Best Intel processor option for HTPC - i5-750, i5-540M or i5661

[kimsharma]

Hello all,

I am trying to build an HTPC (hackintosh). I read a lot of articlets and also this forum and I have narrowed down the processor choice to the following.
1. Core i5-750 (95 W TDP)
2. Core i5-540M( mobile, 45W TDP)
3. Core i5-660/661 (73 W TDP)

The Media center will be wither Plexapp or XBMC. Is there a processor option that is better suited to the hackintosh/plex or XBMC setup?

The mediacenter will be used primarily to play my raw blu-ray m2ts files. I have a few older 1080p MKVs I made too but going forward it will be the raw file format.

My primary concerns are
1. Ability to smoothly play 1080p / m2ts, in case there is no hardware acceleration
2. Do so with minimum power consumption
3. When idle, use very low power

i5-750
- Good at #1 from what I read on AnandTech
- Not sure about #2
- Is there a way tot tune it to consume lower power when idle?

i5-540M
- Not sure about #1 - Will it play all the current reasonable bit-rate files?
- good at #2
- good at #3
- This option restricts the ability to have an extensible MB - something with multiple SATA connectors, and still be OS X friendly.

i5- 660/61
- Not sure about #1
- OK at #2
- Not sure at #3
- The price seems to be a bit high for the performance it has.


These are closely matched and if I can find something that will last me 2-3 years, that will be great.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

 

[sivart]

I've got a "lowly" dual core 2.5GHz processor that handles the hefty Windows 7 Media center without issue. I think any of those will do fine for you.

 

[kalrith]

I chose an older AM2 processor that can be undervolted to .8v at idle in order to use very little power. If you're really concerned about using as little power as possible, then I recommend reading the SPCR forums. That's where I found a motherboard-CPU combo that can be undervolted at idle, which really sips the power.

I don't know much about the new processors, but I know the older E5200 didn't use much power at idle.

And any modern dual-core processor at 2.5GHz will do everything you want it to assuming you have a video card that will do most of the work.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

i3 530 will probably give the lowest power consumption and performs quite well.