AOPEN MP945-D Mini-PC or Other AOPEN M945 Model

hmsrolst · Post by **hmsrolst** » Sun May 13, 2007 7:57 am

I'm thinking about getting one of these: http://global.aopen.com/products_detail.aspx?Auno=2380. I have spare Yonah, RAM, minPCI wireless, so it wouldn't be that expensive to put together.
Does anyone have any experience with it? Noise is the big issue for me, but I'd also be interested in other issues experienced. There are six different models, but the cooling is the same on all of them, so sharing experience with any of these would be welcome.

ed_p · Post by **ed_p** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 1:48 pm

So I'm considering one of these too. Did you wind up getting one?

I've found one review of the MP945, but it didn't mention anything about power consumption, which is something I'm intersted in.

It's at pcstats, but the BB software says I can't post URLs yet. (grumble)

I'm looking at the MP945-D customized as follows:
- DVDRW
- core 2 duo T5250 (1.5Ghz, 667FSB, 2MB)
- 2GB ram
- 160GB SATA 5400RPM 2.5" HD
- AOpen TV tuner

(With all the nice standard features of the MP945: gigE, dvi + s-video, etc.)

A system spec'ed as above sells for $711 including assembly and testing at myaopen.

I'm hoping these will idle at 20-25W, which is about what mac minis do. The T5250 has a TDP of 35W versus the E4300 (the lowest power cpu found in the core 2 mac minis) which has a TDP of 65W.

My box will be a server for various things, and possibly a PVR. However it is likely to spend a lot of time idle. I considered a Koolu ($400, 10W boxes built from AMD Geode processors), but I don't think it would be powerful enough to do much in a VNC desktop context.

Ed

ed_p · Post by **ed_p** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 1:49 pm

The review URL is here:
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2062

Myaopen is here:
http://store.myaopen.com

hmsrolst · Post by **hmsrolst** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 3:43 pm

ed_p wrote:So I'm considering one of these too. Did you wind up getting one?

I did get one, and it's a nice little system, but it's not that quiet. I wanted to put all my financial stuff on a PC, separate from other things and more secure, and I'm always looking for an excuse to build an interesting PC.

It starts out very noisy, but as the software kicks in, the fan slows down. It tends to gradually warm up as the cooling in these little boxes isn't very good, although I'm not sure it gets a lot noisier. I ended up taking out the spare T2500 I had in it and replaced it with a T2050 (which was totally adequate given my limited tasks and only cost about $45 shipped at ebay) hoping that the lowest-end CPU (along with lower FSB) would run a bit cooler. I don't think that it made much difference.

Overall, the MP945-D is not at all obnoxiously noisy, and I don't mind using it at all. If you're some distance away, I'm sure it's even better. However, I would not be happy using it as a daily desktop where I like something that's basically silent.

In addition, I also have an Intel Mac Mini. It's also not near-silent quiet, but it's noticeably quieter than the AOpen. I picked up a month-old 1.83GHz Core Duo and Superdrive one for $450 and bumped it to 2GB of used RAM for another $50 (only 80GB HDD, however), and I very mcuh prefer it to the AOpen.

hmsrolst · Post by **hmsrolst** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 5:12 pm

ed_p wrote: I'm looking at the MP945-D customized as follows:
- DVDRW
- core 2 duo T5250 (1.5Ghz, 667FSB, 2MB)
- 2GB ram
- 160GB SATA 5400RPM 2.5" HD
- AOpen TV tuner

(With all the nice standard features of the MP945: gigE, dvi + s-video, etc.)

A system spec'ed as above sells for $711 including assembly and testing at myaopen.

Another thought: you can do a lot, lot better pricewise, buying the barebones and the parts separately. Buy.com has the barebones for about $275, a low end Yonah CPU at ebay shouldn't go over $60 (there's very little performance difference between that and the Merom), 2GB or RAM at Newegg is another $60 plus the cost of the HDD. And it's very easy to put together.

ed_p · Post by **ed_p** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 6:11 pm

Huh, I haven't heard complaints about the AOpen MiniPC's noise level. PCStats calls it "super quiet". However there definately doesn't seem to be much information available on the MP945.

I wonder if it would be quieter with a Core 2 Duo processor instead of the Core Duo. The Core 2 Duos all have higher TDP's, but they're also supposed to take up less power at low load.

As for using a Yonah, I don't need particularly powerful CPU, so I'm sure that would be ok. The only reason I'm intersted in the Core 2's is the reportedly lower power consumption at idle.

Do you know what the power consumption is with your configuration?

hmsrolst · Post by **hmsrolst** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 7:44 am

I suspect that PCStats criterion for "super quiet" is less stringent than most SPCR members. I wouldn't complain about the MiniPC but in the quiet of my office, I can hear it across the room. For me "super quiet" is sitting next to the PC and not being able to hear it. The MiniPC does not sound unpleasant or harsh, bur rather a quiet, but clearly audible whoosh.

I have lots of PC's with Core Duo, and only one with Core 2 Duo, but I doubt that there's a significant power difference at idle--both undervolt to .95v and no lower. My own view is that the Core 2 Duo's are severely overpriced on ebay (where I've bought most of mine) compared to the Core Duo's, unless you have a particular application in mind.

I don't have a tool for measuring actual power consumption.