I have read on alot of AVS forums that disabling UAC seems to help some with the 24 fps bug...just a heads up if you are planning to use the onboard video
Can't make 23.976 work on my HD3300 nor on HD5870 so I guess my TV doesn't support that. Plus I'm not really among those that actually see that one frame skip in 24000. To be quite honest, I pretty much see nothing wrong even if I play 23.976 content on 50Hz...
As for deinterlacing I was looking at Ganesh's comparison between Intel and ATI (http://www.anandtech.com/show/4479/amd-a83850-an-htpc-perspective/5) and I actually liked the Intel images more. I'm not sure what effect the algorithms have on overall picture quality, but the close-ups looked much better on Intel side to me.
As for deinterlacing I was looking at Ganesh's comparison between Intel and ATI (http://www.anandtech.com/show/4479/amd-a83850-an-htpc-perspective/5) and I actually liked the Intel images more. I'm not sure what effect the algorithms have on overall picture quality, but the close-ups looked much better on Intel side to me.
I agree 100 percent. I can't notice the frame skip either on my 2500k system. I guess it's a deal breaker for some or they act like it is. I suppose it depends on how finicky people are, sort of like with audio, some want lossless audio pumped through high end speakers, and others are ok with mp3 quality, I am in the latter camp on that too 
@Velis I couldn't help notice your using MediaPortal. I currently am using one box as server/client (as it appears your doing) specs in my sig. I need a second client for the another TV for sure, and I am considering putting the TV Server and all of it's associated cable boxes, cables, mess, etc in a corner somewhere to just have a slim client next to my main TV. (so a total of 1 server + 2 clients)
So I'm really interested to hear your experience with the Core i3 as far as HDTV output. I'm thinking of making my clients mini-ITX based core i3's.
So I'm really interested to hear your experience with the Core i3 as far as HDTV output. I'm thinking of making my clients mini-ITX based core i3's.
@elconejito: i will most certainly post my experience both on MP forums and here.
Interesting to hear somebody beside me alone uses his HTPC as file server as well. The general response of AT forum members is strictly against it, but I really find it rewarding.
And yes, I've heard sm625 type response a gazillion times. It's just that I don't want that additional computer around. Less efficient that one single comp anyway.
Interesting to hear somebody beside me alone uses his HTPC as file server as well. The general response of AT forum members is strictly against it, but I really find it rewarding.
And yes, I've heard sm625 type response a gazillion times. It's just that I don't want that additional computer around. Less efficient that one single comp anyway.
Update: installed and made a few quick tests with the CPU
The initial findings are: this CPU is seriously overpowered for the job, not to mention that it consumes almost no power at all.
My total power consumption went down by 15 watts to 85 watts.
However, this number should be lowered by 25W for TV + speakers + PSTN phone in idle (dam, they guzzle it) and an additional 25-30W for modem, provider's STB, eth --> PSTN interface and a wrt54gl router. I can't really measure just the HTPC because I power all the gadgets (except the TV) with HTPC's power supply.
Video playback:
I have enabled all postprocessing intel control panel will allow me. Using just the drivers and control panel that Win7 gave me by itself, nothing directly from intel. There is no selection for deinterlacing, but for pretty much everything else there is and works fine.
Intel's deinterlacer is not without fault: The tennis ball is jagged, so to speak meaning that whenever there's a more vivid action going on, the jaggies are plainly visible. This was never the case with 790G chipset (ATI).
However, if the action is not too intense, the deinterlacer does extremely well. The stock exchange carousel moving sideways typically on business news channels is 100% smooth. This was not the case with AMD's offering except on vector adaptive (it keps falling back to lower options).
MediaPortal CPU usage is 5-7% watching any live TV feed (all interlaced) from PAL SD MPEG2 to H264 full HD. This is using DXVA aware filters. Audio filter is ffdshow.
Playing back MPEG4/AVC BD-rip of Braveheart (30GB encode) during some action using ffdshow (all CPU decoding) raises the total CPU usage to 20% (MediaPortal.exe ~10%)
In short: I don't think I could have chosen a better CPU for the job. To be honest, this is the most powerful CPU I ever had. Now, is there a good undervolting / underclocking guide? Not that I really expect to gain much from it anyway. My entire HTPC uses <30W and that includes 4 1,5TB disks.
