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Intel Vs AMD Help!!

R

RaptureMe

Senior member
Want to build a new HTPC but need to know what is the lowest cost lowest version of a C2D that will match or beat a amd x2 5000+ 2.6Ghz NON Black Edition??
How would a E2180 match up??
I do not want to overclock this will purely be for watching HD-dvd's and Blu-Ray only!!
 
If it's for watching HD-DVD / BluRay then don't worry about your CPU 🙂

Just get a motherboard with DXVA acceleration (like the 780g chipset from AMD, or the GeForce 8200 from nVidia), and you will do it all in hardware, with low CPU usage.

OR, get a GPU that has the same feature.

~MiSfit
 
very bad idea. HD playback is buggy and problematic, not to mention software limited on the GPU. its a gimmick that doesn't really work as it should.
And CPU IS hardware, just different hardware than the GPU.

I highly recommend you get a strong enough CPU and forget about the GPU for HD playback.
 
Originally posted by: taltamir
very bad idea. HD playback is buggy and problematic, not to mention software limited on the GPU. its a gimmick that doesn't really work as it should.
And CPU IS hardware, just different hardware than the GPU.

I highly recommend you get a strong enough CPU and forget about the GPU for HD playback.
Click to expand...

I think you're thinking about GPU-based video processing, like Badaboom.

GPU-based HD playback has been around for a while, and works great.
 
well I didnt really want to go amd again till new kuma cpu's are out and are at a lower TDP like 65w max not 89w like the 7750.
I went ahead and got a AM2 5050e with 45w at 2.6Ghz should that work well enough??
I am trying to get great preformance with out running up the electric bill to high..
Really what I should of asked is whats better between the 2 Intel e2180 or AMD 5050e??
 
I personally wouldn't rely on the GPU since not all video files are going to be accelerated by the GPU (for various reasons).

The E5200 is a great idea. I believe it runs at the lowest temp of any C2D-based processor right now (being the lowest end 45nm core).

Pickup CoreAVC codec which will do multithreading decoding of H264 files. The CPU utilization with CoreAVC will match or be within 5-10% of a dedicated GPU (at worst), and will render ALL files at a high speed.

If you plan on some light gaming, then get a discrete GPU...for non-gaming media center use a GPU is unncessary and only contributes noise and heat which reduces the lifespan of a media center pc.
 
Originally posted by: RaptureMe
well I didnt really want to go amd again till new kuma cpu's are out and are at a lower TDP like 65w max not 89w like the 7750.
I went ahead and got a AM2 5050e with 45w at 2.6Ghz should that work well enough??
I am trying to get great preformance with out running up the electric bill to high..
Really what I should of asked is whats better between the 2 Intel e2180 or AMD 5050e??
Click to expand...

At idle an AMD 780g/X2 5050e system will pull around 40w - 70w during Blu-ray playback.

You will get roughly the same performance from an e2180 on G45 or nVidia Geforce 9400/9300 chipset board as Denithor noted.

The new version IGPs off-load h.264/VC-1 processing and substantially reduce cpu utilization. There are low-priced discreet vid cards which also preform these functions ...
 
Originally posted by: RaptureMe
well I didnt really want to go amd again till new kuma cpu's are out and are at a lower TDP like 65w max not 89w like the 7750.
I went ahead and got a AM2 5050e with 45w at 2.6Ghz should that work well enough??
I am trying to get great preformance with out running up the electric bill to high..
Really what I should of asked is whats better between the 2 Intel e2180 or AMD 5050e??
Click to expand...

The AMD chips run at a higher process (65nm vs 45nm for newer C2D) so they might have less tolerance for heat in a small media center box.

I think the E2180 is also 65nm? I would definitely go with a 45nm C2D, which are the E5xx, E7xx, E8xx series.

 
To late guys this is what I got for my new HTPC tell me what you think.
Sure hope its enough to play HD-DVD and Blu-Ray movies.

CPU: AM2 5050e
--------------------
MOBO: ZOTAC GF8200-C-E AM2+ ITX
--------------------
Memory: Crucial Ballistic DDR2 1066 2x1GB
--------------------
HDD: G.skill 32GB SSD W/ Ubuntu 8.10 64Bit
--------------------
Drive: LG combo HD-dvd and Blu-Ray
 
Hmm I'm not ENTIRELY certain but I believe the ATI 4000 series are the only video cards that can do HDMI LPCM audio out so you might be SOL unless that 8200 is IGP.
 
