First impressions & Teardown: Acer Revo RL70 AMD Sff System

I got my RL70 yesterday and upgraded with 4gb, installed W7 64bit & applied the updates from Acer website.

I am a little disappointed with the video performance when streaming Iplayer in a browser (FFOX & chrome) - at HD it is not silky smooth and CPU is up at 80%+ , I was hoping it would be a good replacement for my i3 laptop, but I have to say its not. Also ran itunes using the clip i mentioned in my OP, but whilst its better than on my 3610 revo it ainst super smooth.

I did run some tests with youtube @ 1080p and that was fine, so I know if the GPU is utilised then it does work.

maybe someone can advise if there are settings I need to check, but I am thinking I wasted 190 quid and maybe should have plumped for the Q180??

:-(
/CF
 
If you run iplayer through Xbmc i understand it enables the hardware acceleration. I hadn't noticed any stuttering in say top gear hd. I will try hd via ie9 later and let you know.

Ok tried it. Can confirm that bbc hd via ie9 uses 90% CPU and there is a virtually undetectable stutter every now and then. However in Xbmc BBC HD uses only 26% CPU and there is no stutter. Whether there is a change in streams I don't know how to check. I have it set to h.264(3200kb) in Xbmc
 
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Hi Nice Thread so far and have just had mine delivered today

Can anyone confirm how much RAM this thing can take

Noticed Aikon said he'd ordered 8GB but information I have read says that the maximum supported is 4GB

Thanks
 
revoMatt said:
If you run iplayer through Xbmc i understand it enables the hardware acceleration. I hadn't noticed any stuttering in say top gear hd. I will try hd via ie9 later and let you know.

Ok tried it. Can confirm that bbc hd via ie9 uses 90% CPU and there is a virtually undetectable stutter every now and then. However in Xbmc BBC HD uses only 26% CPU and there is no stutter. Whether there is a change in streams I don't know how to check. I have it set to h.264(3200kb) in Xbmc
Click to expand...

yes I saw the same effect when i ran thru plex, it seems to work well then. very odd. I may have been a bit harsh on the devic, it is certainly snappier when running itunes for my music collection with pics on albums, but its a bit disappointing that it cant run video for itunes very well, just have to wait for them to support dxva i guess....long wait i suspect :-(
/CF
 
Yoz said:
Hi Nice Thread so far and have just had mine delivered today

Can anyone confirm how much RAM this thing can take

Noticed Aikon said he'd ordered 8GB but information I have read says that the maximum supported is 4GB

Thanks
Click to expand...


Has anyone tested with more that 4GB ? and is it recognised
Just need to know as this information will decide which additional memory I buy
Thanks
 
Hi all. Back now and all sorted. Hi yoz, I can confirm that 8gb does indeed work in the rl70. Used some corsair stuff in there briefly and works a treat!
 
Hello

I have just purchased a rl70 but I am having trouble installing a new os using a USB. I just get a black screen and a flashing cursor no matter what I try. Can anyone let me know how they installed a new os on this machine.
 
You need to create a bootable USB. What os are you trying to install?. For win7 there is an application Microsoft have to place the ISO onto the stick. Just copying the files won't work
 
Just a little off-topic, but does anyone know where I'd be able to get a keyboard like that?!

Looks a treat, and it's very nice and minimal.

Also, is there any chance of changing the CPU in one of these things? And maybe sticking in an A8 or whatever?

Thanks.
 
Just joined the forum because of what I've read on this thread - great stuff! Many thanks to all for their contributions. I was hoping you might be able to answer a couple of questions I had...

Has anyone installed 8GB RAM over the long-term (I understand Aikon kept it in for shorter)?

Is the RAM installed in pairs i.e. buying 2x4GB SODIMMS, or can I just add one more 8GB to make it 10GB?

Anyone gone over 8GB RAM?

slm101 said:
Ok, managed it without breaking anything.

To remove top cover (for anyone who is looking how to do this)
-Remove screw at the back
-Pull lid up slightly at the back and put a credit card sized bit of plastic between top cover and lower casing
-Slide the card around both sides towards the front of the case (making worrying 'snapping' noises all the way around)
-Lift cover up, then towards the back to detach the clips at the very front.
-Remove 4 black screws on metal plate and lift up to remove
Click to expand...

The above sounds like quite a delicate procedure. Should I be concerned about upgrading the RAM myself?

Much appreciated!
 
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Excellent teardown and very helpful in making my choice for my first HTPC.

Can anyone tell me if it's definitely possible to add a mini PCI-e SSD in the empty slot and use it as a bootable drive?

I'm fairly new to SSD but from some bits I've read I understand the slot would need a SATA controller as opposed to a slot that was just designed for wireless cards etc.

My aim is to have a decent sized internal HDD for data etc and a smaller PCI-e SSD with the OS and apps.

Any guidance on this matter would be most appreciated
 
I have a Zotac Zbox AD02 which is similar to this (but E-350 not E-450). Whilst it can handle (properly) GPU accelerated HD streaming fine (read Flash, MKVs etc etc) - it cannot do high bitrate SilverLight (this is thanks to MS's poor programming). This is frustrating and not likely to ever be fixed; this means I can't watch Sky Player or Netflix in HD

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IANTHENUT said:
Anyone got the model with the bluray drive?

How does it (and XBMC) handle bluray discs?
Click to expand...

I bought the top one I think, 4GB ram, 750GB HDD, Bluray and tv tuner, bluray play fine although there is a little jumpiness now and then, I've just bought an SSD and 8GB Corsair DDR3, gonna see how it runs with that.
 
Just had a quick tinker with a mini PCIe SSD and to answer my own question and for future reference to others, it was not detected in either slot, so unfortunately I can't use a PCIe SSD for my OS.

It was a standard SSD, I think they produce one with a SATA controller onboard, this may work but for now back to the drawing board.

haterzwantwar said:
Excellent teardown and very helpful in making my choice for my first HTPC.

Can anyone tell me if it's definitely possible to add a mini PCI-e SSD in the empty slot and use it as a bootable drive?

I'm fairly new to SSD but from some bits I've read I understand the slot would need a SATA controller as opposed to a slot that was just designed for wireless cards etc.

My aim is to have a decent sized internal HDD for data etc and a smaller PCI-e SSD with the OS and apps.

Any guidance on this matter would be most appreciated
Click to expand...
 
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