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CPU for HTPC

Dogfood09

Dogfood09

Dogfood09

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Joined
18 Dec 2009
Posts
423
Hi All ,

I am upgrading my main rig over the next coming months first off is my CPU , Will my old cpu which is a i5 2500k be able to handle playing my hi-def content and blu-rays?in the htpc iam going to build , i dont need to get a new graphics card i was hoping i could run my media off the onboard graphics , the htpc will only be used for movies using xbmc.
 
the i5-2500k is rather over kill for a htpc. The HD3000 graphics won't play Blu rays as well as a graphics card, but is ok. (google "sandy bridge 23.976 issue" - with the latest drivers the audio skip is minimal though)

How ever a Pentium G620 could do the same job.
 
was only going to use the i5 as i am about to get an i7 for my main rig , and just thought instead of selling it on use it in the htpc i am going to build
 
elroberto said:
Llano's are the best bet for HTPC. Decent on-CPU graphics and handles media playback problem free.
Click to expand...

I hear different stories about the llano's, the hardware is defiantly sound but the drivers cause more problems than intels integrated stuff.

For XBMC movies i would use a celeron g530 no question. 2500k is overkill but would work just as well, idle power usage across the entire sandybridge line isn't too different.
 
I'm building an HTPC for a friened using an A8-3870K. Good enough graphics to not need a discrete GPU, and the platform supports enough SATA III drives to double as a decent file server :)

IME, the drivers are not a problem (based on my current experience with my own A8-3870K).
 
Massive overkill. My Zacate system runs XBMC + Win 7 perfectly, plus has the advantage of being totally silent and uses next to no power.

If buying new right now I'd grab either a Celeron G530 + Radeon HD5450 or an AMD Llano based system.
 
shadow_boxer said:
Massive overkill. My Zacate system runs XBMC + Win 7 perfectly, plus has the advantage of being totally silent and uses next to no power.
Click to expand...

I have a E350 based HTPC and it's not what I'd call perfect. It needs a beefier CPU for (silverlight) Netflix/SkyGo streaming.

I plan to replace mine with a system based around the i5-3475S. HD4000 and 65W TDP. Should be fine.
 
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