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AMD Fusion advance HTPC market – GIGABYTE E350N-USB3 Performance and OC Guide


windwithme

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These years, the Home PC becomes smaller and smaller. Formerly, Micro ATX was the mainstream of small form factor P.

Now, you can see more and more ITX MB in the market and most users use it to build HTPC.

HTPC full name is Home Theater Personal Computer and the advantage is smaller volume.

Also users can have enough performance in multimedia applications. This is the main reason to make HTPC more popular.

 

Two CPU companies are competing badly in Desktop PC.

Intel owns Atom structure years and most been used in NetBook and AIO PC. It’s hard to find in retail channel.

After then, some MB brands announced H55 or H61/H67 ITX products. They combine Intel CPU having very good performance.

H55/H61/H67 are Intel mid-high end HTPC platform.

AMD platform is hard to see in mainstream ITX segment.

There are still some MB makers produce AMD ITX products, but the price is much higher.

Recently, AMD launched latest Fusion structure to enhance own capability. It can use for HTPC and NoteBook.

 

This time I would like to introduce AMD latest Fusion, GIGABYTE E350N-USB3.

The packing size is similar to previous GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 ITX. They both use small package.

GE350N01.jpg

 

Accessory

Manual, Quick installation Guide, IO shield, driver CD and SATA cables.

GE350N02.jpg

 

GA-E350N-USB3

Mini-ITX size is 17 x 17 cm

GE350N03.jpg

 

Chipset is AMD Hudson-M1 FCH/AMD dual core E-350 processor/AMD Radeon HD 6310 Graphics Chip

GE350N04.jpg

 

Backside

The cooler is fixed by 4 screws.

GE350N05.jpg

 

1 X PCI-E X16 supports X4, It provides users to use chassis which supports the Low Profile VGA spec.

4 X Blue SATA, provided by Hudson-M1 FCH and supports SATA3

Realtek ALC892 supports 7.1 channel and High Definition Audio technology

GE350N06.jpg

 

2 X DIMM DDR3 support 1066/1333(OC) and DDR3 max capacity is 8GB

Next is 24-PIN power connector

GE350N07.jpg

 

Central is the black active cooler

Below is the AMD APU, CPU integrates with GPU

Chipset includes Hudson-M1 FCH and CPU AMD dual core E-350 processor

GE350N08.jpg

 

IO

D-SUB/DVI/HDMI

1 X PS2 KB/MS

4 X USB 2.0(Black)

2 X USB 3.0(Blue)

1 X RJ-45LAN

1 X S/PDIF Output

GE350N09.jpg

 

USB 3.0 chip is NEC D720200AF1

GE350N10.jpg

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3 phase PWM is enough for this low power consumption platform

GE350N11.jpg

 

Test Configuration

CPU: AMD E-350

MB: GIGABYTE GA-E350N-USB3

DRAM: CORSAIR CMX8GX3M2A1600C9

VGA: AMD Radeon HD 6310

HD: CORSAIR Force SSD 60GB

POWER: Antec HCG 400W

Cooler: GIGABYTE built-in Cooler

OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit

GE350N12.jpg

 

Default Performance Test

CPU 100 X 16 => 1600.2MHz

DDR3 1333 CL6 6-6-18 1T

GPU 500MHz

 

Hyper PI 32M X2 => 40m 52.730s

CPUMARK 99 => 127

GE350NDPI.png

 

Nuclearus Multi Core => 3122

Fritz Chess Benchmark => 3.27/1567

GE350NDNM.png

 

CrystalMark 2004R3 => 77537

GE350NDCM.png

 

CINEBENCH R11.5

CPU => 0.63 pts

CPU(Single Core) => 0.32 pts

GE350NDCB.png

 

PCMark Vantage => 3646

GE350NDPCVAN.png

 

AMD E-350 spec is X2 1.6GHz and 1MB L2 cache. It’s no L3 Cache.

CPU performance is similar to Intel Atom.

Even though AMD launch later, at least this is a big step to enter HTPC and NetBook market

 

Temperature (Room is 20℃)

System Standby - 51~52

GE350NDT1.png

 

CPU Full Speed - 65~66

Intel Burn Test v2.4,Stress Level Maximum

GE350NDT2.png

 

40nm is more advance than normal AMD 45nm CPU, however, the temperature is still not big different.

