GIGABYTE GA-J1800N-D2H Review: Dual Core Bay Trail-D at $69
by Ian Cutress on December 26, 2014 11:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Intel
- Bay Trail
Conclusion
When we review the mainstream level for computing, $70 on just the motherboard gets a relatively bare product but you are still investing in an ecosystem around the market involving the software, BIOS and additional unique functionality. When you spend $69 on a motherboard/SoC combination, where the SoC has a tray price of $72, the purchase becomes more of a utility. At this price point it becomes almost impossible for motherboard manufacturers to separate their product, because it is solely purchased for the IO that comes part of the chipset.
With that in mind, the J1800N-D2H does offer a couple of SATA 3 Gbps ports, a USB 3.0 port, Realtek networking and an ALC887 audio codec. For good measure there is a mini-PCIe for an additional module, and a PCIe 2.0 x1 slot. Compared to the big motherboards we often review, this sounds like the bare minimum for any desktop system, but it does allow the user to implement WiFi, a sound card, two SSDs in storage and a base HTPC card if required.
Speaking solely about the motherboard, our system tests showed no new records and the level you might expect with such a low cost system. The BIOS used the old style blue on grey without a hint of a graphical UEFI on GIGABYTE's more mainstream products or of the type that we saw on the J1900I-C, perhaps to the detriment of the user experience.
When we compare dual core Bay Trail-D parts with the HP Stream 11, an 11-inch low cost Windows laptop, the strength of the desktop route is upgradeability and potential maximum performance. Our synthetic tests showed that in terms of pure horse power, the J1800 was slightly ahead of the N2840 for example, or that some benchmarks mattered more on the OS/software version than the similar hardware underneath). In exchange for the mobility and a slightly lower price of the HP with everything considered, the J1800N-D2H when paired with the right bundle will offer more faster storage, and perhaps with an 802.11ac card better signal strength, although as shown below, it cannot compete in terms of pricing unless you go super bargain basement. Perhaps the main benefit the HP Stream 11 offers is the ability to 'purchase and play' compared to a self-build desktop, but a system integrator might be able to provide that same purchase and play experience.
| J1800 for $200 | ||||||
| Part | Component | Price | ||||
| CPU and Motherboard | GIGABYTE J1800N-D2H | $69 | ||||
| DRAM | G.Skill 1x2GB DDR3-1333 C9 | $19 | ||||
| WiFi Card | Intel 802.11n 7260 2T2R, OEM | $16 | ||||
| Storage | Refurbished Corsair Nova 2 60GB | $30 | ||||
| Case and PSU | Logisys CS305BK ATX Mid-Tower + 450W | $30 | ||||
| Monitor | Used ViewSonic 17" Q7b (inc shipping) | $36 | ||||
| Mouse and Keyboard | Logitech MK120 Combo | $15 | ||||
| Total | $215 | |||||
When we price up a system with the J1800N-D2H trying to hit the $200 price point, even when selecting used or refurbished goods, it is very difficult to even hit $200, let alone with something half decent.
| J1800 Recommended when Buying New | ||||||
| Part | Component | Price | ||||
| CPU and Motherboard | GIGABYTE J1800N-D2H | $69 | ||||
| DRAM | G.Skill 2x2GB DDR3-1333 C9 | $38 | ||||
| WiFi Card | Intel 802.11ac 7260 2T2R, OEM | $35 | ||||
| Storage | Crucial MX100 128GB | $61 | ||||
| Case and PSU | Rosewill RS-MI-01 BK mini-ITX with 250W | $45 | ||||
| Monitor | Dell 19.5" 1920x1080 D2015H | $80 | ||||
| Mouse and Keyboard | Logitech MK120 Combo | $15 | ||||
| Total | $343 | |||||
When we put a list of solely new items, using a small SSD (either $48 for 64GB or $61 for 128GB), some DRAM (dual channel for peak performance) and a decent WiFi module, it is clear that the $200 price point of the HP Stream 11 is hard to beat in desktop form. Particular culprits for the desktop cost include the monitor, and this price is not even counting an operating system. Using a base 1366x768 TN panel, eMMC, a system builder's OS and a single stream WiFi solution helps HP drive that price down, and one would imagine that HP's overall margin in the product is lower than the expected margins for our system. The benefit of a system builder such as HP is that it is possible to buy into their ecosystem, or they might be able to build a stepping stone to their more expensive products in the future if the user has a good experience.
