Budget CPU for budget HTPC build..

[Arkaign]

AM3? Try AM3+. Then you can shift gears from Semprom to Bulldozer if the need arises.

True, but at present you can get fairly decent AM3 boards for $50ish, AM3+ is a bit of a premium over that for now. Hopefully we see some affordable boards for AM3+ soon, something in the $60 range would be great, and honestly if they only have 1 PCI-e 3.0 x16 slot, that's good enough for 95% of the folks out there. Xfire/SLI guys will always be willing to spend the $100-$150 or even higher for proper boards in that arena.

 

[jacktesterson]

my Sempron 130 went from 2.6GHz to 3.4GHz with a small voltage bump, never runs above 40 degrees under full load in my HTPC using the stock cooler from a 1090T.

Single core, for web browsing, file server and HTPC 1080p/Blu Ray use, it never goes above 20-25% usage.

 

[SirJangly]

Hey guys, aside from the GPU, which hasn't come in yet, everything is running. I seem to be running around 50*C idle and 55/57*C at load. Is this normal in small cases? Everything is so cramped inside. I was thinking of modding the case to have a 120mm blowing the hot air hot. Is thiis necessary? Have any other tips? Thanks so much 🙂

I hate to redirect the thread back on topic, but...I hit 61*C while playing CS:S. Could this be due to the cpu handling the GPU tasks as well? I will be installing the 5570 tomorrow, and I'm hoping/wondering that will make a difference.