E-350 full speed and standby temperature are almost same. This could be kind of strength.

 

Power Consumption Test

System Standby - 25W

GE350NWIDLE.jpg

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CPU Full Speed - 34W

Intel Burn Test v2.4,Stress Level Maximum

GE350NWFULL.jpg

 

OCCT POWER SUPPLY Mode - 41W

GE350NWOCCT.jpg

 

As per 40nm, standby power consumption is pretty good in PC. If it’s in NB, the value is too high.

When CPU full speed is 34W and CPU/GPU simultaneous operation is 41W. The difference is only 7W, not much.

 

Main BIOS Tuning Menu called M.I.T.

CPU Host Clock 100~120

Memory Clock X5.33/X6.66

 

Voltage Items

DDR3 Voltage 1.200~2.100V

FCH Voltage 1.100~1.600V

PCIe PLL Voltage 1.800~2.200V

CPU NB VID Control -0.600~+0.600V

CPU Voltage Control -0.600~+0.600V

GE350NB01.jpg

 

Built-in AMD Radeon HD 6310 GPU Items

UMA Frame Buffer Size 256/512/1024MB

VGA Core Clock 300~2000MHz

GE350NB02.jpg

 

Advanced DDR3 Setup Page

The setting below is DDR3 1333 CL6 6-6-18 1T

GE350NB03.jpg

 

PC Health Status

GE350NB04.jpg

 

GIGABYTE E350N-USB3 BIOS still provide very rich items.

It doesn’t simplify BIOS menu as it’s ITX MB or AMD Fusion OC capability.

Since then, user can adjust by your free mind and also OC some portion.

 

OC Performance Test

CPU 107 X 16 => 1712.3MHz

DDR3 1426 CL6 6-6-18 1T

GPU 760MHz

 

Hyper PI 32M X2 => 38m 01.798s

CPUMARK 99 => 136

GE350NOPI.png

 

Nuclearus Multi Core => 3356

Fritz Chess Benchmark => 3.57/1711

GE350NONM.png

 

CrystalMark 2004R3 => 86639

GE350NOCM.png

 

CINEBENCH R11.5

CPU => 0.67 pts

CPU(Single Core) => 0.35 pts

GE350NOCB.png

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PCMark Vantage => 4094

GE350NOPCVAN.png

 

E-350 CPU FSB rise from 100 to 107MHz. The CPU performance increase about 7%.

Adding on OC GPU clock, some media benchmark scores are more than 7%.

AMD Fusion OC range is not much and no need to adjust too many BIOS items. However, less OC is still better than none.

 

Temperature (Room is 18℃)

System Standby - 48~49

GE350NOT1.png

 

CPU Full Speed - 66

Intel Burn Test v2.4,Stress Level Maximum

GE350NOT2.png

 

No matter OC or not, the temperature is the same. Even it’s lower 1~2℃ due to room temperature.

The main reason is still the OC range is small.

 

DRAM Performance Test

ADIA64 Memory Read - 3936 MB/s

Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 3900 MB/s

MaXXMEM Memory-Copy - 4331 MB/s

DDR3 1333 CL6 6-6-18 1T

GE350ND1333MEM.png

 

DDR3 1426 CL6 6-6-18 1T

ADIA64 Memory Read - 4232 MB/s

Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 4313 MB/s

MaXXMEM Memory-Copy - 4629 MB/s

GE350NO1426MEM.png

 

DDR3 performance increase 6~8% after OC. Also AMD Fusion only supports single channel.

Users cannot expect too much the memory performance. The right way should be increasing the DDR3 capacity.

 

GPU Test

Default 500MHz

 

3DMARK VANTAGE => P800

CPU SCORE => 2057

GPU SCORE => 665

GE350ND3DVAN.png

 

StreetFighter IV Benchmark

1280 X 720 => 30.07 FPS

GE350NDSTF4.png

 

DEVIL MAY CRY4

1280 X 720 => 25.65/21.33/30.04/19.75 fps

GE350NDDMC4.png

 

FINAL FANTASY XIV

1280 X 720 => 502

GE350NDFF11.png

 

AMD Fusion structure is built-in latest Radeon HD 6310 GPU, supports DirectX 11.

