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Decent low price CPU/APU for HTPC?

coolamasta

coolamasta

coolamasta

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Hey guys, I want to build a new HTPC, going with Mini-ITX but cant decide what the best bang for buck is CPU/Board wise...

First of all I was thinking i3 2120 Sandybridge as I have just acquired a spare one but I don't think the on-board HD2000 video is up to much and I will want to play back 30GB+ 1080p/i files so will prob sell it on.

I was then thinking maybe I should be looking at the AMD A-Series, particularly the A4 5300 Socket FM2, the CPU with onboard Radeon 7480D and an ITX Board can be had for around £120 which is a bargain really, do you think this would be a good CPU/APU to go with or something else?

Only other issue is the Mini-ITX case I have has a 90w DC-DC PSU which im not sure is enough to power the A4 5300 even thought its a 65w chip? Can anyone confirm if running the Board, A4 5300 CPU, 8GB RAM and just a small SSD will be OK for this 90w PSU? There are no other drives or components.

Thanks for any help :)
 
Wait a few days,as Richland will be out soon. There should be improvements in power consumption,especially for the lower TDP models. Basically,Richland is an additional lower power consumption version of Trinity.

One Richland CPU,ie,the A4 4000 has been released and here is the first review:

http://translate.google.com/transla...co.jp/docs/topic/feature/20130513_599039.html

Although the A4-4000 is a bit slower than the A4-5300 and the review uses a 1200W PSU,there is a significant reduction in power consumption. The IGP is exactly the same in both cases.
 
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Yeah, Richland is just days away, its perfect for HTPC's, they have a capable iGPU (GTX 640 level) so no need for a discrete GPU unless you want to game with higher settings.
 
Awesome thanks fella's didn't realise about these new Richland CPU's, been out the AMD game for a while, I will sit tight for a few days then, I assume they are still using socket FM2 so I could go on and get a motherboard? :)
 
The Richland core A4-4000 is already available from some places online, there is only £4 difference in the A4-4000 and A4-5300 which uses the Virgo core, what I did like about the A4-5300 though is it supports 1600mhz memory and the A4-4000 only supports 1333mhz, wonder if that makes any difference in the real world....

Are there more Richland cores due to come out soon do you know or just the 4000?

Oh decisions, decisions haha.... :)
 
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