HTPC: AMD vs. Intel

[soulcougher73]

Aharami an Antec EA380 is quiet, inexpensive and will more than cover your build.
Equal quality at 300 watts is likely cost more.

+1. Its what i have. For HTPC its plenty.

 

[Aharami]

thanks for the recommendation. Although my i3 system will initially be only a HTPC, utilizing the i3's HD 2000 to output to my projector, I eventually want to turn it into a mild gaming system by adding a 560ti (or equivalent) to play mostly racing sims. I have a feeling the Antec EA380 wont cut it for gaming duty down the line. What's a more powerful PSU that's also pretty efficient?

 

[lildimsum7]

do you want MadVR and LAV CUVID?

 

[Patranus]

Just get an a MOBO with an ATOM CPU.
Check out the offerings form ZOTAC.

There is really no need for a "real" CPU in an HTPC unless you are going to be transcoding content.

 

[Headcase_Fargone]

Just get an a MOBO with an ATOM CPU.
Check out the offerings form ZOTAC.

There is really no need for a "real" CPU in an HTPC unless you are going to be transcoding content.

AMD's E350 offerings have really made the Atom/ION irrelevant. Even under Linux there's no reason not to go AMD these days if low power is what you're looking for.

 

[Fox5]

AMD's E350 offerings have really made the Atom/ION irrelevant. Even under Linux there's no reason not to go AMD these days if low power is what you're looking for.

The gap between Atom and Brazos on Linux is typically even greater than on Windows. Maybe less multithreaded software available? Or perhaps the compilers for Windows are better optimized for Atom's particularities, while GCC doesn't care.

 

[Spikesoldier]

OP: i think you have bought too much system with both of your setups.

zacate is just a hair too slow for a full HTPC experience IMO. it does a great job though, especially when you consider its low cost of entry.

i downgraded from an i3 530 to zacate and probably the only thing zacate doesnt do as well is 1080p flash.

netflix performance is very good but can lag for a few frames when there is a lot of action on the screen. i hear the new version of silverlight coming soon will allow the GPU to take some load off the CPU, which is really zacate's achilles' heel.

i would reconsider your build and probably go with an intel SB which is going to be even more power efficient than my i3 530. i would recommend one of the pentium or celeron sandy's though as even the i3 2100 is way too much CPU for a HTPC IMO.

as others have stated, ditch the dedicated card and save some bucks. use it toward a snazzy case.

 

[DaveSimmons]

thanks for the recommendation. Although my i3 system will initially be only a HTPC, utilizing the i3's HD 2000 to output to my projector, I eventually want to turn it into a mild gaming system by adding a 560ti (or equivalent) to play mostly racing sims. I have a feeling the Antec EA380 wont cut it for gaming duty down the line. What's a more powerful PSU that's also pretty efficient?

To answer the question (a week later): you only need a good 5xx watt PSU for a GTX 560 ti or AMD 6870/6950. Which one to get depends on the Hot Deal of the day.

 

[piasabird]

I could see how the right video card might help a lot.

I am streaming videos with an Intel MB DG35EC with only 720p, and an E7200 CPU and I find it works well with most online video I find on the Internet. So I dont think the speed of the processor is even coming into play. I generally believe faster is better, for longevity of a system. I would have thought that for encoding video a fast processor would be useful. I think a lot of the time it is the Microsoft Oper System that causes most of the problems. Then after that it is just the online Internet Traffic and actual servers that cause problems. I also think that the last version of IE caused more problems than it fixed. I could see how the right video card might help a lot.

I also encountered issues that I traced back to my wireless DSL and Modem/router hardware. It kept having issues. When I replace it, I had better luck.

I am using an Antec Case which came with a 380 watt antec power supply and that seemed to work fine. I dont use use a SSD and I dont know how much extra watts one would use. I could see using about 430-500 watts or so. I could also see using an i-5 processor with turbo boost if you want to play games.

 

[mcturkey]

A Core i-series proc isn't really even all that necessary. You can get a Pentium-series Sandy Bridge for significantly less, and it will do just as well playing back video, while still giving you the option of adding a discrete card later on. I found a great deal on a motherboard w/ Pentium G620 for $105. More than 4GB of memory is overkill as well. If you are planning on doing any gaming, this is of course all going to change, but both proposed setups sound like overkill to me.

Zacate would be optimal, except that it just can't handle 1080P Flash/Silverlight consistently enough for most folks without some hiccups. Breathing room is nice, and Zacate seems to have zero.

 

[infoiltrator]

The Antec EA650 Earthwatts is on sale on Amazon and newegg. Choice is with or without rebate.
Any good 500watt or more power supply should do fine.

 

[GTaudiophile]

I am thinking now about using older parts for this.

I assume an AMD Opteron 170 (Dual Core) on an old ASUS A8N SLI Premium board with a nice, new dedicated GPU would also suffice?

 

[vshah]

I am thinking now about using older parts for this.

I assume an AMD Opteron 170 (Dual Core) on an old ASUS A8N SLI Premium board with a nice, new dedicated GPU would also suffice?

You can find radeon 5450 cards for under 25 and they'll play anything (including 1080p) under xbmc for windows. Some are silent too!

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