Originally posted by: RaptureMe
To late guys this is what I got for my new HTPC tell me what you think.
Sure hope its enough to play HD-DVD and Blu-Ray movies.

CPU: AM2 5050e
--------------------
MOBO: ZOTAC GF8200-C-E AM2+ ITX
--------------------
Memory: Crucial Ballistic DDR2 1066 2x1GB
--------------------
HDD: G.skill 32GB SSD W/ Ubuntu 8.10 64Bit
--------------------
Drive: LG combo HD-dvd and Blu-Ray
Click to expand...

Should play Blu-ray just great. Over at Tom's Hardware, they demonstrate a Sempron 3200 running 1080p just fine when mated with the AMD 780g IGP; the Geforce 8200 is pretty similar, so you should be in great shape.
 
Originally posted by: Astrallite
Hmm I'm not ENTIRELY certain but I believe the ATI 4000 series are the only video cards that can do HDMI LPCM audio out so you might be SOL unless that 8200 is IGP.
Click to expand...

8200 supports 8 channel LPCM over HDMI.
 
sweet then I'm a happy camper!!
Plus with the ZOTAC GF8200-C-E AM2+ Itx mobo I have a great upgrade path for when the phenom II 940's drop in price!!
But for now I just want the best quality HD playback for the cheapest cost and the lowest possible power usage.
Besides if I want to do any high end stuff I have the PC in my sig!!
 
I don't know (Zoltac makes this really difficult) but that motherboard may have a Realtek ALC662 six channel audio chip. See page 36 of the manual.

This significance is that ALC662 (in addition to being six channel) does not provide content protection as does the ALC889, and without a content 'protected audio pathway' Blu-ray sound may be down-sampled.
 
GPU acceleration works perfectly well, provided you're actually watching HD-DVD or BluRay discs (or remuxes of their video/audio streams in media player classic).

Other H.264 content might be problematic via this route, because folks don't generally use DXVA compliant encoding profiles. This leads to slow playback, stuttering etc...

But, most of that content is likely to be illegal, so why worry 😉

If you want foolproof decoding of any 1080p H.264 content you can get your hands on, get at least an E5200.

~MiSfit
 
Originally posted by: Astrallite
Originally posted by: RaptureMe
well I didnt really want to go amd again till new kuma cpu's are out and are at a lower TDP like 65w max not 89w like the 7750.
I went ahead and got a AM2 5050e with 45w at 2.6Ghz should that work well enough??
I am trying to get great preformance with out running up the electric bill to high..
Really what I should of asked is whats better between the 2 Intel e2180 or AMD 5050e??
Click to expand...

The AMD chips run at a higher process (65nm vs 45nm for newer C2D) so they might have less tolerance for heat in a small media center box.

I think the E2180 is also 65nm? I would definitely go with a 45nm C2D, which are the E5xx, E7xx, E8xx series.
Click to expand...

What? Heat "tolerance" will not be an issue. The 5050e is a 45w chip, so it isn't going to put out much heat anyway.
 
Originally posted by: heyheybooboo
I don't know (Zoltac makes this really difficult) but that motherboard may have a Realtek ALC662 six channel audio chip. See page 36 of the manual.

This significance is that ALC662 (in addition to being six channel) does not provide content protection as does the ALC889, and without a content 'protected audio pathway' Blu-ray sound may be down-sampled.
Click to expand...

But if the OP is using HDMI, that won't matter as the on-board sound chip won't be utilized.
 
Wow guys thanks for all the replies.
Yeah I bought the last 2 5050e's they had at the egg and now it claims that item has now been discontinued because of me.
What a bummer for others wanting these cpu's but I couldnt resist seeing on how they were only $50 bucks each and free shipping.
Anyways "cusideabelincoln" is right these cpu's run super super cool since they run at 2.6Ghz at only 45w as these are energy efficient versions of the 5000+ black Edition.
Not only that but I am putting these puppies into a Itx mobo which is even smaller then Micro atx.
SO all around I am getting a great little HTPC to play movies on my 61' toshiba flatscreen which wont cost me an arm and a leg every month in electric bills..
I am not want anything to compete with C2D and I am not even wanting to play games so I am set.
Besides like I said if I want to do anything computer intensive I also have the rig in my sig
 
Originally posted by: themisfit610
GPU acceleration works perfectly well, provided you're actually watching HD-DVD or BluRay discs (or remuxes of their video/audio streams in media player classic).