The initial findings are: this CPU is seriously overpowered for the job, not to mention that it consumes almost no power at all.
My total power consumption went down by 15 watts to 85 watts.
However, this number should be lowered by 25W for TV + speakers + PSTN phone in idle (dam, they guzzle it) and an additional 25-30W for modem, provider's STB, eth --> PSTN interface and a wrt54gl router. I can't really measure just the HTPC because I power all the gadgets (except the TV) with HTPC's power supply.
Video playback:
I have enabled all postprocessing intel control panel will allow me. Using just the drivers and control panel that Win7 gave me by itself, nothing directly from intel. There is no selection for deinterlacing, but for pretty much everything else there is and works fine.
Intel's deinterlacer is not without fault: The tennis ball is jagged, so to speak meaning that whenever there's a more vivid action going on, the jaggies are plainly visible. This was never the case with 790G chipset (ATI).
However, if the action is not too intense, the deinterlacer does extremely well. The stock exchange carousel moving sideways typically on business news channels is 100% smooth. This was not the case with AMD's offering except on vector adaptive (it keps falling back to lower options).
MediaPortal CPU usage is 5-7% watching any live TV feed (all interlaced) from PAL SD MPEG2 to H264 full HD. This is using DXVA aware filters. Audio filter is ffdshow.
Playing back MPEG4/AVC BD-rip of Braveheart (30GB encode) during some action using ffdshow (all CPU decoding) raises the total CPU usage to 20% (MediaPortal.exe ~10%)
In short: I don't think I could have chosen a better CPU for the job. To be honest, this is the most powerful CPU I ever had. Now, is there a good undervolting / underclocking guide? Not that I really expect to gain much from it anyway. My entire HTPC uses <30W and that includes 4 1,5TB disks.
This thread also interests me. Ill be building a low power streaming computer for a 720p projector
Vellis thanks for updating this thread.
I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a miniITX setup for the 2nd client. I had already ordered by the time your review came up, but you made me feel a lot better about it . I ended up getting an ASUS P8H61 mini-ITX mobo, Core i3 2100T, and a Thermaltake Q case (about the size of a shoebox). 4GB RAM and a 640GB HDD I had lying around as spares. The HDD is way overkill since all media is on the main HTPC/fileserver, but its the only one I had lying around. I may go get a small SSD at some point down the line.
I'll also update here with my findings as to power consumption (measured via kill-a-watt), and performance. The T series has a slower clock for the CPU (not sure about GPU, I assume slower, but....) so we'll see how it pans out.
As for those wondering why not build two boxes, the answer is easy. I need a 24/7 box for fileserving and I need another 24/7 box for media duties. The fileserver gets accessed by not just those in the house, but also family outside (college) at any hour of the day/night. And the mediacenter records TV which has TV shows at any given time (repeats, tape delays, etc). Sleep/suspend has been something that never worked well or consistently (search this forum alone and you'll see why that's not a good option). So why not use just one box and combine them? For me I need a second box for an additional TV, but otherwise a combo HTPC/Fileserver makes a lot of sense for a lot of people.
I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a miniITX setup for the 2nd client. I had already ordered by the time your review came up, but you made me feel a lot better about it
. I ended up getting an ASUS P8H61 mini-ITX mobo, Core i3 2100T, and a Thermaltake Q case (about the size of a shoebox). 4GB RAM and a 640GB HDD I had lying around as spares. The HDD is way overkill since all media is on the main HTPC/fileserver, but its the only one I had lying around. I may go get a small SSD at some point down the line.I'll also update here with my findings as to power consumption (measured via kill-a-watt), and performance. The T series has a slower clock for the CPU (not sure about GPU, I assume slower, but....) so we'll see how it pans out.
As for those wondering why not build two boxes, the answer is easy. I need a 24/7 box for fileserving and I need another 24/7 box for media duties. The fileserver gets accessed by not just those in the house, but also family outside (college) at any hour of the day/night. And the mediacenter records TV which has TV shows at any given time (repeats, tape delays, etc). Sleep/suspend has been something that never worked well or consistently (search this forum alone and you'll see why that's not a good option). So why not use just one box and combine them? For me I need a second box for an additional TV, but otherwise a combo HTPC/Fileserver makes a lot of sense for a lot of people.
