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Dual-core Atom D525 good for PoS and internet?

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tRidiot

Premium Member
Joined
May 17, 2003
Well, I bought a mini-ITX board w/Athlon x2 64 to build a decent little computer for my mom's store. However, somehow, I think I killed the MB. No power-up, no nothing. Probably pushed too hard when installing the 24-pin power connector. Anyways, I'm looking for options... not many mini-ITX options left out there retail to use that processor, so... I'm looking into this passively-cooled Atom.

The computer doesn't have to do much... just surf the net and do remote login to another location to access the server to run the sales software (ManageMore) off a Server2003 machine. No real video outside of maybe the occasional YouTube video or something. Onboard Intel GMA3150 graphics for that. No 1080p, not even 720p... ever. This is strictly a work computer and needs only be reliable and run the above applications.

In addition, as I mentioned, I bought a mini-ITX case for this build, so I'd like to find some way to use it. I also bought a new PSU for it, in favor of scrapping the stock 250W PSU, but now I'm thinking if I go with the Atom dual-core, I might be able to go back to the stock generic and put the Seasonic I bought in some other system.

So what do you think? Is the Atom dual-core D525 good enough to run a point-of-sale system and simple web-browser for a business? Thanks!

<edit> I've picked out 4 gigs of RAM (DDR3 SO-DIMM) and it will be running Windows 7 (32-bit? 64?) most likely.

Here's the combo I'm looking at.
 
Yeah, an Atom should be just fine for that kind of thing. It won't be zippy, but it should handle those tasks no problem. 4GB of RAM is good, 2GB is probably also fine. I suppose RAM is cheap enough these days to make it pointless to get much less than 4GB.

I don't trust Rosewill PSUs (notice their case + PSU cost less than the Seasonic PSU alone) so I think the Seasonic is a safer choice if you want something reliable that you won't have to bother with too much in the future.
 
3rded.

If you want something reliable you want a good PSU. A bit more cost but a lifetime longer lasting =)
 
The problem with the PSU is that it will not let me install my CD-ROM... I bought a SATA CD-ROM, but the larger PSU takes up too much of the case. Maybe I'll look on the Egg and see if I can find a shorter CD-RW or something.
 
You can get pretty cheap external slim CDRW drives these days as well.

Also: look at the AMD E350 chips that come pre-affixed to the board as a potential alternative to Atom. They ought to have a superior iGPU.
 
Yeah, if you can get a cheaper E-350 that's a good alternative. But I'd imagine the two would perform similarly for this use (the E-350 does have better graphics like David said) but I would say look at price first, and if they're both the same or the E-350 is cheaper, get the E-350.
 
The problem with the PSU is that it will not let me install my CD-ROM... I bought a SATA CD-ROM, but the larger PSU takes up too much of the case. Maybe I'll look on the Egg and see if I can find a shorter CD-RW or something.

Does the machine need a CD-ROM POST installation?
Might be easier to leave it out or as above - go external =)
 
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