Other H.264 content might be problematic via this route, because folks don't generally use DXVA compliant encoding profiles. This leads to slow playback, stuttering etc...

But, most of that content is likely to be illegal, so why worry 😉

If you want foolproof decoding of any 1080p H.264 content you can get your hands on, get at least an E5200.

~MiSfit
Click to expand...

in many countries, you still have the the legal right to convert the format of your legally purchased content. and he did not say where he lives. (technically you also do in the USA, its circumventing copy protection that is not allowed, and there is copy protection on bluray disks).

If he was buying a blu ray player and a bunch of blu ray disk for his nice HDTV than saving money on the CPU is probably not a big deal...
 
Originally posted by: Flipped Gazelle
Originally posted by: taltamir
very bad idea. HD playback is buggy and problematic, not to mention software limited on the GPU. its a gimmick that doesn't really work as it should.
And CPU IS hardware, just different hardware than the GPU.

I highly recommend you get a strong enough CPU and forget about the GPU for HD playback.
Click to expand...

I think you're thinking about GPU-based video processing, like Badaboom.

GPU-based HD playback has been around for a while, and works great.
Click to expand...

it is clear that I am not talking about badaboom, but playback.

There are issues if you get encoded files as mentioned by others, if you want to playback an actual blu ray disk in the drive than you need:

1. HDCP locked video card and drivers.
2. HDCP locked TV.
3. HDCP authenticating playback software (only two so far)
4. it takes a bunch of time to change inputs due to handshaking
5. it sometimes drops the HDCP and you need to restart your TV and computer - which is REALLY annoying when that happens. (I am talking from experience here).
6. Hope there are no implementation bugs anywhere along the HDCP chain in your devices.

But if you have everything and jump through all the hoops than you can get a video card to do the decoding for you... which will NEVER save enough money in electricity to cover its own cost if it is a discrete card. But if its an IGP than it should would work.

Just save yourself the time, effort, trouble, and money, and get a half decent CPU...
 
Originally posted by: taltamir
Originally posted by: Flipped Gazelle
Originally posted by: taltamir
very bad idea. HD playback is buggy and problematic, not to mention software limited on the GPU. its a gimmick that doesn't really work as it should.
And CPU IS hardware, just different hardware than the GPU.

I highly recommend you get a strong enough CPU and forget about the GPU for HD playback.
Click to expand...

I think you're thinking about GPU-based video processing, like Badaboom.

GPU-based HD playback has been around for a while, and works great.
Click to expand...

it is clear that I am not talking about badaboom, but playback.

There are issues if you get encoded files as mentioned by others, if you want to playback an actual blu ray disk in the drive than you need:

1. HDCP locked video card and drivers.
2. HDCP locked TV.
3. HDCP authenticating playback software (only two so far)
4. it takes a bunch of time to change inputs due to handshaking
5. it sometimes drops the HDCP and you need to restart your TV and computer - which is REALLY annoying when that happens. (I am talking from experience here).
6. Hope there are no implementation bugs anywhere along the HDCP chain in your devices.

But if you have everything and jump through all the hoops than you can get a video card to do the decoding for you... which will NEVER save enough money in electricity to cover its own cost if it is a discrete card. But if its an IGP than it should would work.

Just save yourself the time, effort, trouble, and money, and get a half decent CPU...
Click to expand...

Hmm, I've set up multiple media machines for HD playback - including Blu Ray drives - and have not encountered any of those issues.

An X2 is a "half decent CPU". 😉
 
Since power dvd dropped hd-dvd support in 8.0 ultra, you can have 7.1 deluxe for hd-dvd installed at the same time as 8.0 ultra for blu. .
Hopefully you won't have to worry about that though if they give you good software with that drive.

That cpu with the onboard vid shouldn't have any problems with smooth playback. Also you need to be running windows. linux doesn't have blu-ray or hd-dvd playback software. Yet.
 
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