Undervolting + Underclocking the A10 5800k

Before I ask any questions, the reason I want to do this: I want to build a silent HTPC with a powerful processor. I figured that undervolting enough will allow me to use a small CPU cooler such as the Noctua NH-l9a. No gaming will ever be done on this computer. So...

I'm new here, and I know this forum is for overclockers, but I didn't know where else to go with this question. I figured you guys are tinkerers, and someone may have played around with an APU and has the answer to my question. First off, I used one of those power supply calculators to figure that an underclock/undervolting of the 5800k to 3600/1.2 would bring me into a range where I could use a picoPSU. For anyone not familiar with them, they are tiny little power supplies. The one i'm looking at being 160W cont/200W peak. I figured such a small change would not greatly impact performance. Am I wrong? Also, how much farther could I underclock/undervolt before I might as well be buying an A8 or A6?

You may want to take a look at something which I had posted recently, may have to read the whole thread for a more complete picture though
A8-5600K


HTH

Well I think I might just register over there to follow your continued journey. I now know the GPU can be separately tweaked, which is good (and probably obvious to most people). It seems like AMD and AMD related products are coming out a good deal sooner in Asia than over here in the US. I guess I'm going to hold out purchasing anything just yet, since that mini-ITX mobo you just got looks awesome. I'm building a tiny little htpc, and the current selection of FM2 mini ITX in the US is dismal. One of them seems to catch on fire if you look at it the wrong way.

The bit about undervolting was very helpful. Not sure, but it looked like a decent temperature drop.

And the power draw was zilch! I'm now not worried at all about my future system.

Do you guys call miniITX just ITX over in singapore?

Good complete read in the linked thread "MacClipper".
RGone...

You can cap the max cpu speed in overdrive in CCC. The Vcore will stay down automatically afaik.

I should put up pics of my HTPC sometime. I have an Intel G620 undervolted (but not underclocked) with significantly undervolted memory. It draws 40w while folding and I can cool it with a passive Hyper212 heatsink and two 5v case fans drawing in. So yes, you can get great results from undervolting!

Yes please do! I love seeing people's HTPCs. Also good to know about the undervolting. However, like Ruiner said, I can apparently underclock it and it will automatically undervolt if I usee the CCC app. Obviously the issue is how well the mobo undervolts by itself. Probably not too well.

I generally don't trust auto voltage control, you'll usually get much better results tuning it yourself. You also may not need to underclock to get the heat down. Just adjust the voltage down to the lowest stable point at stock speed and see if that's cool enough.