HTPC around 30k .. torn between AMD vs INTEL

[jerin]

If you have got some friends in US, you can get the lenovo Q190 for around 335$ which has a very small foot print and consumes very less power. More over it comes pre isntalled with Windows 8 and has digital optical audio out.
IdeaCentre Q190 - The world's smallest full-function desktop PC | Lenovo (US)
Even though its based on Celeron processor, its a capable HTPC. you can refer the xbmc forums for more details
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=157563

 

[jerin]

If you have got some friends in US, you can get the lenovo Q190 for around 335$ which has a very small foot print and consumes very less power.
More over it comes pre-installed with Windows 8 and has digital optical audio out.
IdeaCentre Q190 - The world's smallest full-function desktop PC | Lenovo (US)
Even though its based on Celeron processor, its a capable HTPC. you can refer the xbmc forums for more details on its HTPC Capability
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=157563

Add the below IR receiver cum remote to it and install XBMC on it, that will be the best HTPC.
Amazon.com : SANOXY Windows 7 Vista XP Media Center MCE PC Remote Control and Infrared Receiver for Home, Premium and Ultimate Edition : Remote Control Extenders : Electronics

 

[theironhorse]

Go with Richand based APU's which start with " 6 " over trinity based APU's " 5 ".
Pair them with high speed RAM's and not 1600Mhz ones as APU's performance increases with higher speed.Don't buy corsair's vengence as it's heat spreader will be problematic for the case/APU cooler.

CPU/APU - A8 6600K ( 8K Rs )

RAM - Gskill 2X4 GB 2133Mhz Kit ( ~6K Rs )


will these do.. as this is planned to last atleast 2-3 years..

replacing A8 5600k with 6600k and adding G skill instead or corsair vengence will push the budget to 30.. which i am ok with..

if these have a remarkable performance benefit i will pick these up...

 

[Froggy T]

CPU/APU - A8 6600K ( 8K Rs )

RAM - Gskill 2X4 GB 2133Mhz Kit ( ~6K Rs )


will these do.. as this is planned to last atleast 2-3 years..

replacing A8 5600k with 6600k and adding G skill instead or corsair vengence will push the budget to 30.. which i am ok with..

if these have a remarkable performance benefit i will pick these up...

It will last more than 2-3 years thats for sure.

AMD apu's are best when one doesn't need addon GPU in their system and this are used mainly as low cost gaming/full blown HTPC system but if you need fast PC/HTPC with addon GPU then Intel's i3 is better in same price point which gives upgrade path for better GPU in future.

Any system that needs to be noise free should have high quality low noise fans and as HTPC case are limited in that in space, you should always keep the case on table for ventilation or if case have provision then add 2 or 3 fans.


AMD system :
A8 6600k + Asus 85 Mobo + Gskill 2133Mhz RAM + 500Gb HDD + Case + Remote + Cx 430.

Intel system :
i3 3220 + Any b75 based mobo + Gskill 1600 Ram ( 2x2Gb kit ) + HDD + Case + Remote + Cx 430.

 

[theironhorse]

mobo selected is Asus a85 mobo however specs says.. that at stock the max it will supoort will be 1600 Mhz.. will it natively support 2133 Mhz ram without OC.. as this will be used by a PC noob.. so it had to perform best at stock without any modding/changes..

i am choosing AMD over Intel.. reason being onboard GPU.. which later can b set in crossfire with another Dedicated ATI gpu.. however i dont imagine such scenario where that might happen but just in case...

ASUS F2A85-M-LE Motherboard - ASUS: Flipkart.com

 

[Froggy T]

Don't worry about OC'ing your RAM..it's piece of cake thats why i suggested 6600K as this is overclockable for future use depending on workload.

Mobo will detect your 1600 or 2133 ram in bios, you can buy 1600 speed ram and oc it to 1866 or 2133 speed.But performance at 2133 will be high due to higher speed ram which aid's in APU's graphics to work at higher speed yielding better performance over native 1600 ram's.
Read this link >>AMD A10-6800K and A10-6700 Richland APU Reviews - Legit ReviewsAMD Releases Richland APUs

 

[theironhorse]

Don't worry about OC'ing your RAM..it's piece of cake thats why i suggested 6600K as this is overclockable for future use depending on workload.

