LGA 775 Wolfdale or LGA 1156 Clarkdale for XBMC

[zefyx]

I'm going to be purchasing two systems, both of which are going to be used for XBMC Blu-Ray playback, PCSX2, ePSXe, and other various non-important legacy emulators.

My question is this, I'm late to the game. What setup do you suggest? This is what I'm deciding between, I'm all ears for other suggestions.

($139 shipped) Intel Core i3-540 Clarkdale 3.06GHz 4MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core Desktop Processor - http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16819115221
($79.97 AR shipped) ECS H55H-I LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI Mini ITX Intel Motherboard - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813135259
Total: $218.97
or

($69.99 shipped) Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5400 Wolfdale 2.7GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-076-_-Product
($141.97) ZOTAC GF9300-I-E LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 9300 HDMI Mini ITX Intel Motherboard - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-041-_-Product
Total: $211.96

At first glance I would think this to be a non-brainer, I'd take the higher-end Clarkdale hardware. But, I must also consider the cost's of RAM (DDR2 vs. DDR3) and the ability of each setup to playback 1080p content and run emulation of older PlayStation 1 and 2 games with some ease (will one require separate GPU vs. on-board), and the list goes on.

I'm open to anything. Should I wait for Ion 2? Should I try snagging an older Conroe via the forums and piecing together two systems? Thanks for the help!

 

[Fox5]

I'd go with the clarkdale system for its higher performance (a must for emulating ps2 games, gpu is not nearly as important for an old system like that, ps2 emulation is only about fast cpu). It'll also be more upgradable in the future, and nvidia chipsets have some problems with windows 7.

Just try to get an itx case that's big enough to fit a low profile pcie card in it and you can add something better than integrated graphics later.
Also, xbmc can't play blurray directly, you'd have to rip the discs to files first.

 

[txlonghorn]

I don't have a lot of faith in ECS boards. My 2 ECS boards still work but have annoying little problems. Random lockups from screen saver return, hanging while booting, Nic stops working all of a sudden, etc. Nothing a reboot didn't solve but I shouldn't have to deal with these nagging problems.

 

[Fox5]

I don't have a lot of faith in ECS boards. My 2 ECS boards still work but have annoying little problems. Random lockups from screen saver return, hanging while booting, Nic stops working all of a sudden, etc. Nothing a reboot didn't solve but I shouldn't have to deal with these nagging problems.

Good point, while motherboards these days are generally pretty good, the bigger suppliers will be more likely to provide updates to fix problems. Gigabyte and asus provide excellent support with bios/driver updates (though you can always hunt down drivers on your own) that you just don't get with all companies. Personally, I would spend extra to buy a board from a company that is known to provide bios updates for years after release.

 

[s44]

1156 is just as dead-ended as 775. Bitstreaming is nice though.

 

[0roo0roo]

I don't have a lot of faith in ECS boards. My 2 ECS boards still work but have annoying little problems. Random lockups from screen saver return, hanging while booting, Nic stops working all of a sudden, etc. Nothing a reboot didn't solve but I shouldn't have to deal with these nagging problems.

yea i had one where you had to reset the network adaptor each time it came out of sleep.
annoying

 

[zefyx]

Thanks for the suggestions. Anyone else have any input?

 

[Auric]

5 series chipset and Clarkdale have lower power consumption too. This mobo will be available soon for "under $100":

GA-H55N-USB3
http://www.giga-byte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3455#ov

and i3-530 is $100-115. The 540 ain't worth the extra dosh.