Ideal balance of power/performance/budget for HTPC?

Hooa · 24 Jan 2010 at 17:52

easyrider said:
You're linking to Wikipedia to back up your points?

Priceless.

Fact is the OP talks about power usage and 1080p playback.

No mention of games and yet you deem it fit to talk about throwing in a 5 series GFX card? Increasing noise and power consumption.

That may well be the right option for you,But just answer the OP's question FFS...Its not hard.

soo you asked the OP if he had a receiver to take the HD audio you were banging on about or JUST assumed?

So if he is on a budget and does not have a receiver to take the hd audio you lose I am afraid.

Now power consumption, I personally like to have components that do not use much power that does not automatically mean I will not add addional components. E.g. if a 2tb hd cost 1.5 times more than 2 x 1tb I would would still pick the 2 x tb even though it will use more power I would rather have instant the savings!

Point being you can not just assume that the OP will 100% not want the gpu option (which also happen to be quite power efficient anyhow)!

Hooa · 24 Jan 2010 at 17:56

easyrider said:
You're linking to Wikipedia to back up your points?

Priceless.

Fact is the OP talks about power usage and 1080p playback.

No mention of games and yet you deem it fit to talk about throwing in a 5 series GFX card? Increasing noise and power consumption.

That may well be the right option for you,But just answer the OP's question FFS...Its not hard.

soo you asked the OP if he had a receiver to take the HD audio you were banging on about or JUST assumed?

So if he is on a budget and does not have a receiver to take the hd audio you lose I am afraid.

Now power consumption, I personally like to have components that do not use much power that does not automatically mean I will not add addional components. E.g. if a 2tb hd cost 1.5 times more than 2 x 1tb I would would still pick the 2 x tb even though it will use more power I would rather have instant the savings!

Point being you can not just assume that the OP will 100% not want the gpu option (which also happen to be quite power efficient anyhows!)

Lastly I built my media PC for 1080p playback that did not stop me adding the GPU for when I do want to game did it. Or is my media PC now a gaming PC lol?

easyrider · 24 Jan 2010 at 18:08

Hooa said:
soo you asked the OP if he had a receiver to take the HD audio you were banging on about or JUST assumed?

If building a HTPC from the ground up then it makes sense for it to support all the latest codecs.

So if he is on a budget and does not have a receiver to take the hd audio you lose I am afraid.

Its not about winning or losing its about offering sound advice.

Now power consumption, I personally like to have components that do not use much power that does not automatically mean I will not add addional components. E.g. if a 2tb hd cost 1.5 times more than 2 x 1tb I would would still pick the 2 x tb even though it will use more power I would rather have instant the savings!

I have no idea what this BS means

Point being you can not just assume that the OP will 100% not want the gpu option (which also happen to be quite power efficient anyhows!)

He only mentions 1080p playback which links in with HD Video and HD audio..
Why buy a GFX card when it is not needed? Don't answer that I already know the answer.

Lastly I built my media PC for 1080p playback that did not stop me adding the GPU for when I do want to game did it. Or is my media PC now a gaming PC lol?

There you go again. Its not about you...Its about suggesting suitable hardware for the needs of the OP..Not to boost your post count spounting pointless narcissistic replies.

james.miller · 24 Jan 2010 at 18:17

i cant recommend anything over than an i3 setup if you want the whole lot in a nice simple package. It'll do everythign you need it to do as far as playing movies goes.

rolfharris · 24 Jan 2010 at 18:21

Guys, guys

As previously mentioned - I have no requirement for games, so a graphics card would just bump up the power consumption.

To me I have two choices at the minute. Atom + Ion, or spend a bit more and take the i3 route.

I'm tempted to take the Atom route purely because I can then squeeze it all into a stupidly small mini ITX case and should be OK for my needs and is that bit cheaper.

So I think on balance, my final decision will be the Intel Atom.

I am tempted by the i3 tough and thanks for all your helpful comments.

Hooa · 24 Jan 2010 at 18:26

Sound advice? Thats like saying to someone on a budget they HAVE to get a receiver that can take hd sound when in reality a much higher quality second hand one without the ability to take hd sound might be a much better option for them. The quality of the speakers he has matters too.

Facts are the the AMD option is the cheapest. He is on a budget. IF he does not have a receiver to take hd audio then the i3 option is irrelevant.

If then in the future he then comes into some money and upgrades his receiver then its not like he does not have the GPU option or indeed a hdmi sound card (which might be really cheap by then).

Ps get a grip in regard to post count comment. I do not care much for forums but don't mind browsing occasionally but you must live on here :rolleyes:

And all I know of you is that you come across like a complete plank... like in the thread with TWFox getting man of honour. That was embarrassing tbh

Hooa · 24 Jan 2010 at 18:33

rolfharris said:
Guys, guys

As previously mentioned - I have no requirement for games, so a graphics card would just bump up the power consumption.

To me I have two choices at the minute. Atom + Ion, or spend a bit more and take the i3 route.

I'm tempted to take the Atom route purely because I can then squeeze it all into a stupidly small mini ITX case and should be OK for my needs and is that bit cheaper.

So I think on balance, my final decision will be the Intel Atom.

I am tempted by the i3 tough and thanks for all your helpful comments.

