Ivy i3 vs Trinity

the.chad

Member
Apr 1, 2011
25
0
0
Hi All

Looking to build my first Media Centre this year.

Primarily it would be used for my library of movie and tv shows but I would also like to runup steam in the big picture mode and get some light co-op gaming with the Mrs. Nothing hardcore, along the lines of the Lego series of gaming.

Found a build here http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/rmp_sg_whirlpoolpcs_htpc (the Bang for Buck) which I think is pretty spot on with what I want. I've thought to upgrade the CPU to a higher level Trinity or i3 though.

I've build a few gaming machines in the past and must admit I've had no experience with i3 and the Trinity cores. So very keen to hear any recommendations.


Cheers!
 

Durvelle27

Diamond Member
Jun 3, 2012
4,102
0
0
Do you plan to add a discrete card if not then Trinity is the best option as it has both a CPU and GPU and can play most games pretty good at 1280x720
 

Ksyder

Golden Member
Feb 14, 2006
1,829
1
81
I think if you want to use integrated graphics then go with trinity, otherwise you'll get better performance and power efficiency with ivy bridge.

I don't have benchmarks to back that up but that was my conclusion from my research into the same decision I made recently.
 

Ksyder

Golden Member
Feb 14, 2006
1,829
1
81
Do you plan to add a discrete card if not then Trinity is the best option as it has both a CPU and GPU and can play most games pretty good at 1280x720

Just for clarification Ivy bridge I think in most cases has a gpu as well, just not as high performing.
 

Durvelle27

Diamond Member
Jun 3, 2012
4,102
0
0
Just for clarification Ivy bridge I think in most cases has a gpu as well, just not as high performing.

Yes IVY has a IGPU but it can't game very well or sometimes at all and fails compared to the Trinity GPU
 

the.chad

Member
Apr 1, 2011
25
0
0
Cheers guys.

Got a new HDTV that does 1080p. Was hoping the integrated GPU could handle 1920 x 1080... would Trinity be able to handle that or should I just fork out for discrete graphics?
 

the.chad

Member
Apr 1, 2011
25
0
0
Looked into discrete graphics with a Trinity core and found it can do a hybrid crossfire with the HD 6xxx series.

Would the hybrid crossfire be better performance than a discrete 7xxx series, or equivalent Nvidia card?
 

Pedroc1999

Senior member
Jan 8, 2013
305
0
0
Depends what 6XXX series, if lower end then not worth it, if it is with 6850+ then i would be good. Still a 7750/7770 would be better for mediacenter as they efficiency is amazing
 

aj654987

Member
Feb 11, 2005
117
14
81
Well I have a 3570k with the hd4000 graphics that I used for a few weeks until my gtx 660 arrived. The only game I tried was Just Cause 2 which I was able to play on the intel gpu but on low settings on sub 720p resolution. It was playable enough that I spent several hours on it but you will be wanting something better in the long run. My old system that I replaced (an athlon x2 with a 9600 gso) was way better for games of course.

People say you dont need 1080p for games on a large TV but I disagree. My main system with the 660 is in the living room and I have it connected to my 42" as well and it looks great with everything maxed out on 1080p. When you are only 6 feet or so away you can see the details very well.

I think the biggest issue with Trinity you will get tired of using low graphics settings, upgrade the gpu when even a $150 gpu will blow it out of the water and now you are stuck with a slower CPU than if you went the intel route to begin with.
 

assassin24

HTPC Moderator
Mar 27, 2005
394
0
0
I think the biggest issue with Trinity you will get tired of using low graphics settings, upgrade the gpu when even a $150 gpu will blow it out of the water and now you are stuck with a slower CPU than if you went the intel route to begin with.

Yes. Exactly.
 

the.chad

Member
Apr 1, 2011
25
0
0
Thanks for the help guys.
As gaming isn't a top priority for the media centre I'll rock ahead with an i3 build and post pone the video card for a short while.

Cheers and beers for all :)
 

pauldun170

Diamond Member
Sep 26, 2011
9,133
5,072
136
I think the biggest issue with Trinity you will get tired of using low graphics settings, upgrade the gpu when even a $150 gpu will blow it out of the water and now you are stuck with a slower CPU than if you went the intel route to begin with.

Right on the money