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lioncat55 - Friday, December 26, 2014 - link
When ever I see a system like this I want to build a Plex server. But it never seems like the CPU is enough.LoneWolf15 - Friday, December 26, 2014 - link
@lioncat55 - Asrock makes the Q2900-ITX , a J2900 Bay Trail quad core. You'll probably find it a little more suitable.I went Core i3-3225 at the time I built my HTPC due to the HD4000 graphics. Still working well running XBMC Gotham.
xbenny - Saturday, December 27, 2014 - link
@lioncat55 - I hear you man I'm in the same quest check out this review of Q2900-ITX @techspot http://www.techspot.com/review/882-intel-pentium-j... @LoneWolf - still not enough for on-the-fly-transcoding for Plex serverStevoLincolnite - Saturday, December 27, 2014 - link
Give it time.These chips aren't even in the same league as the Core 2 processors from 6-7 years ago in terms of performance-per-clock, but they do use a tiny fraction of the energy.
They're certainly a big step up from the old Atoms.
Might start getting competitive with Nahelem class chips in the next 3-4 years, which is when things would start to get interesting.
barleyguy - Monday, December 29, 2014 - link
You can get an AMD FX-6300 for $89, and throw it on a cheap motherboard. It works great for Plex; the 6 integer cores are surprisingly good at transcoding. I'm doing 1080p full Bluray transcoded to 20 Mbps for playback across powerline ethernet.It does use way more electricity than one of these though.
Another decent Plex server is the NVidia Jetson board. There's an accelerated Plex build for it. It's almost $200, but includes the CPU, RAM, and 16 GB of storage, so it's basically turnkey. The power usage on that is about 7 watts typical and 15 watts peak, not counting the hard drive the movies are on. (This option does require some Linux knowledge. You need to update Linux for Tegra and set up Plex server as chroot.)
$.02
KWIE - Wednesday, January 7, 2015 - link
@lioncat55 - I have a FreeNAS box with Plex Server running inside a jail on an Asrock Q1900-ITX, basically the quad core version of this, but with lower per-core frequency. There are other versions available also including one with DC-in. The above model also has 4 SATA ports (vital for me with a 4 drive ZFS setup). I boot from a Sandisk Cruzer Fit USB drive with no issues.I have one large, slow fan blowing over the drives in the entire case and never have any heat issues. Very, very happy with it... and now considering building another for a family member.
dragosmp - Friday, December 26, 2014 - link
Great review, I like the comparison with HP's Stream. To push it further I would say in this particular case it's obvious one should pick up the OEM made, but what about if someone wants a quad BT? Then for 20$ more someone can get twice the performance for 5% in system cost. It's endless reasoning, but I just wanted to point out this bitbill.rookard - Friday, December 26, 2014 - link
Agreed. I have the ASRock Q1900M (quad-core, full size DIMMs, a few more x1 slots and a full x16 (x1 wired) slot) and that allows for quite a bit more flexibility. It's still a very small board - same depth as ITX, just a little more width. The extra x1 slots could allow for some extra sata connectivity, the x16 could allow for a more powerful gpu (the intel solution onboard is marginal at best - only 4EU's).Overall though, armed with a SSD (Samsung 830) it's more than adequate for HTPC duty.
ddriver - Friday, December 26, 2014 - link
The lack of performance is otherworldly.I guess gaming benches were a logical component of the review for this product, seeing how it is definitely intended for such tasks. /sarcasm
To hell with stuff like media playback or a file server, workloads such a product is actually suited for. Who cares how this product works for stuff it is actually usable for.
Gigaplex - Friday, December 26, 2014 - link
Insufficient SATA ports for this to be used as a file server.