Mobo will detect your 1600 or 2133 ram in bios, you can buy 1600 speed ram and oc it to 1866 or 2133 speed.But performance at 2133 will be high due to higher speed ram which aid's in APU's graphics to work at higher speed yielding better performance over native 1600 ram's.
Read this link >>AMD A10-6800K and A10-6700 Richland APU Reviews - Legit ReviewsAMD Releases Richland APUs

i agree it might be a simple for us and playing with voltages here and there but trust me.. it has to be stock and that why only reason am holding back from 8GB gskill ..

it wont be used for gaming or anything else..

just connected to plasma 50 inch for 1080p and music through Odac.. thats bout it .. probably at max browsing and you tubevideos hence trying to figure out least required hardware.. for the purpose.

if gskill 2133 will perform better than any other 1600 ram at stock settings i am buying it.. if not it will be a resource waste..

what do you suggest...

i will be ordering parts in a day or so.. also i am not pushing to buy cheaper ram.. but just want to confirm what performs better at stock settings..

also the cabinet will be running only one 120 mm fan besides the power supply fan to keep sound low..

 

[theironhorse]

so finally ordering the parts.. will keep you guys posted with the progress

 

[Subha15011976]

Hai I also need a suggestion from HTPC experts,
I recently purchased an Epson EH-TW480 Projector, presently I am playing it with my old PC but now I want to upgrade it as HTPC. The present configuration of my PC is as below--

CPU - AMD Phenom II X2 545
MoBo - Asus M3A78-EM
RAM - CORSAIR RAM 1GB DDR2 X 2 NOS.
GPU - Zotac GT440 (NVDIA)
Sound Card - Creative Sound Bluster Audigy SE (have COAXIAL out)
HDD - Segate 500gb
Speaker - Logitec Z5500
I also planned to buy a BD writer (suggestion needed)

Is that enough or required any up-gradation to make it a complete HTPC?
Is my GPU capable of up-scaling the videos?
My HTPC is only meant for movies and music, no gaming.

Regards
Subhasish

 

[manniraj]

I think your existing configuration is more than sufficient for 1080p as well as 3D movie playback. My only suggestion would be may be go for a higher RAM and preferably a DDR3 RAM if it is compatible with your MoBo. Even I have a GT440 GPU and it plays perfectly all HD movies 1080p/720p as well as 3D movies without any issues. As you have the Logitech sound system you can use the creative sound card coaxial for 5.1 channel sound and use the GT440 for video over HDMI to your TV.

Thanks

 

[Subha15011976]

I think your existing configuration is more than sufficient for 1080p as well as 3D movie playback. My only suggestion would be may be go for a higher RAM and preferably a DDR3 RAM if it is compatible with your MoBo. Even I have a GT440 GPU and it plays perfectly all HD movies 1080p/720p as well as 3D movies without any issues. As you have the Logitech sound system you can use the creative sound card coaxial for 5.1 channel sound and use the GT440 for video over HDMI to your TV.

Thanks

Well my MoBo will only support DDR2 RAM so i can extend it up to 2gbx2 RAM. Adding a BD ROM will be wrathful or will I go for dedicated BD player for BD Disc.

 

[manniraj]

Well my MoBo will only support DDR2 RAM so i can extend it up to 2gbx2 RAM. Adding a BD ROM will be wrathful or will I go for dedicated BD player for BD Disc.

If you have any 1080p high bit-rate movie then play it and see how it turns out with the existing RAM as I see that using any GPU intensive player like MPC-HC will not be dependent either on your CPU or RAM processing power but entirely on GPU processing if you enable the hardware acceleration which GT440 is capable of. As I believe that your existing RAM might be sufficient for your HTPC needs.
You can get a BD drive but you will also need a blu-ray disc playing software as well like ArcSoft or PowerDVD to play the blu-ray disc on PC and can be made region free using AnyDVD playing in the background if you have multiple region coded discs. Also one of the disadvantage I have seen in my HTPC with blu-ray drive is that for playing a disc you need to switch on the PC but a dedicated blu-ray player will be more user friendly in usability aspect. So think over your options (pros/cons) and then take a decision with regard to blu-ray drive.

 

[talespin]

I am also building HTPC, here are some thoughts/views after reading stuff from forums.

You don't need 30000 for HTPC(that is too much)

1. Size matters, ATX, micro ATX, mini ITX (cost will increase as you go small)
2. If case is small avoid use of Graphic Card as heat management is a problem, save on Graphic card and spend on a good MB with good Graphic chip.
3. If using XBMC, save on SDD and try using fast USB(if all you need is boot and play movies).

 

[theironhorse]

I am also building HTPC, here are some thoughts/views after reading stuff from forums.

