3G, memory card
slots, or USB 3.0 ports. The HD 6310 or
HD 6250 GPU shares the single channel
with the DDR3-800/1066 memory.
Test Setup
Our test system is a pretty basic listof parts, considering that the CPU and
GPU are built in to the motherboard. We
installed the Fusion motherboards into
a Silverstone SG06-450 and added 4GB
of Kingston HyperX LoVo DDR3-1333
memory, a Silverstone SOD01 8X DVD
burner, and a 128GB Crucial C300 SSD.
Zotac opted to send its Fusion-based ZBox
system, because its Fusion motherboards
weren’t available at press time.
Zotac ZBox Blu-ray AD03 Plus
The ZBox Blu-ray AD03 is available as a
barebones kit that lets you select your own
memory, hard drive, and OS, or you can
invest in the Plus version (the unit sent to
us), which includes 2GB of SO-DIMM
memory and a 250GB, 5,400rpm hard
drive. The entire unit is only 1.5 x 11 x
7.4 inches (HxWxD), and Zotac includes
a BD player/DVD burner, 802.11n Wi-Fi,
and a memory card reader (SD/SDHC/
MMC/MS/MS Pro/xD). There’s an HDMI
output that supports 8-channel audio, and
an S/PDIF port is available for those who
want to split the video and audio signals. To
connect to traditional monitors, you’ll find a
DVI-I port and a DVI-to-VGA adapter.
The ZBox Blu-ray AD03 Plus features
two USB 2.0 ports (one shared with the
eSATA port) and two USB 3.0 ports. A
wired Ethernet port and standard audio jacks
round out the connectivity options. We like
that Zotac designed the ZBox so that you can
add a VESA mount to the back of the system
for attachment to wall mount or LCD
mount. The ability to connect the ZBox
Blu-ray AD03 Plus to a monitor will be
handy for those with an extra LCD monitor
who want to add a PC to the kitchen or onto
a desk with limited space.
The test results of the ZBox differed
slightly from the two motherboards in this
roundup, because the ZBox kit featured
2GB less memory than the competition and
a slower storage drive. Otherwise, the ZBox
featured the same E-350 processor and
HD 6310 GPU. Our benchmarks show
that lower specs had an impact in our tests,
as some scores were a third to half of our
system with 4GB of memory and an SSD.
However, the ZBox Blu-ray AD03 Plus can
handle up to 8GB of DDR3 SO-DIMM
memory (our Mini-ITX motherboards
use full-sized DDR3 modules) in its two
memory slots. Blu-ray and online video
playback was smooth and glitch free. We
also tested the audio through our surroundsound
system through the S/PDIF output
and were pleased with the results.
Gigabyte E350N-USB3
As you can guess by the board’s title,
the APU features the E-350 processor and
HD 6310 GPU.
Gigabyte adds its 333 Onboard Acceleration
(USB 3.0, 6Gbps SATA [SATA
3.0], and USB ports that can provide up to
three times as much power to connective
peripherals) to the Fusion platform. There’s
also an On/Off Charge feature that lets you
connect your Apple products (iPod touch/
iPhone/iPad) and other devices to the USB
ports for fast recharges, and it works when
the PC is powered down. Gigabyte indicates
that the higher-powered ports can shorten
charge times for Apple products by up to 40%. The 6Gbps SATA ports and USB 3.0
ports are built into the Hudson FCH.
Gigabyte also builds in its Auto Green
power-saving technology that lets you
pair a Bluetooth adapter (not included)
that’s connected to one of the board’s USB
ports with your favorite Bluetooth device,
such as a smartphone. When you step
away from the PC with your Bluetooth
device, the Auto Green technology will
automatically implement your power-saving
mode, assuming your PC offers Bluetooth
connectivity When the Bluetooth device is
back in range, Auto Green will wake your
PC. Another handy feature is Gigabyte’s
DualBIOS, which allows the motherboard to
recover the main BIOS from a backup if the
main BIOS fails. We also like that Gigabyte
opted to include a DVI port, so you can use a
traditional DVI cable (rather than an HDMIto-
DVI cable) to connect a monitor.
The benchmark numbers of the Gigabyte
E350N-USB3 were nearly identical to MSI’s
E350IA-E45. For example, the set of SiSoft
Sandra Lite numbers varied, at most, by .05
in the processor and memory benchmarks.
DVD and online video playback was stellar,
and we like that surround-sound audio was
available via the HDMI, S/PDIF, and analog
audio ports
MSI E350IA-E45
MSI’s first Fusion board also features theE-350 processor and HD 6310 graphics
processor. One of the key differentiators of
the MSI board is the large APU heatsink that
covers much of the motherboard for efficient
APU cooling. If you opt to add a graphics
card to your build, the extra cooling could certainly come in handy to keep heat from
building up in the enclosed space.
There are four 6Gbps SATA ports,
two USB 3.0 ports, and support for eight
USB 2.0 ports (six external, two internal).
Unlike the Gigabyte E350N-USB3, there
is no DVI port, but MSI does build in an
HDMI and VGA port. The HDMI port
supports 8-channel, 24-bit, 192kHz audio,
and there’s also an S/PDIF and digital
coaxial output, which gives you plenty
of flexibility when connecting to an A/V
receiver. There’s a combo PS/2 port for
such a mouse or keyboard.
The benchmark results of the MSI
E350IA-E45 were comparable to the other
motherboards in the roundup. Still, we’ll
note that it delivered slightly higher marks
in 3DMark 11 (Entry test), POV-Ray 3.7
Beta, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat.
There were no hiccups when playing
back HD and DVD video, and surroundsound
audio was crisp for all channels.
Web browser response was snappy, and
Flash content was quick to load. With
board layout, we liked that MSI placed
the internal USB port headers next to the
power, HDD, and reset plugs close to the
edge of the motherboard.
Joined At The Chip
We can see Fusion making a hugeimpact on HTPCs in the coming months.
We think that Fusion is definitely a step
up from previous generations of Mini-ITX
motherboards. All of the boards in this
roundup would make capable PCs for a
living room or entertainment center.
Article From Computer Power User Magazine
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