AMD's Trinity : An HTPC Perspective
by Ganesh T S on September 27, 2012 11:00 AM ESTMany users tend to avoid Intel GPUs because of the absence of accurate video output refresh rates. Intel has still not come out with their promised update to bring 23.976 Hz refresh to Ivy Bridge. AMD has historically been able to provide quite accurate refresh rates while NVIDIA gives users the ability to make fine-grained adjustments to their settings.
How does Trinity fare? The short story is that the display refresh rate is not as accurate as we would like. However, it is still much better than Intel's setting. NVIDIA cards, when configured correctly, can probably provide better accuracy. We are not sure whether this is an issue specific to the Asus board, or it is a problem with the drivers / processor's video output itself. Setting the display refresh rate to 23 Hz yields 23.977 Hz, as shown below.
Other refresh rates also suffer similar problems The gallery below shows some of the other refresh rates that we tested.
An interesting point to note here is that AMD is able to drive 25 Hz, 29 Hz and 30 Hz refresh rates on the Sony KDL46EX720 through the Pioneer Elite VSX-32. In the same setup, NVIDIA and Intel don't present these settings in the progressive format. That said, both Intel and NVIDIA offer 50 Hz, 59 Hz and 60 Hz settings which are exactly double of the above settings (Clarification: 29 Hz in the control panel corresponds to a refresh rate of 29.97 Hz, and 59 Hz in the panel corresponds to a refresh rate of 59.94 Hz).
It would be nice to have more control over the display refresh rate similar to what NVIDIA provides. That would help users fine-tune their settings in case the out of the box behaviour doesn't match the user's expectations.
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Oxford Guy - Friday, September 28, 2012 - link
4K strikes me as being completely unnecessary. 1080p is enough resolution.brookheather - Friday, September 28, 2012 - link
Is this a typo? "Intel and NVIDIA offer 50 Hz, 59 Hz and 60 Hz settings which are exactly double of the above settings" - 59 is not double 29 - did you mean 58?ganeshts - Friday, September 28, 2012 - link
Nope :) 29 Hz is 'control panel speak' for 29.97 Hz and 59 Hz is 'control panel speak' for 59.94 Hz. So, if you have a file at 29.97 fps, it can be played back without any dropped or unsymmetrical repetition at 59.94 Hz since each frame has to be just 'painted' twice at that refresh rate.cjs150 - Friday, September 28, 2012 - link
This is exact the standard of article I read AT for.I remain complete bewildered that chip manufacturers cannot get the frame rates right. It may be an odd frame rate but it is a standard rate that has remained the same forever.
However, the problem for AMD remains the TDP of the processors. Heat requires to be dealt with, usually by fans and that means noise. An HTPC needs to be as close to silent as possible.
TDP of 65W is simply too high. You can (as I have) buy a ridiculously over powered i7-3770T which has a TDP of 45W. AMD need to reduce the TDP to no more than 35-45W. At that point there are various HTPC cases which can cool that completely passively.
Overall this is yet another step forward in the ideal HTPC but we are still short of the promised land
wwwcd - Saturday, September 29, 2012 - link
i7-3770T too expensive against Trynity models and have a double weakness video. For poor peoples it not be choice.cjs150 - Saturday, September 29, 2012 - link
I agree that the i7-3770T is too expensive at the moment compared to AMD alternatives but it does not have video weaknesses check out the review on Anandtech.The refresh rate is close to the correct rate but close is not good enough it should be spot on.
There is still a lot of work to be done to get to an ideal HTPC CPU. Both AMD and intel are close. If anything AMD has slightly better video but, as I said, TDP is too high.
Of course the other option is something like the Raspberry pi, unfortunately whilst hardware is promising the software still needs a lot of work
Burticus - Friday, September 28, 2012 - link
Put one of these on a mini-itx board and cram it into something the size of the Shuttle HX61 that I just got and I am interested. I am so spoiled by having a small, silent, cool HTPC I will never go back to anything louder or bigger than a 360.LuckyKnight - Saturday, September 29, 2012 - link
AMD are missing a market here, working 23.976Hz with a 35W TDP for a passive cooled case. That would be my choice, if it existed.Shame Intel can't get 23.976 to work properly, despite their alleged promise!
Esskay02 - Saturday, September 29, 2012 - link
"Intel started the trend of integrating a GPU along with the CPU in the processor package with Clarkdale / Arrandale. The GPU moved to the die itself in Sandy Bridge. Despite having a much more powerful GPUs at its disposal (from the ATI acquisition), AMD was a little late in getting to the CPU - GPU party."According to my readings, it was AMD not Intel, first to talk and initiated APU(cpu+gpu). Intel found the threat used it manpower and resources , came out release cpu+Gpu chip.