Comparing to own 890GX chipset, HD4290 GPU, it’s still higher.

In 3D performance, E350 enhance a lot. Maybe it dues to AMD suffer vert hard push from Intel Sandy Bridge built-in GPU?

 

OC to 760MHz

3DMARK VANTAGE => P891

CPU SCORE => 2187

GPU SCORE => 744

GE350NO3DVAN.png

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StreetFighter IV Benchmark

1280 X 720 => 33.23 FPS

GE350NOSTF4.png

 

DEVIL MAY CRY4

1280 X 720 => 29.10/23.52/34.55/20.80 fps

GE350NODMC4.png

 

FINAL FANTASY XIV

1280 X 720 => 558

GE350NOFF11.png

 

OC GPU from 500MHz to 760MH, the 3D performance only increases 10%.

According to source, AMD will lock GPU clock in following revision. It’s a pity news for all users.

You can know AMD Radeon HD6310 OC is not big help to performance. CPU is another factor to impact the performance.

 

Vedio Decoding Test

I use 2 original video to test. 1 is blue-ray, Inception, and the other is DVD, Taiwan Puppet Show.

The video copyright is owned by the published company.

GE350N13.jpg

 

Openning Menu

Software is PowerDVD 10

Resolution is 1920 X 1080

CPU utilization rate is only 1~5%.

GE350ND1080P1.jpg

 

Playing Video

CPU utilized rate is 18~29%

GE350ND1080P2.jpg

 

DVD resolution is 720 X 480

Software is Windows Media Player

CPU utilization rate is only 1~8%.

GE350NDDVD.png

 

Play Video File Directly

Resolution is 1280 X 720

CPU utilized rate is 38~83% and most time is 40~50%

GE350ND720.png

 

Video resolution is 1440 X 1080

CPU utilized rate is 40~94% and most time is 45~62%

GE350ND1080.png

 

If using playing video, no matter DVD or BD, the utilization rate is very good.

If play video file directly, the CPU utilization rate rise a lot. I don’t know it’s caused by format decoding or transfer rate issue.

But final result is playing smoothly. Video decoding is a great strength of AMD Fusion.

 

GIGABYTE E350N-USB3

Good

1.GIGABYTE Ultra Durable 3 design. 2oz copper PCB, 100% Japanese made capacitors and Ferrite core choke.

2.Active cooler and support SATA3 and USB 3.0 latest spec.

3.Built-in AMD Radeon HD 6310 GPU 3D performance is improved a lot and it can play BD/DVD very smoothly.

4.AMD latest 40nm CPU

 

Bad

1.It could also add on wifi card, but the price will go higher.

2.CPU OC range is less and GPU OC doesn’t improve performance much.

 

GE350N14.jpg

 

Performance ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

Components ★★★★★★★★☆☆

Specification ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Outlook ★★★★★★★★☆☆

C/P Value ★★★★★★★★☆☆

 

 

Currently, GIGABYTE E350N-USB3 market price is 4700NTD, around 160USD.

Even though it’s ITX, but BIOS menu and components are same level as own M-ATX/ATX.

Plus AMD Radeon HD 6310 GPU, the 3D performance or video decoding are increasing a lot.

AMD dual core E-350 CPU is same level as Intel Atom, the performance is only so so.

For components, spec and performance, E350N-USB3 C/P value is quite good in AMD ITX market.

 

For AMD market, AMD Fusion provides one more fair price option for ITX or NetBook market.

This should be the main target for Fusion structure. Now, many MB makers all launch their related ITX product.

From the price point, if your HTPC budget is 7000NTD, you can choose Intel 55/H61 ITX MB with i3 CPU.

If you don’t fix in IXT, your budget can have Micro ATX 880G and AMD X2 CPU. Of course you need bigger chassis.

Due to HTPC market is growing, in the future, users can see more ITX MB in the market and it can reduce the PC dimension.

I provide 2 more option for mid-end performance combo. Users can pick the right option by yourself. :)

 

Later on, if I got time, I will share Toshiba NB520 latest NetBook.

It uses Intel Atom N550 1.5GHz and I can make the comparion with AMD Fusion.

GE350N15.jpg

 

This review also post in my blog WIND3C

Welcome 3C lovers to visit and advise.

Thanks :)

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