ASRock Core 100HT-BD Home Theater PC

Features
By
published

ASRock delivers a Wii-sized home theater PC (HTPC) with a powerful Core i3 CPU, Intel HD Graphics, and a Blu-ray drive. We put the Core 100HT-BD system through a number of tasks to see how its performance compares to a desktop-based home theater PC.

Benchmark Results: Productivity

First off, let’s have a look at the PCMark Vantage total system score to get an idea of how the ASRock Core 100HT-BD compares to a desktop Core i3-530 system:

PCMark suggests that the Core 100HT-BD is about 33% slower than a desktop Core i3-530-equipped counterpart. This is not bad for such a tiny PC, and the difference is essentially undetectable when the system is used for HTPC duties like media playback.

The PCMark hard drive benchmark shows that the Core 100HT-BD system sacrifices a lot of performance due to its mobile hard disk. The 500 GB Seagate Momentus 5400 RPM drive is quite quick for a mobile part, but is no match for a desktop-class Western Digital Black 640 GB. Of course, users could upgrade the Core 100HT-BD’s drive to something like the Seagate Momentus XT, which is a hybrid solid-state model that would improve performance considerably.

The benchmark is called Memories, but it doesn’t test the RAM--this benchmark targets image editing and video-encoding tasks. In this respect, the Core 100HT-BD maintains the spread we’ve come to expect compared to its desktop counterpart.

The communications benchmark uses common data encryption, compression, and scanning algorithms to come up with an aggregate score. As you can see, the Core 100HT-BD performs as expected based on the previous benchmarks.

This benchmark checks performance using a combination of word processing, email, and Internet tasks. The difference appears to be notable on paper, but I’m not sure a user would be able to notice a difference in a real-world scenario.

Don Woligroski
47 Comments Comment from the forums
  • ivan_chess
    Interesting but I wonder if an AMD system would provide more value on your dollar.
    Reply
  • Stardude82
    Certainly beats a Zino, but the price puts it in the class of a Mac Mini. An M600 + HD4200 system would be interesting for a HTPC like this.
    Reply
  • zooted
    This would be great, if it were priced around $300-400
    Reply
  • DeZenT
    Asrock also puts alot of focus on the possibility of streaming true Bluray sound. One thing, that all other pre-buildt htpc lack
    Reply
  • liquidsnake718
    Well this is great and can do alot more than a regulr media player, but id prefer the ASUS OPLAY! and have a standalone media player while I also have a supercomputer or a monster PC and a console gaming system......
    Reply
  • amgsoft
    I'am testing one at home. Excellent piece of hardware for multimedia and TV center. This HTPC is much faster to boot and shutdown (S3 sleep mode) then the traditional DVB-T boxes i had previously at home (2-3 sec startup, 9-11 sec shutdown). All I needed to do was to buy a DVB-T USB dongle (terratec). In S3 it uses very low power (less then 1W according to the reviews on the internet). I'am using for watching the DVB-T, dvd's, playing music, showing photo. Its performance is more then adequate, so I cannot see any reason for overclocking the unit. The heat comming out of the unit is very acceptable, the noise is hardly, if at all, noticeable.

    The only limitation is the angle of the IR remote. The angle for remotelly controlling the unit from your living room is a bit narrow for home use and I hope that they will consider to provide an external IR receiver later.

    Regarding the price, I was trying to find a cheaper unit with same specs and same look and size, but I was not able to find any. Dell has a PC which is a bit smaller (a bit bigger then wii) however it is not a htpc unit. You can build a sligthly cheaper one. It will be larger, will need a larger power supply, the case will like a traditional pc which you don't want in your living room, and at the end of the day you will end up with something which has cost you more money. In my mind its a very good hardware piece and worth to consider if you want a home media center in you living room.
    Reply
  • jestersage
    Where I am, it's mighty expensive. But what I like about this article and the Core100HT-BD is that it inspires me to put together a similarly small and 'cute' system.

    I'm thinking along the lines of an e3300 and G31 chipset with a 200w or 300w mATX PSU (how I'd love to get my hands on a Silverstone 300w mATX unit from the SG05!).

    Without the powersupply, the unit will cost about USD250 here. With a decent 80plus mATX PSU, the cost goes beyond the USD320 mark.

    It won't play blu-ray but everything else would run better than, say, an Atom (even the ION variants). It would be twice as tall, almost twice large and a tad deeper, true, but it would have room for a half-height PCIE video card (ahem, HD5570) upgrade.

    One bit of constructive feedback for Don: why use a 650W PSU on the comparison unit? Wouldn't a 380w or even 300w PSU be sufficient - not to mention place the power draw closer to the center of the efficiency curve?
    Reply
  • rwpritchett
    A step in the right direction. I'd like to see more pre-built HTPC's like this but with better styling and more expansion options. A slot load drive would also be great.

    I wish they would make the parts available so us DIY'ers can build our own like this.
    Reply
  • domenic
    ni
    Reply
  • bunz_of_steel
    good review and attention to the real needs of an htpc. size, heat, noise and video performance. The price tag is just yuk! I would like to see how this would compare to a geek dude building their own and see how it fares... :)
    Reply