I was tempted by the atom once when ocuk was giving away a itx case/pus with a cpu I think it was. The only reason I avoided it was because I did not want to be limited if my needs changed slightly

However they do look pretty cool if I was space limited

easyrider · 24 Jan 2010 at 18:33

Hooa said:
Sound advice? Thats like saying to someone on a budget they HAVE to get a receiver that can take hd sound when in reality a much higher quality second hand one without the ability to take hd sound might be a much better option for them. The quality of the speakers he has matters too.

Eh?

Anyway

The OP has posted and decided..Read the thread above

Facts are the the AMD option is the cheapest. He is on a budget. IF he does not have a receiver to take hd audio then the i3 option is irrelevant.

Eh?

If then in the future he then comes into some money and upgrades his receiver then its not like he does not have the GPU option or indeed a hdmi sound card (which might be really cheap by then).

Eh?

Ps get a grip in regard to post count comment. I do not care much for forums but don't mind browsing occasionally but you must live on here And all I know of you is that you come across like a complete plank... like in the thread with TWFox getting man of honour. That was embarrassing tbh

Whoosh and its over your head. Tongue in cheek...Do you understand it?

What has TWFox that thread or anything else you post have anything to do with this thread?

You have clearly lost the arguement and are now resorting to any petty remarks you can muster to reinforce your nonsense posts.

Hooa · 24 Jan 2010 at 18:41

No I came into this thread to state that in a HTPC build i3 was not the only option for HD audio. There were other options such as a 5 series gpu which would give more options over the i3 route.

Sure in this case the OP decides he only wants it for 1080p playback but that is not the case for everyone. Many times the OP wants can changed as other options are presented that they might not have considered or knew about.

edit: unless the OP chooses i3 how have you won lol? You said i3 for hd audio... I said 5series if the OP decides both options are overkill then I can't have lost the argument any more than you have.

easyrider · 24 Jan 2010 at 18:49

Hooa said:
Snip

Are you still here?

nightmare99 · 24 Jan 2010 at 18:54

5 series gpu which would give more options over the i3 route

He didn't want more options he wanted the right options.

Kmodo · 24 Jan 2010 at 19:02

My media PC is near silent for movies, currently using a 5850 connected to my onkyo 577 and its perfect!

Being able to game on my media PC > Power consumption

I was going to buy a HD audio card but luckliy the ati fanboys posting dx11, low power draw, audio over hdmi all the time meant that when I did randomly visit I instantly saw the light!

Not everyone has lots of the time to waste on forums so its good people throwing out multiple options all the time!

Hooa · 24 Jan 2010 at 19:07

nightmare99 said:
He didn't want more options he wanted the right options.

How can you not understand that people can actually end up choosing and being happy with things outside of their initial specifications? Choices are fine I would rather people give me more choices than less.

nightmare99 · 24 Jan 2010 at 19:15

He specified 1080p + cheap + low power so I don't think discreate graphics fits the brief here. Has he not already chosen his specification and is now looking for advice on components to achieve his desired spec?

Hayley-K · 24 Jan 2010 at 19:16

I do not own a media PC but if I was to build one I think Hooa's option would be very tempting for me

I would probably use it mainly for movies/tv but would love the option to occasionally play my PC games on the sofa with my feet up!

Hooa · 24 Jan 2010 at 19:18

nightmare99 said:
He specified 1080p + cheap + low power so I don't think discreate graphics fits the brief here. Has he not already chosen his specification and is now looking for advice on components to achieve his desired spec?

Yes he has now chosen intel atom not i3 or 5 series so get posting his desired spec then!

nightmare99 · 24 Jan 2010 at 19:23

I wasn't really calling into question the choice of CPU just pointing out there is really no need for a discreate graphics card.

But now he has chosen he is looking at an Ion board of some sort probably one of the Zotacs.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 24 Jan 2010 at 19:31

The OP should have a look at the Zotac IONITX A has this has an inbuilt 90W PSU and wireless:

http://www.zotacusa.com/zotac-ionitx-a-u-atom-n330-1-6ghz-dual-core-mini-itx-intel-motherboard.html

Here are some reviews:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3562

http://www.silentpcreview.com/zotac-ion

There is also this Inno3D Ion motherboard which has a version with an 80W built in PSU too:

http://www.inno3d.com/products/motherboard/ion.html

They should cost around £130 to £150.

Justintime · 24 Jan 2010 at 21:16

I'm running a T9300 (peryn mobile 6Mb L2 2.5GHz) at stock and 1.05V set in rmclock on an Asus OEM board thats unfortunately not available in retail channels. I've actually dug out an SLK800-U i had in storage and run it on this chip with a fan that came with a CT-479 adapter at 5v, totally inaudible, coupled with an Enermax 430W psu that barely spins because of no load a 128Gb Intel drive and Radeon 4550 passively cooled, all in a Lian Li PC-A01 HTPC case it makes for powerful yet quiet (i actually can't tell if its on tbh) rig.

rolfharris · 24 Jan 2010 at 21:40

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
The OP should have a look at the Zotac IONITX A has this has an inbuilt 90W PSU and wireless:

http://www.zotacusa.com/zotac-ionitx-a-u-atom-n330-1-6ghz-dual-core-mini-itx-intel-motherboard.html

Here are some reviews:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3562

http://www.silentpcreview.com/zotac-ion

There is also this Inno3D Ion motherboard which has a version with an 80W built in PSU too:

http://www.inno3d.com/products/motherboard/ion.html

They should cost around £130 to £150.

Yes - saw the Zotac on another site, OC only stocks the single core version, did look ideal, wifi etc all combined so!