You have the same problems as I do
Either way: the difference among 2100T, 2100 plain and 2105 is in that that each has a completely different graphics core. 2100T has HD1000, 2100 plain has HD2000 and 2105 has HD3000. There is a chance that 2100T will not have enough graphics horsepower to decode video in hardware. Evan if that should be the case, it will have enough to do it in CPU.
I too am interested how much your setup will burn. Please let me know what kind of PSU is in there. I just bought a TT Element Q for E-350 and I think the 200W PSU in there is a serious overkill... Reviews point out that brazos on that PSU will burn 40W+ just because of PSU inefficiency.
Either way: the difference among 2100T, 2100 plain and 2105 is in that that each has a completely different graphics core. 2100T has HD1000, 2100 plain has HD2000 and 2105 has HD3000. There is a chance that 2100T will not have enough graphics horsepower to decode video in hardware. Evan if that should be the case, it will have enough to do it in CPU.
I too am interested how much your setup will burn. Please let me know what kind of PSU is in there. I just bought a TT Element Q for E-350 and I think the 200W PSU in there is a serious overkill... Reviews point out that brazos on that PSU will burn 40W+ just because of PSU inefficiency.
Hi velis thanks for the info on the different model#s. I looked around a lot and didn't see what was the difference other than power consumption and clock speed. I assumed the 2100 & 2100T used the same GPU *facepalm*. Oh well
I set up the box just last night. I'm using CoreAVC as a decoder for H.264 for right now (MP is not seeing PDVD11 for some reason) and at first glance it looks pretty decent. This is output to a 40" 60hz LED LCD. I have not challenged it with anything yet, and it was only running for maybe 10mins, just to test. I'll probably get a better feel for it tomorrow.
There are 2 diff types of PSUs in the TTQ boxes. Both are 220W, but one has active PFC, the other doesn't (I dont recall seeing this in description of the case when I was researching on newegg and amazon for prices). The PSU seems "OK". Its rather light, I like my PSUs nice and heavy. However it appears to be a standard SFX size, so if you wanted to replace it you certainly could although i haven't seen any good 80+ certified ones running less than 300w. I'll post back later today or tomorrow with consumption numbers from my kill-a-watt. I'm hoping the energy used is < 40W (i think it will) in which case I wont feel guilty about leaving it on all day
EDIT: Also, the hard drive only goes in one way if you mount to the side (I think ur supposed to), with the sata ports pointing to the front of the case. Make sure you check that out first, rather than start screwing it in and realize that aint the way it goes.... Everything else was pretty straightforward, its a decent case, a bit cramped, but thats to be expected with miniITX
I set up the box just last night. I'm using CoreAVC as a decoder for H.264 for right now (MP is not seeing PDVD11 for some reason) and at first glance it looks pretty decent. This is output to a 40" 60hz LED LCD. I have not challenged it with anything yet, and it was only running for maybe 10mins, just to test. I'll probably get a better feel for it tomorrow.
There are 2 diff types of PSUs in the TTQ boxes. Both are 220W, but one has active PFC, the other doesn't (I dont recall seeing this in description of the case when I was researching on newegg and amazon for prices). The PSU seems "OK". Its rather light, I like my PSUs nice and heavy. However it appears to be a standard SFX size, so if you wanted to replace it you certainly could although i haven't seen any good 80+ certified ones running less than 300w. I'll post back later today or tomorrow with consumption numbers from my kill-a-watt. I'm hoping the energy used is < 40W (i think it will) in which case I wont feel guilty about leaving it on all day
EDIT: Also, the hard drive only goes in one way if you mount to the side (I think ur supposed to), with the sata ports pointing to the front of the case. Make sure you check that out first, rather than start screwing it in and realize that aint the way it goes.... Everything else was pretty straightforward, its a decent case, a bit cramped, but thats to be expected with miniITX
Last edited:
Slight update. Kill a watt says the box is using about 34w at idle. Max of 55w during boot. This is with no optical drive, just a WD 640gb drive and no attempt at undervolting other than stock power savings (eist, etc). I suspect the built in PSU is not very efficient.
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