Houdini... Whodini... Kabini!

[MacClipper]

Just a brief simple sharing of one of the AMD recent introductions this year which has somehow managed to do a virtual Houdini ie. magically escaped the public eye in these forums.

A forum search shows very few Kabini hits, perhaps there may not be much popular DIY interest in this lower end platform. Still, I had requested for this test unit from the manufacturer some time back cos imo, it has its place in the world.

btw, not quite sure if this will be on retail locally so pls don't PM me, contact the local distro instead if you are interested.



ECS KBN-I/2100
This is akin to the return Of the MODT (Mobile On DeskTop) platform - a mITX SoC at just 9W... perhaps suitable for HTPC, SOHO rigs etc.
ECS Web Site > KBN-I/2100 (V1.0)



Packaging











Unboxing
The massive passive heatsink seems way overkill for a 9W processor, simply lovely!











to be contd...

 

[MacClipper]

I/O & Storage









Nitty Gritty








...

 

[MacClipper]

Do note the repeated references to notebook/mobile processors in the following links...


AMD Official Specs
AMD Accelerated Processors for Notebook PCs


Gizmodo
The E1-2100 Kabini actually belongs to the family of third-generation A-Series processors which includes Temash and Richland.
These Brand New AMD Processors Could Be Your Next Laptop's Brain


CPU World
AMD E1-Series E1-2100 - EM2100ICJ23HM

Market segment Mobile
Thermal Design Power 9 Watt
Microarchitecture Jaguar
Processor core Kabini
Manufacturing process 0.028 micron

NotebookCheck.net Tech
AMD E-Series E1-2100 Notebook Processor

Performance
Due to the low clock speed of just 1.0 GHz, the performance is quite modest and similar to the old AMD C-60. For simple office and multimedia tasks, the E1-2100 has sufficient power; however, it will quickly reach its limits in more demanding applications and games.
Graphics
The SoC integrates a Radeon HD 8210 GPU with 128 shaders, which is based on the GCN architecture. The core is clocked at 300 MHz (no turbo). On average, the HD 8210 matches the Intel HD Graphics (Ivy Bridge). However, the performance is often limited by the CPU. Recent Games (as of 2013) are therefore hardly playable. Only a few older and less demanding games will run fluently.
Power Consumption
The power consumption of the entire SoC is rated at 9 watts. Thus, the E1-2100 is suitable for small ultraportables and netbooks.

Usage In Notebooks
Example - Lenovo Essential G505 ~USD330
Lenovo G505 15.6" Laptop - Black (AMD E1-2100 / 320GB HDD / 2GB Ram / Windows 8) : Laptops - Best Buy Canada



...

 

[MacClipper]

space reserved..

 

[MacClipper]

Actually tried to do a Windows 7 x64 WEI for the Kabini test rig but WEI plainly just refused to run complaining that rigs running on batteries cannot be tested... that's probably as immersively MODT as any rig can get. lol

3DMark11 was a nice slide show so shelved the benchmarking idea altogether being the usual impatient guy.

So meanwhile, the Kabini test rig has ended up assigned to clerical & web data entry duty for now - the ladies are loving the new "toy" so far as I had DIY-ed it (temporarily) using my kid's cardboard school shoebox with masking tape.








Think can win most l33t custom rig of the year or not, I wonder?

 

[Turbo-Boost]

Actually tried to do a Windows 7 x64 WEI for the Kabini test rig but WEI plainly just refused to run complaining that rigs running on batteries cannot be tested... that's probably as immersively MODT as any rig can get. lol

3DMark11 was a nice slide show so shelved the benchmarking idea altogether being the usual impatient guy.

So meanwhile, the Kabini test rig has ended up assigned to clerical & web data entry duty for now - the ladies are loving the new "toy" so far as I had DIY-ed it (temporarily) using my kid's cardboard school shoebox with masking tape.








Think can win most l33t custom rig of the year or not, I wonder?

nice creative case

 

[MacClipper]

Heheh, glad you like it... raided the storeroom for old parts to fix up the test rig and uncovered a 10 year old PSU (has only 20 pin ATX plug, from my long dead Creative Slix), 80mm fan, single stick of 4GB Kingston RAM, a small notebook 2.5" HDD besides the shoebox.


Note the mild attempt at cable management too reusing the strip of spare cardboard cut out for the I/O panel.






All in , a true blue budget setup in every sense.

 

[royfrosty]

So cute chassis.

Sorry to be sadist. Can i step it? LOL.

 

[MacClipper]

I have another AMD A4-4000 Richland mITX test rig in a more upmarket temporary case, the Reebok shoebox test rig.

Think that one also cannot step on too but are things supposed to run faster with Reeboks?

 

[voiceoflove]

cardboard trap heat, will it burn ?

 

[MacClipper]

Good qn which I had pondered over too!

Note that solder melts around 200C...

Anyone remembers Farenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury or is it Celsius 451 more accurately?

 

[MacClipper]

btw, I have been using a mobox open air test rig for the past few years without issue. Left it overnight many times as well, running full load with encoding on o'ced 8 core test setups even.


Do check these interesting related links out too

Asus Experiements with Cardboard PC Cases [Video] - Tested
Cardboard PC Case by Lupo | Ubergizmo
Thesis comes to life in cardboard computer case - Houston Chronicle
Recompute cardboard PC in the flesh: it's real, it boots, it's made of cardboard
Recompute - Sustainable Cardboard Computer
Cardboard PC case

 

[bhtan83]

I have another AMD A4-4000 Richland mITX test rig in a more upmarket temporary case, the Reebok shoebox test rig.

Think that one also cannot step on too but are things supposed to run faster with Reeboks?

wah lucky u use reebok shoe box not nike.

cos later roy ask the nike shoe box:"can i step on u?"
nike shoe box replied:"just do it!"

 

[royfrosty]

wah lucky u use reebok shoe box not nike.

cos later roy ask the nike shoe box:"can i step on u?"
nike shoe box replied:"just do it!"

You just make my day! Hahaha.

 

[MacClipper]

Next time anyone ask to configure a cost performance AMD gaming PC, we all know what to say liao...

And remember also to buy shoes just for the DIY cardboard box too!

 

[MacClipper]

AMD Kabini Boards Discussion - xbmc.org

 

[Ark Law]

Higher-tier APU -> Nike/Adidas/Puma box
Mid-tier APU -> Reebok/Umbro box
Lower-tier APU -> Bata box

 

[MacClipper]

UEFI BIOS
This SoC mobo uses UEFI though it is a pretty much set it once and forget about it affair, the UEFI probably doesn't factor as much as it would in enthusiast mobos geared towards overclocking.

No issues encountered with the UEFI so far, options work as expected ie. it's fully functional.

 

[MacClipper]

Socketed Kabinis anyone?

New budget AMD AM1 for everyone... AnandTech Portal | AMD AM1 Platform Announced: Socketed Kabini

FYI

 

[jtjt00]

I get the shoes and you take the box when you buy one.

Next time anyone ask to configure a cost performance AMD gaming PC, we all know what to say liao...

And remember also to buy shoes just for the DIY cardboard box too!