You don't need 30000 for HTPC(that is too much)

1. Size matters, ATX, micro ATX, mini ITX (cost will increase as you go small)
2. If case is small avoid use of Graphic Card as heat management is a problem, save on Graphic card and spend on a good MB with good Graphic chip.
3. If using XBMC, save on SDD and try using fast USB(if all you need is boot and play movies).

agreed 30k not needed for a HTPC even a basic one with a gpu with build costing 20k will suffice or maybe lesser.. its just future proofing as large files ranging from 10-25 GB wil be played.. and dont want the pc to be sluggish..

size was never an issue.. cooling was first priority.. small cabinets bottleneck for future upgrade..

xbmc yes.. however browsing needed too on big screen

 

[talespin]

I am trying this build, did a quick test with XBMCbuntu

1. Installed XBMCbuntu with ext2 and no swap to keep writes to minimal(USB devices die out quickly with writes), Will try every possibility to run OS from memory.
2. It boots directly into XBMC and if you want OS you can exit XBMC and log into XBMCbuntu but not much stuff installed(i think browsing is included). If you want more stuff install Linux and then XBMC.
XBMCbuntu is fast, its made to boot fast, for other Linux OS you will have to configure yourself to make it boot fast.

Here is build i am trying.
1. Boot source Sandisk Extreme 16 GB Pen Drive (Rs 1464)
2. Case Techsolo TC-2200 M-ATX HTPC Case 350W Aluminum(Rs 9000)
3. Graphic Card ASUS GT620-1GD3-L consumes 75Watt only (Rs 4185)
4. Mother Board(Micro-ATX) - MSI B75MA-P45 - Rs 4543(No HDMI)
5. Processor - G2020 Pentium Processor - 55 Watt Rs 3800
6. HDD WD30EZRX - 3TB HDD Internal (Somewhere around Rs 9000 )
7. RAM ADATA Premier DDR3 4 GB PC RAM (AD3U1600W4G11-B) (Rs 2300)

- You can save on Pendrive and install OS on SATA HDD(If its internal) or add SDD, don't install OS on external USB HDD. I have tried pendrive on USB 2.0 and it boots into xbmc in less than a minute, its a USB 3.0 device so i expect it to perform even better when i run on new build.
- Graphis card i have added consumes only 75watt, it will add to heat. Now you have option to either invest on Motherboard + Processor combination with onboard graphic or spend low on MB + Processor and add graphic card.
- I went for nVidia separate card as it can bitstream audio and video through HDMI. Many boards can too but not easily available here and cost is another factor.
- You can find good case around 5000(Antek, cooler master).
- Went with nvidia as drivers are easy to install on linux compared to ATX, my personal opinion.

I'll post results once i am done with the build after deepwali kaboom

BTW in todays world nothing is future proof even latest techonology becomes obsolete within few months, my suggestion would be to buy low cost (whatever meets your requirement today) to save for future upgrade.

Wishing everyone happy deepwali in advance.

 

[theironhorse]

sorry folks cudn't update the thread .

was stuck with my MCA exams..

however the plan is back and i am ordering the parts in next 48 hours anyhow and have decided on components as discussed before..

changed to amd a8-6600k and 2100mhz ram...

now another keeda passed my mind


mobo is asus f-a85 m-le which is fm2+ socket and says 8 channel HD audio..

had an HDMI and optical out... my question is will it bit-stream HD audio via HDMI..

as for stereo Odac will be used.. but for video.. want to bit-stream HD audio to AVR..

the cpu has 8570 HD GPU..

please assit with the query and i will make flipkart some profits

 

[baijuxavior]

All current hdmi boards support HD audio bitstream. My Asus F1A75 supports hd audio so the newer F2A85 will definitely support it.

 

[haisaikat]

3d is not much of a requirement if its there its good... if not then no issue.


however incase i go AMD way then i am not picking up a dedicated graphics card as a8 onboard graphics is sufficient for 1080p as far as i have heard..

also why using a nvidia card on amd apu... you should use a 6 series ati card and run it in crossfire..

onboard and dedicated both will work together.. just enable dual graphics in bios with ati card. 6 series or higher


i am trying to build a pc which will specifically do 1080p and also stream audio through HDMI..

rest odac with usb.. no other use...


what mobo do u suggest to go with AMD A8..

ram will be 4 GB as wil run 32bit.. (later can be upgraded )

cabinet most probably will be cooler master elite series..

running just one 120mm fan.. ( need to be silent as much as poosible ) but not at the cost of performance..


suggest MOBO to go with A8..

Bumping up.

Recently I built a desktop PC for a cousin (student) and used AMD AM1 2650 APU with compatible m-ATX mobo and just 2 GB RAM. I installed XBMC 13.1 and it played 1080p easily even upto 45GB BD mkv rips.

However I am currently re-building my HTPC and I have selected A4-4000 APU which is a bit old but I am not ordering a higher more recent APU (A6 or A8) since I have a spare HD 6670 GPU which I intend to reuse and but will keep the onboard HDMI as a separate path connected to TV to bypass AVR.

My question is although AMD on its website says dual graphics (hybrid crossfire) works for only A6 onwards but is there a chance that Dual graphics will work even for A4? I know eventually testing it myself once the component arrives will be the best bet but thought of checking once here.