ASRock CoreHT 252B Review
by Ganesh T S on September 2, 2011 3:45 AM EST- Posted in
- HTPC
- Intel
- ASRock
- Media Streamer
The ASRock CoreHT 252B package contained the following:
- Main unit in a 2.5L chassis (195mm x 186mm x 70mm)
- 90W AC / DC adapter
- Media Center remote with batteries
- Support CD with drivers and miscellaneous software
- HDMI - DVI dongle
- SATA and power cables / screws for user installation of second hard disk
- 3.5mm audio cable
- Anti-slip base pad for the main unit
The industrial design is nothing to write home about. The pleasing rounded edges are reserved for the higher end Vision series. The CoreHT series has to make do with a sharp edged chassis very similar to the first generation Core 100HT.
When compared with the Core 100 from last year, we find that two of the USB 2.0 ports at the rear end of the unit become USB 3.0 ports in the CoreHT. The front panel remains the same except for the structure of the ventilation slot which is now curved in (instead of the planar slots in the Core 100) and the shape of the power button is now circular instead of the square in the last generation unit.
Just like a notebook, this unit also supports simultaneous display on two monitors. Testing was done mostly with the HDMI output connected to a Toshiba REGZA 37" 1080p TV through an Onkyo TX-SR 606. For non-media playing related testing, the HDMI port was connected to an Acer H243H 1080p monitor.
Our review unit shipped with Windows 7 x64 Ultimate and a OEM version of Cyberlink PowerDVD for Blu-Ray playback. However, the OEM version doesn't support 3D Blu-rays and is also crippled with respect to the number of audio channels that can be decoded / HD audio passthrough. To test these, we installed the full versions of both Cyberlink PowerDVD 11 as well as ArcSoft Total Media Theater 5.
We will conclude this section with a table to summarize the data and A/V connectivity options for the ASRock CoreHT 252B HTPC.
| Option | Status |
|---|---|
| HDMI | Yes [v1.4a] |
| Component | No |
| Composite | No |
| VGA | Yes |
| SPDIF | Yes [Optical] |
| Stereo |
Yes |
Data Connectivity Options for the ASRock CoreHT 252B
| Option | Status |
|---|---|
| Optical Disk Drive | Yes [Blu-Ray / DVD-RW] |
| USB | Yes [4 x v2.0, 4 x v3.0] |
| eSATA | Yes [1 x v3] |
| LAN | Yes [ 1000 Mbps GbE ] |
| Internal HDD | Yes [ 500 GB ] |
| WiFi | Yes [ 300 Mbps 2T2R 802.11n ] |
| Card Reader | No |
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ganeshts - Friday, September 2, 2011 - link
There is a no-OS option. (in fact, that is what will be sold mostly)For Linux drivers.. well, let us not go down that road right now.
martajd - Sunday, September 4, 2011 - link
Read the article. It CLEARLY says in the specifications chart "Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (Retail unit is barebones)"That means NO OS IS DEFAULT. It's not Asrock that has the stupidity.
DaveSimmons - Friday, September 2, 2011 - link
Item#: N82E16856158025, that's pretty high for no Windows or blu-ray software.($87 for PowerDVD).ganeshts - Friday, September 2, 2011 - link
If this is anything like the Vision 3D, I bet the price will definitely go down, or there will be a rebate / combo deal of some sort to sweeten things up. I stand by what I said in the review.. if they get the price down to the Core 100's launch price, I will have no hesitation in recommending the unit.ypsylon - Saturday, September 3, 2011 - link
External power supply is instant kill for any HPTC system. What is the point of SFF if you have to use external PSU? You can't move the case without moving PSU.No thank you AsRock. Small Lian-Li cube will do nicely.
miahallen - Saturday, September 3, 2011 - link
"The ASRock CoreHT 252B is primarily built out of notebook components, and it is not possible for the average enthusiast to build such a system with off-the-shelf components."Yes it is...I did about 3 months ago (with the H67 version) and I've been quite heppy with it.
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t228/miahallen/...
miahallen - Saturday, September 3, 2011 - link
This is the low cost version w/o BluRay but with an SSD...more similar to what I built.http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t228/miahallen/...
At only $400, it's a steal next to the version in this article.
ganeshts - Sunday, September 4, 2011 - link
I only intended to convey that it is not possible for consumers to build a desktop with a mobile procsesor / mobile chipset.However, yes, you have an interesting build with a similar power profile. Andrew at MissingRemote also has a similar build reviewed: http://www.missingremote.com/review/intel-core-i3-... : This uses the more HTPC centric motherboard from Intel.
Lolimaster - Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - link
Should be a better deal buying a E-350 APU/Mobo combo. Why have intel subpar image quality gpu?ganeshts - Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - link
350 is too weak. Higher end Llanos are good, but need some driver work in the common scenarios like 1080p60 AVCHD decode.Intel is pretty good for the average consumer. If you are a stickler for image and video quality, go with AMD, and if you want the best of freeware / open source software to do the work for you, go with NVIDIA.