GM-MA78GM-S2H & 4850e Users

wazzageek · **26th September 2008, 06:01 PM**

Hi all

This combination seems to be a very popular choice for users on this forum. I was interested to know if it runs cool and quiet? Also what case people have chosen to put it in?

I am planning on using this combination in an ANTEC Minuet 350. It is mainly to use as a desktop and to watch TV on in the study.

Would this processor be good enough to use for video encoding ie AutoGK?

Regards
Warren

arkalore · **27th September 2008, 03:01 PM**

Warren,

I have this combination and I am running it in the ANTEC NSK2480B. This overall combination is great. As far as how cool and quiet it is, I can tell you this. When building the unit when I first swiched it on I was amazed at how quiet it is, and that was with the cover off the case. At one stage I left it running, went a had dinner and because the screen had gone into standby I went to swich the whole thing back on because it was so silent I thought it was not on.

Overall it does run cool, but I think that is aided by the case. The NSK2480 has two 120mm fans located new the the CPU on the mobo that have three settings on them, the slowest setting is wispher quiet (the fastest is a little noisy). The case is really well designed and with this set up the slowest setting will be enough.

With the ANTEC Minuet 350 (I have this case for my main PC), it is a great case but the fan does make a bit more noise (there is only one compared to the two in the NSK2480) and the airflow does not seem as good so the system does run hotter... but then I also have an AMD 6000+ in that case.

With the Encoding, yes it will be good enough, just don't try and encode while watchng one HD channel and recording another.

Overall the GM-MA78GM-S2H & 4850e combo is a winner.

Hope this helps.

Arkalore

wazzageek · **27th September 2008, 05:30 PM**

Thanks for the great info. I have not used AMD processors before and I am just trying to get a feel for how they perform. Also my main PC uses single core intel P4 3.2 GHz which is starting to show its age and I was wondering if the dual core processors perform any faster or do they just do multitasking better?

The Minuet only has an 80mm fan I think but does it also have low, medium and high settings?

wazzageek · **27th September 2008, 05:41 PM**

Sorry Arkalore but I forgot to ask if you use the standard CPU fan that comes with the 4850e?

arkalore · **27th September 2008, 08:31 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by wazzageek

Thanks for the great info. I have not used AMD processors before and I am just trying to get a feel for how they perform. Also my main PC uses single core intel P4 3.2 GHz which is starting to show its age and I was wondering if the dual core processors perform any faster or do they just do multitasking better?

The Minuet only has an 80mm fan I think but does it also have low, medium and high settings?

I have been using AMD for around the last ten years, to start with because I was a big Amiga and did not want to touch Intel, and now because they offer better value for money and performance for what I need, mainly DVD rips, encoding and image editing.

The 4850e is a great little chip and really a HTPC really does not need much brute power. Multitasking is more important and the 4850e seems to handle it well.

The Minute does only have the 80mm fan with 3 speeds, but I don't personally believe the one 80mm is enough at the slowest speed to keep the system really cool, and when you up the speed, you up the noise.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wazzageek

Sorry Arkalore but I forgot to ask if you use the standard CPU fan that comes with the 4850e?

At the moment, I am still using the standard fan, it is good enough for now, I'm going to monitor it over summer to see how it goes, and if need be swap it out then.

Arkalore

Angrypeanut · **28th September 2008, 12:38 AM**

I am running this board but with a 5200 and I have to say I am very very impressed.

Its quite, feature packed and very fast.

wazzageek · **28th September 2008, 12:46 AM**

I noticed on the Antec website they have a NSK1480 which is similar to the Minuet but has 2 80mm fans. I haven't managed to find one online as yet. Probably not in Australia yet.

The NSK2480 looks like a great case but just a little big for what I want. I think I'm sold on the MOBO and CPU though.

Thanks again for your input Arkalore. Very helpful.

wazzageek · **28th September 2008, 12:50 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angrypeanut

I am running this board but with a 5200 and I have to say I am very very impressed.

Its quite, feature packed and very fast.

What case do you use Angrypeanut?

arkalore · **28th September 2008, 01:22 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by wazzageek

I noticed on the Antec website they have a NSK1480 which is similar to the Minuet but has 2 80mm fans. I haven't managed to find one online as yet. Probably not in Australia yet.

The NSK2480 looks like a great case but just a little big for what I want. I think I'm sold on the MOBO and CPU though.

Thanks again for your input Arkalore. Very helpful.

It is hard to find a good slim case, hence why I opted for the Minuet for my main PC. Great case, but as mentioned earlier, a little to noisy for what I would want out of a HTPC.

There is always the option of swapping the main fan out and putting in an Noctua 80mm which should cut the noise a little. Change over the CPU fan as well and you should be able to compensate for the smaller case and reduced airflow without increasing noise too much.

Arkalore

Percul8or · **28th September 2008, 10:32 AM**

I wanted to put togethet a "Green" HTPC to use minimum power. I chose the above and put into the latest Antec Aria case that has the new 350W 80 plus certification (80% plus efficiency in the power supply.)

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetai...FRlRagodDFJJEA

The power supply has 1 x 120mm fan that also keeps the case cool.

With the above mobo and cpu it runs cool and super quiet and only uses about 80 Watts when recording two HD channels and watching a recorded program.

All good

wazzageek · **28th September 2008, 11:29 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Percul8or

I wanted to put togethet a "Green" HTPC to use minimum power. I chose the above and put into the latest Antec Aria case that has the new 350W 80 plus certification (80% plus efficiency in the power supply.)

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetai...FRlRagodDFJJEA

The power supply has 1 x 120mm fan that also keeps the case cool.

With the above mobo and cpu it runs cool and super quiet and only uses about 80 Watts when recording two HD channels and watching a recorded program.

All good

I've had a look at this case as well. Do you use the extra fan that goes in the PCI slot?

gotkids · **3rd October 2008, 10:13 AM**

Swap the fans out for a Noctura 80mm fan, these are just awesome and about as quiet as fans get. Check out http://www.coolpc.com.au they have heaps of cooling options.

Unfortunately the Minuet case is too small to accomodate it but a Scyth Ninja Mini is the best cooler for a HTPC. I run mine without a fan on the GM-MA78GM-S2H + 4800+ 65W, in an Antec Fusion case. I find the stock fan a little noisy so you could try a Zalman CNPS8700 LED, should fit the case well and they are quieter than stock (also better coolers).

binskin · **17th October 2008, 12:47 PM**

Just checking if anyone in the thread has got this combo working with BR playback and if so how you got through it. Ive been offered a few fixes at the moment im going to look at when i get home, but any other experiences would be appreciated.

AMD 6000+
4Gb Ram
NovaT-500
Pioneer BDC-S02BK BR Drive

The issue i left home with this morning was a fail on the Cyberlink BD Advisor on the graphics driver component, everything else is peachy : | using the latest catalyst drivers as well so i dont know. Oh and im trying to use the CyberLink PowerDVD 8 for playback.

Cheers - Ben