What budget/mid range Core 2 to get

[unseengundam101]

I am currently for Core 2 in budget-mid range ($100 to $200) to get. I will be using for HTPCish system (mainly for video file xvid playback on my HDTV). I currently planing on getting a Abit IP35-E , unless I find some else good for the price range.

I am thinking about getting something like the E6300 or E6650/E6750. I know most Core 2 can overclock to around 3 ghz+ easy enough. However, since this is HTPC type of setup I want make sure HSF says silent. So probably don't want to overclock too much.

Right know I am thinking I might just get the E6750. See how it works on stock speed, and only if needed try overclock it. Any suggestions or ideas?

 

[Jeff7181]

I'd go with the E6550.

 

[21stHermit]

Originally posted by: thureen
Any suggestions or ideas?

Since it's a HTPC and unless you're gaming, why overclock at all??? Had you considered undervolting?

Undervolting is just like OCing, you're trying to find the chip margins only at the low end. Doing so can drastically lower the power, hence heat, hence very quiet, slow or no fan.

Some have reported lowering the voltage to 1.0V which get you below 20W, at stock speeds.

FWIW
Hermit

 

[unseengundam101]

Main reason I was thinking I might need more power because of playing back high res video files (anime). A lot of them are 1280 x 720 xvid/x.264, it uses up 100% of CPU on my A64 3400+. In fact my 3400+ can't even playback some of them. Not sure how well they will work in Core 2s. Note since these are just regular video files (not HD-DVD/Blu-ray) I doubt video card will help much at all in decoding work here.

Not sure if I will be gaming at all on HTPC. I might or might not, I think big screen TV might be too big to look at for a game.

As for undervolting, never though of that myself. I guess it all depend on performance I see once I pick a CPU and get to test it out.

 

[MooMooCow]

I'm playing the latest anime releases such as Shakugan no Shana and Gundam 00 with a E6600 at 3.2 GHZ. Eats up about 10% of my processor. So you shouldn't really have to push the E6550.....

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: MooMooCow
I'm playing the latest anime releases such as Shakugan no Shana and Gundam 00 with a E6600 at 3.2 GHZ. Eats up about 10% of my processor. So you shouldn't really have to push the E6550.....

But at what resolution? For instance, anandtech did an article about 6 months ago, and found that @ 1920x1280 (or 1200, maybe), an E6600 was dropping frames. They said in the article that for that resolution (native, not stretched), with h.264, an E6700 was the minimum you should consider.

 

[MooMooCow]

It's upscaled to 1920x1080

I'm no encoding wiz, but as can far as I can tell, these files are encoded so that having PureVideo installed and a sub 8800 card will not truely yield any benefits in terms of playback.

If you check the animesuki forums, you'll see that most people who have problems playing back the higher resolution files are those with lower end systems. Most people with a mid/low end laptop or desktop with Core 2 Duos are able to play the files without problems.

 

[perdomot]

Hey, MooMooCow,
Nice to see another anime fan here. I got my PC hooked up to my 32 inch LCD via DVI/HDMI cable and HD anime plays just fine on my TV using an E4400 @ 3Ghz. Only raised vcore to 1.35 and MCH voltage by +.2 to get this speed. Vid card is a 7600GT at default speed.

 

[jonmcc33]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: MooMooCow
I'm playing the latest anime releases such as Shakugan no Shana and Gundam 00 with a E6600 at 3.2 GHZ. Eats up about 10% of my processor. So you shouldn't really have to push the E6550.....

But at what resolution? For instance, anandtech did an article about 6 months ago, and found that @ 1920x1280 (or 1200, maybe), an E6600 was dropping frames. They said in the article that for that resolution (native, not stretched), with h.264, an E6700 was the minimum you should consider.

Unless you capture with a lossless codec then you will get dropped frames.

 

[unseengundam101]

Looks like most of Core 2 seems to play fine. It might just my A64 3400+ is just bit too old to handle HD 1280x720 resolution anime files. Possibly one day might start releasing anime in 1920x1280 encoded files. Might need to overclock then.

perdomot,
How much is the CPU usage on the overclocked E4400 of yours?

 

[bfdd]

Get a HD2600XT or a 8600GTS? They'll do all your video decoding and not rape your CPU.

 

[secretanchitman]

look at it this way. my desktop rig in my sig plays 1080p content fine...and while i do have an 8800GTS in there, i used to have the 7900GT in my HTPC in the desktop machine and all HD content played fine...before and after overclocking.

 

[bfdd]

Originally posted by: secretanchitman
look at it this way. my desktop rig in my sig plays 1080p content fine...and while i do have an 8800GTS in there, i used to have the 7900GT in my HTPC in the desktop machine and all HD content played fine...before and after overclocking.

I agree I think if he really wants to play high-def videos he shouldn't worry so much on the CPU since he can pick up a hd2600 or 8600 pretty cheap.

 

[bryanW1995]

it also makes sense to get the best value cpu so that his system with be useful longer. I would go with e6750 since it's only about 12% more expensive than e6550 and performance is similarly 12% better.

 

[perdomot]

Thureen, biggest file I have on my PC right now is 1024 X 576 and cpu util. peaked at 12% but was around 2-3% most of the playback time. I had some 1280 X 720 files and never had a problem with them although I don't know the cpu util while they played.

