The small form factor (SFF) HTPC market has been steadily
growing over the last few years. As mobile processors become more and more
powerful, it is becoming easier for users to be satisfied with their
performance even in desktop configurations.
The DIY HTPC crowd has a marked preference for mini-ITX
motherboards and cases. However, the excessive TDP of desktop CPUs results in
complicated thermal designs and noisy results. Thermal designs for systems with
mobile CPUs with 35W TDPs are fairly straightforward and not very noisy. In
fact, it is even possible to create systems which are fully passively cooled.
ASRock has three HTPC families catering to the entry level,
mid-range and high-end markets. While the ION based HTPCs form the entry level
(and have since been discontinued), the Core series serves the mid-range and
the Vision series caters to the high-end. Today, we will be looking in detail
at the Vision 3D 252B, the second generation Vision 3D series HTPC from ASRock.
First off, let us take a look at the configuration of the review unit sent to
us by ASRock
ASRock CoreHT 252B HTPC Specifications
|
|
Processor
|
Intel Sandy Bridge Core i5-2520M
(2 x 3.00 GHz (3.20 GHz Turbo), 32nm, 3MB L2, 35W) |
Chipset
|
Intel Cougar Point HM65
|
Memory
|
2 x 4 GB DDR3-1333
|
Graphics
|
NVIDIA GT 540M (1 GB VRAM)
650 MHz / 1300 MHz / 900 MHz |
Intel HD Graphics 3000
650 MHz / 1.3 GHz (Turbo) |
|
Hard Drive(s)
|
750 GB 7200RPM 2.5" HDD
(Western Digital Scorpio Black WD7500BPKT) |
Optical Drive
|
Blu-ray/DVDRW Combo
|
Networking
|
Gigabit Ethernet
802.11b/g/n (2T2R Atheros AR9287 in AzureWave AW-NE121H mini-PCIE card) |
Audio
|
Microphone and headphone/speaker jacks
Capable of 5.1/7.1 digital output with HD audio bitstreaming (optical SPDIF/HDMI) |
Front Side
|
Power button
IR Receiver MMC/SD/MS/MS Pro Card Reader Slot loading Blu-ray/DVDRW optical drive 2 x USB 3.0 Ports Headphone and mic jacks |
Right and Left Sides
|
-
|
Rear Side
|
AC Adaptor input
Optical SPDIF and analog audio jacks RJ-45 connector (1 x GbE LAN) 2 x USB 3.0 Ports Kensington Lock Vent for airflow 1 x DL-DVI-I 1 x eSATA 1 x HDMI 1.4a 4 x USB 2.0 |
Operating System
|
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (Retail unit is barebones)
|
Extras
|
THX TruStudio Audio Certification
IR receiver and MCE remote |
Dimensions
|
20 cm x 20 cm x 7 cm
|
Pricing
|
Approx. £ 830 / $1190
|
ASRock has three configurations of the Vision 3D 2nd Gen
series available. While the 252B comes with a 750 GB hard drive and 8 GB of
RAM, the 245B and 241B come with a 500 GB hard drive and 4 GB of RAM. The 245B
uses a Core i5-2450M procesor while the 241B uses a Core i5-2410M. Other
specifications remain the same.
Credit : http://www.anandtech.com
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