 

[unseengundam101]

I do plan on getting 8500, but I am sure it won't help in decoding video files. I am talking about high resolution video files that are in xvid, divx, x.264 format (extensions like .avi/.mp4/.ogm/.mkv) not HD-DVD or Blu-Ray videos here. From my research Nvidia 8500/8500 series and ATI hd2600 helps only in decoding HD stuff on HD-DVD/Blu-Ray not playback of most computer files. I have heard one or 2 report it helping x.264/h.264 files with some software configuration, but still sure it won't help xvid format. For those video files that CPU probably will be stuck doing most of the work.

Though, form info I got here so far seems like most of Core 2 handle it with too much problem. Hmm, kind of really hard pick what to get.

 

[perdomot]

Thureen,j ust downloaded an anime at 1280 X 720 and cpu was at around 15-18%.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: jonmcc33

Originally posted by: myocardia
But at what resolution? For instance, anandtech did an article about 6 months ago, and found that @ 1920x1280 (or 1200, maybe), an E6600 was dropping frames. They said in the article that for that resolution (native, not stretched), with h.264, an E6700 was the minimum you should consider.

Unless you capture with a lossless codec then you will get dropped frames.

They weren't capturing, only playing back. And I'm almost positive this isn't the same article, but nevertheless, here's a quote from it:

While only the E6700 and X6800 are capable of decoding our H.264 movie without help, we can confirm that GPU decode acceleration will allow us to use a slower CPU in order to watch HD content on our PC. The X1950 XTX clearly doesn't help as much as the 8800 GTX, but both make a big difference.

So, I was right, but only if you're wanting to use a PCI video card from 1998. Well, we can't remember everything, can we?:laugh:

And here's a link to the article: http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.aspx?i=2886

 

[sprchrgd]

E6550 isn't bad of a choice. Apparently it's in the October Midrange Buyer's Guide. At first I was a little skeptical on performance since it only has a 7x multiplier, but it really isn't that bad. I've been able to clock it to 3.5 on air with temps 33-35 idle and about 55-56 max with Orthos. If you feel like throwing in a few more bucks, can't go wrong with the E6750, I suppose.

 

[hans007]

i dont think the e6550 is a particularly good choice.

for the 1333 bus cpus the e6750 is the sweet spot (its usually only $20-25 more than the 6550)...

i wouldnt go for a e6300 either... its pretty pointless since you could just buy an e4500 for the same price (even a e4400 is faster than the e6300 at almost everything).

so that said, i'd tell you to get either an e4400 or e4500) or a e6750. the price difference between an e4500 ($130 o rso) and the e6750 ($185 or so) makes it pretty stupid to bother with the ones in between (e6550 is like $165..)

 

[unseengundam101]

Yeah, I think its either a e4500 or e6750 for nice spots. I will try see what budget comes to with all components, especially getting nice HTPC case might be bit expensive. If it seems like I have $60 to spare I will go grab a e6750 otherwise I will get a e4500.

Thanks for all help guys.

 

[The-Noid]

E6750 is easier to overclock, due to NB strapping.

Buy a cheap p35 and the E6750.

 

[lopri]

Why bother with CPU upgrade..

Get a 8600 GT or a HD 2600 XT (or wait for 8800 GT / HD 3xx0 ) - problem solved. For $100, no CPU can match HD decoding performance of these GPUs. Plus you get the added bonus of jaggie removal, noise reduction, etc.. I speak from experiences (Pioneer BDC-2202).

 

[lopri]

This is what I did.

X2 3800+
Biostar 7050PV
4GB RAM
8600 GT
Pioneer BDC-2202
Antec Fusion Black (Silver version currently on sale here

Originally built it for 720p TV playback, then I got greedy and grabbed a Blu-Ray drive. Then I learned that the on-board GPU isn't up to the task of 1080p so bought a 8600 GT. (But it was perfect up to 720p/1080i with just CPU and mobo)

If I were to do it again in near future;

E6550 (But really any E6xxx under $200)
Decent G35 board w/ 1080p capability (let's hold the breadth)
Some RAM
Intel X3500 (told you to hold the breadth)
LG Blu-Ray/HD-DVD hybrid drive
Antec Fusion Black

 

[jonmcc33]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: jonmcc33

Originally posted by: myocardia
But at what resolution? For instance, anandtech did an article about 6 months ago, and found that @ 1920x1280 (or 1200, maybe), an E6600 was dropping frames. They said in the article that for that resolution (native, not stretched), with h.264, an E6700 was the minimum you should consider.

Unless you capture with a lossless codec then you will get dropped frames.

They weren't capturing, only playing back. And I'm almost positive this isn't the same article, but nevertheless, here's a quote from it...

I don't think you understood the review. Here's a quote from it:

"Unfortunately, we haven't found a feature in PowerDVD or another utility that will allow us to count dropped frames."

So nothing was ever confirmed. It's just an assumption at 100% CPU utilization that there are frames being dropped.

That being said, a movie is recorded at 24FPS. So do you really think you'd notice a single dropped frame out of those 24 in that 1 second period of time? I have played 1080p H.264 encoded video on my Opteron 165 and had no complaints. I never really checked CPU usage as I never had any issues with playback.

I'd say that if you don't have a dual core CPU then to stay away from 1080p H.264 but anyone with a dual core shouldn't have a problem at all.